Customer Reviews

To Die For

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

"To Die For" is a great little gem of a movie that, in my opinion, ranks as one of the best dark comedies of the last decade. Nicole Kidman, in what is probably her finest performance to date, is stunning as Suzanne "Stone" - her real name is Maretto - a completely self-absorbed, amoral, and utterly ruthless young woman who will let nothing stand in the way of her obtaining her goal of being a "television star". The film is shot in the style of a slightly wacky TV documentary, which only adds to the fun, as we see the "post-tragedy" interviews with those who were involved with the late Miss Stone. Stone is an attractive but cold-blooded blonde in a small New England town who is desperate to become a national celebrity on a national TV News Network. As proof of her warped psyche, she tells the audience "You're a nobody if you're not on TV" - which unfortunately does seem to accurately describe the feelings of many people these days. She's also determined to move up the social ladder in her little town, and so as the film begins she seduces and marries the handsome quarterback of the high school football team (Matt Dillon), the most popular boy in town. Dillon's sister despises Suzanne and sees right through her facade, but Dillon is so entranced he doesn't listen. Dillon goes on to work in his father's pizzeria, but Suzanne obtains a job as the weather forecaster for the local rinky-dink TV station, and begins to have dreams of glory. One of the darkly funny aspects of this film is that for all of Suzanne's scheming and ruthlessness she's not very bright, and her attempts to sound and act "sophisticated" are often hilariously inept. When her faithful but old-fashioned hubby tells her to quit her job and help him with the family business, she decides he's "impeding" her career and that she'll have to kill him. So she seduces an underage teenage geek (hilariously played by a very young Joaquin Phoenix), has a torrid sexual affair with him, and then convinces him to murder her hubby. At first she uses the shock of the murder to obtain further publicity - "you've got to think of your career first" - from the local and state media. Unfortunately, her underage love affair is discovered and she is ruined. Ever undaunted, she begins plotting her comeback, but Dillon's family (they are Italian), has a little surprise planned for their murderous in-law. Kidman's performance is dead-on - she plays Stone as a parody of the type of person who will do ANYTHING - even murder - to get on TV and become "somebody". The supporting cast is also excellent. The most troubling part of this film is that it was loosely based on a real story - an attractive New Hampshire schoolteacher who by most appearances had everything seduced a fifteen-year-old student and convinced him to kill her husband - apparently so she could leave her hometown and try to become "famous" in the big city. "To Die For" may seem like a delicious but improbable story - but it's really not all that far from today's news headlines. Ouch!

Nothing like a little dark humor and feminine fangs to make a mash of the culture driven by 15-minutes-of-fame. In this case, a riveting Nicole Kidman as a perky, self-obsessed suburban nutcase who has big dreams of finding fame and fortune, even at the expense of her husband.

Directed by Gus Van Sant in his usual cobbled-together manner (hoary, quasi-documentary devices to propel the screenplay, regular flashbacks, direct-to-the-camera diction, etc..) based on Buck Henry's trippy adaptation of a novel by the same name. The result is a pleasantly watchable movie that moves quickly and keeps you guessing the limits to which our protagonist would limp to achieve her ambitious goals.

I felt that the premise, beyond its chirpy surface, is quite thought-provoking. If our perky weather reporter were to be successful in her quest then we could believe that total dedication to a quest is admirable and ultimately rewarded -- regardless of the means employed. Can we condone murder though? Perhaps we are offered a tongue-in-cheek hyperbole that extremes are necessary if we are to escape our station in life.

This movie apart from amusing you will surely leave you with something to savor, not just off its theme but from the brilliant supporting performances of Casey Affleck, Matt Dillon and especially Joaquin Phoenix.

Recommended rental.

If you would like to see a really great performance by Nicole Kidman, pick up a copy of "To Die For" at your local video store. Directed by Gus Van Sant, screenplay by Buck Henry from the book by Joyce Maynard (both Henry and Maynard have bit parts in the film), "To Die For" is a wicked little gem of a film.

Kidman won the Golden Globe award for Best Actress for her performance, and frankly I thought she should have gotten the Academy Award (unless I remember incorrectly, I don't think she was even nominated for an Academy Award for it). But she is absolutely brilliant in it: chilling, funny, scary, sexy, and horrifically evil.

