A review by Brooks Rich
A remake of a film originally made my Alfred Hitchcock is a cinema sin. Gus Van Sant's Psycho is a cinematic disaster of epic proportions. There's no need to remake the master. But today we have a film that does share a plot with a film by Hitchcock but it's more a reimagining of the source material and not the film. A deeply underrated thriller from 1998 called A Perfect Murder.
Michael Douglas is excellent as Steven Taylor, an investment banker in deep financial trouble. After discovering his wife Emily, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, is having an affair with struggling artists David Shaw, an up and coming Viggo Mortensen, he blackmails Shaw into concocting a plot to murder Emily. When Emily kills her would be murderer, who isn't Shaw, a game of cat and mouse begins.
This film is directed by Andrew Davis, a director who does not get the love he deserves. Davis directed such films as The Fugitive and Under Siege and A Perfect Murder is one of his best. Davis shoots it like a slick sexy thriller, perfect for that time in the '90s. The film is a bullet from the start and never feels boring. It is very different from the Hitchcock original, which is a great slow burn film. This film is hardly a slow burn.
Michael Douglas is at the top of his game in this film. He is so good as the sinister but cunning Steven Taylor. Like Ray Millan in Hitchcock's, again this only shares the situation with Dial M for Murder, we see him change his plan as his wife survives the initial attack. But instead it's more a survival instinct as opposed to framing Emily for murder. Watch this film once for the plot and then go back and watch Douglas's performance, especially the scene where he confronts Mortensen for the first time. He is so good at finding his mark. Watch how smoothly the edits on Douglas's actions are.
This is a fun film. We're not talking the best cinematic experience ever but it's a great thriller expertly made and wonderfully acted. Douglas is an actor I want to cover more on this blog. We've now covered The Game and A Perfect Murder, which is a great Douglas double feature.
A remake of a film originally made my Alfred Hitchcock is a cinema sin. Gus Van Sant's Psycho is a cinematic disaster of epic proportions. There's no need to remake the master. But today we have a film that does share a plot with a film by Hitchcock but it's more a reimagining of the source material and not the film. A deeply underrated thriller from 1998 called A Perfect Murder.
Michael Douglas is excellent as Steven Taylor, an investment banker in deep financial trouble. After discovering his wife Emily, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, is having an affair with struggling artists David Shaw, an up and coming Viggo Mortensen, he blackmails Shaw into concocting a plot to murder Emily. When Emily kills her would be murderer, who isn't Shaw, a game of cat and mouse begins.
This film is directed by Andrew Davis, a director who does not get the love he deserves. Davis directed such films as The Fugitive and Under Siege and A Perfect Murder is one of his best. Davis shoots it like a slick sexy thriller, perfect for that time in the '90s. The film is a bullet from the start and never feels boring. It is very different from the Hitchcock original, which is a great slow burn film. This film is hardly a slow burn.
Michael Douglas is at the top of his game in this film. He is so good as the sinister but cunning Steven Taylor. Like Ray Millan in Hitchcock's, again this only shares the situation with Dial M for Murder, we see him change his plan as his wife survives the initial attack. But instead it's more a survival instinct as opposed to framing Emily for murder. Watch this film once for the plot and then go back and watch Douglas's performance, especially the scene where he confronts Mortensen for the first time. He is so good at finding his mark. Watch how smoothly the edits on Douglas's actions are.
This is a fun film. We're not talking the best cinematic experience ever but it's a great thriller expertly made and wonderfully acted. Douglas is an actor I want to cover more on this blog. We've now covered The Game and A Perfect Murder, which is a great Douglas double feature.
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