A Perfect Murder Review
by Pierce Dalton (pierce80 AT aol DOT com)February 28th, 1999
A PERFECT MURDER 1998
Reviewed by Pierce Dalton
3 1/2 stars (out of 4)
A Perfect Murder is about the unhappy marrige of Steven Taylor (Michael Douglas) to filthy rich Emily Bradford Taylor (Gwyneth Paltrow). Steven's business will be wiped out soon, leaving Steven broke. Emily is secretly sleeping with a wannabe artist (Viggo Mortensen) on the side.
All of this leads to a murder, but I will not tell who does it and who ends up laying in a pool of blood on a kitchen floor.
Based on the play Dial M for Murder, which was adapted by Alfred Hitchcock into one of his lesser movies, Perfect Murder is crisp, stylish, seductive, and oozing with suspensful surprises. I would rank it as one of 1990's most accomplished thrillers, next to Silence of the Lambs (1990) and Copycat (1995).
The film is far more involving than Douglas's Fatal Attraction (1987) and Basic Instinct (1992), but just as good, if not more so still, than 1997's The Game.
It's beautifully shot and directed by Andrew Davis (The Fugitive). I recommend the DVD, for it features the alternative ending and history of the original play.
1999 (c) Quick Flick Pix [email protected]
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