Kidman portrays Suzanne Stone-Maretto: a devious, calculating, self-centered woman who manipulates Larry Maretto (a very sympathetic performance by Matt Dillon) into marrying her, quickly tires of him when he tries to stand in her way of her greatest ambition in life, which is to be the next Diane Sawyer, and soon convinces her teenage lover to kill him for her. Sound familiar? "To Die For" was loosely based on the real-life story of Pamela Smart, who seduced her 15-year old lover into murdering her husband.

Joaquin Phoenix is Jimmy Emmett, the hapless student who becomes Suzanne's lover; Lydia Mertz is Alison Follard, a young girl who idolizes her; and Casey Affleck is Russel Hines, another student who gets caught up in the scheme. Illeana Douglas is great as Larry's acidic, loving sister Janice, who also gets one of the best lines in the film, and at the very beginning, no less; and Dan Hedaya is Larry's father, Joe Maretto. Dan Hedaya is a master of the "Believe me, you don't want to see me mad" performance, with obvious menace just under a calm surface. The casting is great, and the performances are all right on target.

Look for uncredited cameos by George Segal as a conference speaker, and David Cronenberg as...you'll just have to go see it.

To Die For is an excellent, detailed portrait of a female narcissist. This movie is no comedy. If you ever have the great misfortune of tangling with one of these psychopaths, trust me, you WONT be laughing.

Nicole Kidman plays Suzanne Stone, the girl who grows up as the center of her family's never-ending attention, the Golden Child Who Can Do No Wrong. As life goes on, Suzanne hones her manipulation skills, and marries Larry (played by Matt Dillon), who reflects back to Suzanne the image of herself that she wants to believe and see. Perfect!

That is, until Larry demands that the marriage include him. In bed one morning soon after being wed, Larry wants to make love with Suzanne. She icily shoves his hand away saying "get your hands off me." She has to get ready for work, to "fix my face" for the world. It's performance time, and Suzanne is always on. Larry just doesn't get it. Their life is about HER, not them. When Larry broaches the topics of having children and her helping him out in the family restaurant business, Suzanne decides he has to go. This girl has global aspirations. She won't be marginalized with motherhood and a family business!

When Suzanne lands a job at a community TV station, she turns a small job fetching coffee and running errands into her role as the weather girl reporting from "The Weather Center." She soon executes one of her many grandiose schemes: making a documentary about high school teenagers in their natural habitat. Enter Joaquin Phoenix's character Jimmy Emmet, an introspective but deeply lost teenager who falls hard for Suzanne. She soon sexually manipulates Jimmy into doing her bidding, with promises of eternal love and "then we can always be together." Her blinding charisma engulfs Jimmy and friends Russel and Lydia, and of course she heartlessly kicks them all to the curb the instant she achieves her goal.

If you know anything about narcissism, you'll see all the high points in To Die For: grandiosity, complete disregard for the feelings of others, ice-cold manipulation, and lightning-fast betrayal once the narcissist has achieved her goal. You're seeing how a psychopath operates. If only the narcissists of the world found the same fate as Suzanne Stone. I strongly recommend To Die For.

If you like your humor smart, wicked, ironic, and served on a silver platter, this one's for you. Buck Henry wrote the screenplay, which should say plenty about the level of intelligence and sly wit at work here. Nicole Kidman gives the performance of a career as a woman who looks, acts, and dresses like a Barbie doll come to life. She has completely bought into the myth that, frankly, we all believe to one extent or another. That is, being on tv is a good thing and validates a person, makes that person more real than real. Her obsession to be a tv celebrity is like a narcotic for her.

Suzanne Stone lives in a fantasy land, imagining that her role as the weather lady on a local cable access tv station will somehow be a springboard for Babwa Wawa type notoriety. Watching her voracious, yet somehow sadly innocent, ambition is both funny and horrifying. Kidman plays it perfectly, never winking at the camera. The story, though based on actual events, is little more than a vehicle for many wonderful performances. Her husband, played with real comic skill by Matt Dillon, has to go, he's just in the way. The stoner, semi-goth high school students she enlists for the hit, including Joaquin Phoenix, are charmed and subservient, amazed that a celebrity would pay attention to them. (As we would be if Oprah asked us to wax her car, which we probably would, because we also believe that being on tv is a good and important thing.)

