| To Die For | | Cast : | Tamara Gorski, Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon | | Director : | Gus Van Sant | | Studio : | Columbia/Tristar Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | September 27, 1995 | | DVD Released Date : | August 07, 2001 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 31, 2005 | | Summary | He sold his drums | Content
 | I saw this movie in the theater years ago and didn't think it was all that great. Maybe it was because it was a midnight showing and I was half-asleep, since this time around I found it really funny. All of the acting is top-notch, the script is funny and sharp, and this is one of the few movies where I forgot Nicole Kidman was Nicole Kidman, which was impressive, and creepy -- there's a completely different person behind those eyes. The only quibble I have is that since Susanne Stone is based on Pamela Smart, I think they should've been more responsible with her portrayal -- shown a little more of her humanity. I mean, I can't imagine she was this callous with everyone. Then again, it is satire, and I guess when you're an artist you mustn't worry about hurting people, or else your work will suffer. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 15, 2005 | | Summary | A wicked gem of a film | Content
| 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. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 10, 2005 | | Summary | All She Wanted Was A Little Attention! | Content
| This movie is basically about a wife, who never wanted to get married to begin with. Planning on killing her husband, using three students as her murderers. The way this story is told, isn't shown in the best of ways. Still this is one of the best dark rare comedies I have ever seen. With talented actors in nearly every role existing.
There's not one part in this movie where you can say the acting was bad. Nicole Kidman(Cold Mountain,The Others) as the hot blonde, plays a great wife who quickly loses her interest in love... finding the love for her work instead. Matt Dillon(The Outsiders, There's Something About Mary!) didn't have one of his biggest roles in To Die For, but did play the decent husband who was the only innocent one in this whole movie. Joaquin Phoenix, a huge actor today who did get his start in To Die For. Playing the troubled high school student who is easily seduced to commit the murder of Nicole Kidman's husband. One of three students who went out to do this murderous plot, Casey Affleck(Drowning Mona, Ocean's Eleven) was another highly convincing troubled teen. To Die For is full of talented actors, you do see give 110% dedication into all of the suspenseful drama.
The action in this movie is mildly slow. Even when a murder happens you don't see it happen, but just see the outcome. There's comedy at every corner in this movie if you really watch for it. With an ending that is a bit of a surprise, not what you were expecting.
I don't really care for the director Gus Van Sant. Directing what I thought was a lame remake in the movie Psycho(Vince Vaughn). Directing an even bigger movie with Good Will Hunting(Ben Affleck). All in all I thought he gave us one of the best rare movies with To Die For, in all of the 90's.
If you love any of these actors especially Kidman, love comedies, drama's, mysteries... then this is the movie to watch. I'd buy it if I was you. There's really not one thing that makes this movie a weak attempt. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 26, 2005 | | Summary | Season of the Witch | Content
| In contrast to "Direct Cinema" (a documentary style in which the filmmakers do not involve themselves in the action- the camera being all seeing and unobtrusive-even hidden), "Cinema Verite" permits the presence of the camera to make a difference in the reactions of those being filmed. Both documentary styles allow a degree of narrative freedom not permitted by the conventional Hollywood-style of a chronologically ordered series of dramatic scenes.
The unique feature of "To Die For" is the use of both the "Cinema Verite" and the conventional narrative styles in the same film. Van Sant inter-cuts a traditional dramatic storyline with simulated documentary style commentaries by the principal characters. The commentaries are not just retrospective, they jump around in time and it is not entirely clear the order in which the interviews took place. Four years later "Drop Dead Gorgeous" would be made entirely out of simulated interviews.
The interplay of the two narrative styles in "To Die For" is critical to the advancement of its theme about the contrasting public and private faces each of us constructs. The irony is that the faces presented in the documentary interviews are much more human and revealing than their counterparts in the dramatic scenes. Perhaps not surprising given our "camera whore" compusion, these characters are guarded and private when interacting with each other but liberated, open, and out-there when being interviewed.
The most interesting aspect of all this is the plausibility of Kidman's character. At times Suzanne comes across as narcissistic, manipulative, complex, and sophisticated; at other times she is narcissistic, manipulative, shallow, and naïve-dumb. To Suzanne every waking moment is an on-camera moment, yet she is only vulnerably human during her actual on-camera moments. She embodies, to an extreme degree, feelings we have all had in smaller and more subtle ways. She simply lacks the skill and/or desire to conceal them. Almost everyone has encountered someone who, while a skilled manipulator, is utterly clueless as to the transparency of their motives to everyone but the person being manipulated.
Kidman's performance is inspired. Her clothes, her speech, her makeup, her hair, and the way she carries herself all make for a unity of complete self-absorbed superficiality. Suzanne pities us mere mortals - not because we are mortal but because we are not her.
An earlier comment speculated that: "the message of this movie was that unbridled ambition is a sinful urge. In other words we should all just accept the hierarchy....". They imply an anti-Calvinist sociopolitical message and appear disturbed by something so subversive and anti-Christian. If there is a political message it better characterized as anti-mercenary, but I think this film is more psychological (pro-moderation) than political.
The producers seem to have gotten a little confused about just who was their target audience, which would account for the film's poor performance at the box office. Although not exactly "high-brow", the movie is obviously geared to a relatively sophisticated audience who can relate to black comedy, parody, and its psychological message. But instead of giving their film a unified style (which consistently connects to that audience), they throw in a lot of crude humor and gross cartoonish behavior more appropriate to a teen comedy. Their target audience and even the type of teens who might enjoy this movie are more put off than amused by this stuff.
Which gets into the issue of trimming. The pace of the film is a little slow and the scenes where Suzanne seduces James are embarrassingly moronic and unconvincing; although the seduction dance is exceptional. If they trimmed 10-15 minutes from the middle of the film it would have better unity and would move along faster. The seduction angle would work better if kept off screen, there is enough explanation of these events in the various retrospective on-camera interviews. And they should lose some of the Buck Henry crazy teacher stuff-it works once but then becomes repetitive and unfunny.
Illeana Douglas is wonderful as Suzanne's disgusted sister-in-law, who closes the film skating on the frozen lake containing Suzanne's body as the credits roll and Donovan's "Season of the Witch" plays. Very cool! |
| Rating | | | Date | April 21, 2005 | | Summary | Roses are red, Violets are blue, this movie sucks | Content
| i hate nicole kidman, thats number 1, number 2 is this movie is weak on everything. i would have rather gotten root canal the day i watched this abomination. |
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