To Die For

A black comedy that is neither black nor a comedy, this is no more a satire of, or any kind of comment on, the media, than `Melrose Place' was a satire of ... well, at least `Melrose Place' had the grace not to pretend to be about anything. The presence of video cameras in every shot does not give this empty movie even a theme, let alone a message. And if I hear the American national anthem being played ironically one more time ... I mean, really, is there any more sure sign of intellectual bankruptcy? Irony by itself is of no value; and Van Sant doesn't even get so far as to be ironic. We have the shell of irony without the flesh. We have people going through the motions of telling a joke or making a pointed remark when there's no joke and no point. A story that might have served as the basis for a good movie is stretched out interminably with videotaped narration, pauses, rewinds and fast-forwards; although to compensate for all this mularky it ends abruptly, as if Van Sant ran out of tape. Characters are coldly slapped before us like bodies in a morgue. Perhaps someone mistook this lack of warmth for comedy, although I don't know that anyone actually laughed. I admit it's hard to fault the acting. (Almost no film is ever spoiled by a poor performance - almost always a film is spoiled by something else instead.) The character of Janice even manages to elicit some sympathy now and then, partly due to the actress (Illeana Douglas), partly because most of the writing is, in a sort of a way, good, if you focus on the individual sentences and ignore the pattern they fail to form. Lydia, played by Alison Folland, would also be sympathetic if her character even approached consistency. She's the trailer park resident who's allegedly unattractive. I'd like to take this opportunity to remark that the attitude this film has to the poor is a sickening one: contempt masquerading as sympathy. The movie would be distasteful enough to watch in any event. I've read over my comments and they strike me as being far too mild - this really is tawdry rubbish.

Gus Van Sant made his first attempt at going mainstream in the black comedy To Die For. The young cast of Nicole Kidman, Joaquin Phoenix and Casey Affleck boasts three future Oscar winners. Kidman plays Suzanne Stone who would do anything to become a media star. She is mean spirited and manipulative. Suzanne has married Larry Maretto (Matt Dillon) who has a family restaurant business and whose father has some mafia links. When Larry insists that they start a family. Suzanne lures some high school kids through her sex appeal and who are featured in a documentary that she is making to kill Larry. The film has a mixture of styles such as a mockumentary as the participants speak directly to the camera. Van Sant wants to take potshots about the media obsessed young people of the 1990s. As a satire it lacks bite. It is not as funny or as black as it should be. Van Sant went too mainstream. It works better as a showcase for some of its future stars.

An ambitious young woman is prepared to do anything to become a telly star. The story about this enticing creature without scruples is not new. But it is filmed with genuine inventiveness, spiced with a good dose of humour and perfectly served by Nicole Kidman, who plays the part of the fated beauty with delight.

'To Die For' is a dark comedy about a small town weather reporter who is determined to be famous -at any cost, using her feminine wiles to arrange for some mixed up teens to murder her husband. It's been filmed in a documentary style with various interviews from the teens, husbands family and Suzanne Stone. Kidman does a pretty fantastic job as Stone, appearing seductive, cold, naïve and driven to the point of, well, murder. It was nice to see her back in the day when she still had some meat on her bones and the use of facial expressions. Joaquin Phoenix blew me away here especially when you see how young he is, he's just a boy. The movie itself was okay, no big twists or anything. 7/21/14

This is a perfect example of messy film making. It looks like Gus Van Sant tried to shoot the film in like three days, because everything seems so disjointed and awkward. It really stinks because this was the first film that Nicole Kidman got praised by critics in, but I really dont know what they were thinking. The script is shallow, the characters are corny and plastic, so the film really just never gets off the ground. It has a lot of well known actors in it, but thats about it. ** out of ****.

I saw this movie when it was first released and all i can remember from that fateful night is the crowd in the movie thearter remaing seated after this travesty had ended watching the rolling credits waiting for some miracle to appear on the screen that would give the last hour or so some meaning. The atmosphere was thick with just one question that everyone was thinking.... what in gods name was the point of all this.

Celebrity obsession? - Check. Gullibility? - Check. Manipulation of sexual mores? - Check. Inoffensive but pitifully slight script? - Check. By the end the film is virtually indistinguishable from the very things it obviously wishes to mock. Derision of the properties 'glossy' and 'shallow' fails to work without sufficient distance. It's ironic that this was the film which for many gave notice of Kidman's undoubted talent. With the intervening years and wise choice of roles, she's done everything possible to leave such frippery as this behind her. A career trajectory that the character Suzanne Stone would indeed be proud of. ***/***** - Good.

This does not hold interest. The best appeal this movie has is Nicole Kidman. If not for her sex appeal, I would not have wasted my time all the way to the end of the movie. The climax is near the beginning of the movie, and even that was a disappointment. Go see a Pee Wee Herman movie to find more gripping suspense.

A young Nicole Kidman here reminded me of the off-kilter performance from Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler a few years back. The film is just strange enough to be enjoyable, even if it's hard to see the ultimate point of the film. I appreciated the semi-mockumentary style approach and early performances from Casey Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix, but time hasn't necessarily been kind to the film. Other movies since have done a more efficient job of presenting a story with similar subject matter. 6.0/10