Other inspired performances include George Segal in a splendidly cynical cameo, succinctly summarizing tv business reality. Dan Hedaya, who must get his 5:00 shadow somewhere around 9:47 a.m., is just right as the guy who settles the score. But the real sleeper is Illeana Douglas, narrator and Ms. Stone's sister-in-law. She smells a rat long before anyone else, and her wise-acre sarcastic delivery is terrific, especially as she gracefully skates over the evidence. That's cold!

Van Sant is a very interesting director. Drugstore Cowboy was as fascinating as it was disturbing. Elephant offered an amazing look at Columbine through the other end of the lens. Finding Forrester, a tad trite and commercial, did have heart. Good Will Hunting, yikes, what did we do to deserve the twin monsters it loosed upon the landscape? Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, one of the best books ever becomes one of worst movies ever. My Own Private Idaho. This movie, featuring an unnerving performance by the late River Phoenix, was chilling, haunting, beautiful, and absolutely brilliant. Van Sant is certainly capable of greatness, and Kidman is also. In To Die For they are both at their absolute best.

Nicole Kidman plays the perfect psychopath in TO DIE FOR. The psychopath is the one area of psychology that no one has a cure for. Psychopaths lack moral impulse. They not only don't have the vaguest idea of what right and wrong mean, but they also don't understand why other people can get all exercised about violations of right and wrong. Kidman in the movie doesn't murder because it's calculated and she can get away with it; she doesn't even think that far ahead. And that's what makes acting a role like this so blamed difficult. Kidman pulls it off in what I regard as one of the two greatest bravura female acting performances in the past quarter century. (The other is Kate Nelligan in the 1981 movie, EYE OF THE NEEDLE.) If only the screenplay were up to Kidman's level, it would shake five stars out of me. There's a little too much fussing about with the teenagers, and some scenes last too long. A good editing job could have trimmed ten or fifteen minutes out of this movie and made it one of Hollywood's all=time best. But, given what we have, if you watch it only for Kidman's incredible, incredible performance, you'll get a lot more than your money's worth.

The fact that To Do For is not more highly regarded is a mystery to me. It only garners a 6.7 on IMDB.com. All of the ingredients were there, an incredible and gifted director in Gus Van Sant, what I consider to be Nicole Kidman's finest performance, a wicked and not just satirical script and an excellent supporting cast.

Of particular note is Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of Jimmy Emmet, the typical high school metal head loser who becomes obsessed with Kidman's evil character, Suzanne Stone-Maretto. Phoenix is a gifted actor with a wide pallet to choose from. Contrast this performance with the job he does of playing The Abbe in Quills. It makes his role in To Die For all the stronger. Allison Folland is also a standout in her debut performance as Jimmy's pathetic friend Lydia Mertz. Together with Casey Affleck as Russel, the three unwittingly become assassins for the callous Mrs. Stone. The story is built up very effectively, and as a viewer there is never any doubt that these three "dorky" kids will pull the murder off.

Also magnificent and lending strong supporting roles are Dan Hedaya and Illeana Douglas who play Larry Maretto's father and sister, respectively. The part of Larry is played with near perfect un-bravado by Matt Dillon, who does so without his usual pomp and bluster. Basically, Larry is the perfect everyman trying to do right by his new wife and family [....]Hedaya is perfectly cast and uses his natural menacing qualities quite well. My favorite though, is Janice Moretto, Larry's sister played by Douglas, who is the only character who sees Suzanne for what she really is. The dancing on the grave ice-skating bit at the end is also really well done. Douglas doesn't fall once.

Hats off to Van Sant for a creating a satirical masterpiece that contains enough side elements to hold the viewers attention through more than one viewing. For instance, what exactly is Suzanne's relationship with her father? Also, the fact that Janice is most likely gay and this might be why she understands Suzanne so well. Cudos as well to the director for the style he employed, blurring the line between film and documentary. Some people have argued to me that To Die For contains too many cuts and flashbacks and consequently the viewer has a difficult time following the action. I do not find that to be true. Quite the opposite, I find the film to be compelling. Even after at least five viewings, To Die For firmly holds my attention throughout.

