As I’ve mentioned too many times before, much of my youth
was spent or misspent in the darkened auditorium of downtown Indianapolis movie
palaces. My brother and I could catch a an early matinee double feature, then
brave the blinding Saturday afternoon sunlight, walk a couple of blocks and
take in another double feature. Usually the theater would show one major film,
often in color. The second would be a low-budget affair with less famous actors
and actresses. That’s how I feel about this pairing. One is a nearly perfect dark comedy about
murder. The other takes itself quite
seriously. Though I liked them both – I’m easy to please – if you have high
standards, doing off might not be the worst thing you can do, though the film
improves toward the end.
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| Kidman & Phoenix |
Murderous comedies don’t come any better than To
Die For. Nicole Kidman plays
a beautiful ambitious, marginally bright woman who would do anything to achieve fame. She marries a handsome young man (Matt Dillon). He turns out to be a
major roadblock on her road to stardom. She plots his death. The film is shot
in a mock-documentary style that in the hands of others might be disastrous,
but with Buck Henry writing the
screenplay and Gus Van Sant
directing, To Die For is to die
for. Joaquin Phoenix joins the superb cast as Kidman’s lovesick puppet. Casey Affleck is a young tough. The
film, based on the book by Joyce Maynard,
was released in 1995.
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| Matt Dillon |
Whereas Kidman’s surprisingly good performance was honored
with a couple of awards for playing the shallow narcissus, Sean Young had the dubious honor of picking up two Razzies, one for
worst actress and another for worst supporting actress for her performances as
twins in A Kiss Before Dying. A reminder: This is the second feature. You may drift off
before they roll the credits. However
this turns out to be mostly worthwhile, largely due to Matt Dillon’s solid portrayal of a man’s obsession to succeed by
hook, crook or murder. This is the second film based on Ira Levin’s book of the
same name. The earlier (1956) version starred Robert Wagner and Joanne
Woodward. This one (1991) was directed by James Dearden, who also wrote the screenplay. The story had a
Hitchcock-like sensibility, but played out even more mechanically than those by
the master. There are some clever twists and it’s a pleasure to watch the young
Dillon at work after his turn in Drugstore Cowboy, and especially after watching him as a more mature
character in To Die For.
A white wine, bubbly or not might be an appropriate
accompaniment to the first film. Step it up for the second. Or a latte followed
by an espresso.
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