Wow...what a movie! And the fact that it's based on a true story makes it even more fun to watch. Kidman fans will go crazy over this film because it is one of her most ravishing performances to date! She is EXCELLENT in the role of the blonde seductress, Suzanne Maretto. Suzanne is an aspiring television newscaster and she is willing to do ANYTHING to become famous! When she starts to feel smothered and "held back" by her husband (played by Matt Dillon) she decides to manipulate 3 teenagers (played by Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck-the younger brother of Ben Affleck, and Allison Folland) into killing him. A dark but witty film that will satisfy hardcore Kidman fans. A supporting cast of Illeana Douglas (who plays Matt Dillon's sister) and Dan Hedaya (who plays his father) works well also. This movie was actually remade for TV in 1991, called "Murder in New Hampshire" starring a young Helen Hunt, although it wasn't as good as this one!

When I saw this in 1995 it had more of an impact on me. I don't know if that's because I had seen fewer films, the seamy world it depicts has come even more commonplace (and thus less shocking) or what, but this bold and edgy film now has a somewhat conventional feel. I still love the ending, the closing shot, beautiful in its poetic justice and its use of visual metaphor (what film is all about, after all), but instead of savaging the TV news industry, this movie just slaps it on the bottom a little.

There's also a problem they couldn't foresee in 1995, at least in my eyes, and that is that being on TV has lost some of its allure, thanks to a chronically-shrinking audience and the newer fame of blogs, webcasts, podcasts, and everything else out there. Once America's royalty, TV personalities are now more like cogs in the big corporate wheel--well-paid and well-tended cogs, but cogs to some extent. It is possible today for someone to get on the air in a top five market like San Francisco rather quickly--gone are the days of long apprenticeship, of starting out your career in Buttfuque Iowa--or Little Hope, New Hampshire.

But that's where Suzanne Stone begins her journey into television. What I couldn't help but wonder, after about half the movie, was why she didn't try to move on, to a bigger city and a better station. Doing the weather live for six months, lame as it is, and her documentary tape, would be enough to land her a job at a small or even mid-market station.

But maybe I'm being too analytical, and should look at the movie on its own terms. The satire itself is sharp at times, but after roughly halfway it turns into just another seamy murder movie. And, perhaps more importantly, I couldn't decide if filmmaker Gus Van Sant wanted us to feel sorrow or contempt for the three wasted teenagers whom Suzanne enlists to help her carry out her deed. They are maybe painted a bit too broadly, without any sense that the filmmaker or the screenwriter (Buck "Get Smart" Henry) have much insight into their dead-end plight. The way Suzanne turns from understanding friend to cold-hearted mastermind is well-done by Kidman, and the kids, especially Alison Folland, are good actors. Still, something about the whole thing felt just a little too trite, too simple.

Kidman is terrific as the scheming reporter, with limited talent but boundless ambition. How an Aussie can consistently play better middle-America characters than most American actresses is amazing--or maybe not. Illeana Douglas is deliciously quirky and believable in her role. A lot of the dialogue is very sharp, and the quick-cutting, multiple POV technique, which could have become confusing in less sure hands, here clarifies and sharpens the story. I just wish they'd pushed it even further than they did--at some point it stops feeling like a biting satire and starts feeling like an episode of Law & Order. To Die For is definitely worth watching, but it's not the searing indictment it could have been. Transfer to DVD is sharp and crisp. No extras except for a trailer.

Nicole Kidman and Matt Dillon play their parts very well and are support by a great cast including Joaquin Phoenix and Illeana Douglas. Kidman's character quickly comes into focus as someone that most of us probably didn't like when we were in school. She lies, cheats, and panders with the best of them. Matt Dillon's role changes over time. He seems to go from a lady's man to one that is ready to make a commitment. Phoenix and Douglas fill their roles very believably. The cast was wonderful.

The only reason I rated this less than excellent were problems I had with the script/editing. The movie seemed to move all over the place at points for no logical reason. Because of the somewhat jarring approach the ending seemed to be a forgone conclusion. The real thoughtful challenge was how it going to there.