X
- 1998
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 47 m
- 1998
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 47 m
Summary A powerful husband. An unfaithful wife. A jealous lover. All of them have a motive. Each of them has a plan. (Warner Bros.)
Directed By: Andrew Davis
Written By: Frederick Knott, Patrick Smith Kelly
- 1998
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 47 m
- 1998
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 47 m
A Perfect Murder
50
7.8
Where to Watch
Summary A powerful husband. An unfaithful wife. A jealous lover. All of them have a motive. Each of them has a plan. (Warner Bros.)
Directed By: Andrew Davis
Written By: Frederick Knott, Patrick Smith Kelly
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 22 Critic Reviews
50
27% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
50% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
23% Negative
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 22 Critic Reviews
50
27% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
50% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
23% Negative
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
Andrew Davis, the director of "The Fugitive," one of the best thrillers of recent years, has added pace and heat and explicit sexuality to the material without whipping up phony excitement.
I've seen far worse thrillers than A Perfect Murder, but the movie is ultimately more competent than pleasurable.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 124 User Ratings
7.8
75% Positive
93 Ratings
93 Ratings
17% Mixed
21 Ratings
21 Ratings
8% Negative
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 124 User Ratings
7.8
75% Positive
93 Ratings
93 Ratings
17% Mixed
21 Ratings
21 Ratings
8% Negative
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
A Perfect Murder was directed in 1998 by Andrew Davis, director of The Fugitive... A Perfect Murder stars Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Viggo Mortensen and David Suchet.... It's a quite glamorous thriller/crime film that is beautifully directed and Gwyneth Paltrow looks great. Steven Taylor (Michael Douglas) finds out his wife's sleeping with some dude called David Shaw (Viggo Mortensen) and basically goes over a plan with him to execute or kill his wife. There's a few twists in the film and even though that's basically some or if not all of the story then don't be fooled because it's not that straight forward because there are twists that develop in the movie and all not quite goes to plan. Michael Douglas gives the best performance in the movie but Gwyneth Paltrow looks incredibly beautiful and she's okay. The characters are all likeable and the story is good and it's never boring and the dialog is okay. It's a film that gets you thinking and isn't over the top and beautifully well made. A Perfect Murder to me is a perfect film and I see no faults with it and is one of Michael Douglas's best movies.
Report
A Perfect Murder is the perfect example **** thriller from the 90s. There's a great cast here, a good plot for a thriller and a solid ending to the film with a climax. One of Michael Douglas' best works. It is these films that are not in modern cinema, so A Perfect Murder only gets better over time
Report
If the roller-coaster plot twists lose you, there's always the satisfaction of Douglas's take on a script rife with amusing double entendres.
Tasteful, chilly, and polite, it is foul play at its traditional best: Anglo-Saxon, urban, and upper class.
There's nothing about this thriller to prevent it from soon becoming enmeshed in the memory with others in which Michael Douglas wears a starched collar and grits his teeth.
A Perfect Murder has inexplicably managed to eliminate almost everything that was worthwhile about "Dial M for Murder," leaving behind the nearly-unwatchable wreckage of a would-be '90s thriller.
All the surprises strenuously cooked up by screenwriter Patrick Smith Kelly and director Andrew ("The Fugitive") Davis can't overcome the movie's inability to make us care about any of its paper-thin characters.
Now I'm all set to review a film that really star Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow and Viggo Mortensen. OK, now years ago while I was watching it, I just found out that this is a remake which I didn't notice. It's called Dial M for Murder directed by Alfred Hitchcock so I think this is Alfred Hitchcock-ish so I was going to watch it to see what was going on. This film is pretty dark in many area's so this will be getting on the edge of my seat. Michael Douglas is a good actor in this and Gwyneth Paltrow and Viggo Mortensen did a pretty decent job. Michael Douglas's character plays Steven Taylor who wants his wife murdered named Emily Taylor played by Gwyneth Paltrow. She's in love with the painter called David Shaw played by Viggo Mortensen but she realized that he is a killer from the very beginning. That wasn't until the third act. Considering that there are scenes that are really interesting, there's a scene where the attacker attacks Emily Taylor and she kills him by stabbing him in the neck. It's always the best part everytime I watch it. And the ending which is remarkable. Good cast in this entertaining thriller made in the 90's. I enjoyed it years ago and it is dark in places. When I played a video game that really scared me, Eternal Ring will be the answer. Everytime I think about A Perfect Murder, Eternal Ring is the game where I die and get hit come across scary things, that really scares me. So, anyways, A Perfect Murder is an enjoyable movie that kept me on the edge of the seat the whole way through, nothing too special but still enjoyable. This is a good film but it is only good. I would give this an 8 but that was while back.
Report
Quality entertainment in a movie that almost makes us forget it's a remake.
In this movie, which is a remake of the famous Alfred Hitchcock movie "Dial M for Murder", we see the cold, hard, calculating way a New York businessman tries to get his wife's lover to kill her in order to stay. with her money. Being a remake, there are obvious similarities between both films, but it is not a copy. There are new and different things about this movie, and the way everything is approached is, to say the least, credible.
Its director, Andrew Davis, did an average job. The cast is led by Michael Douglas in the role of cold and hard Steven Taylor, a high finance millionaire. The actor is good in rational roles that require a calm posture, and Douglas does not disappoint us, giving us an excellent performance here. The same is true of Gwynneth Paltrow, who played Steven's wife Emily Taylor. She is the typical object wife, whom her husband will exhibit at society parties, treating her coldly in intimacy, and who comes to find a lover, a character expertly played by Viggo Mortenson. David Suchet, who made a resounding success in his role as Poirot, reincarnates a policeman, bringing the inspector in charge of the case to life. The whole cast did a good job, but I clearly highlight Douglas and Paltrow's excellent performances.
In short, it is a quality movie that can sometimes make us forget that it is a remake and is fully accepted by us. Without any noteworthy technical details or phenomenal interpretations on the part of the cast, it is a film worthy of the story it tells and the quality entertainment it brings us.
Report
As a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder, it is easy to head into Andrew Davis' A Perfect Murder with low expectations. However, in watching the film, it is clear that Davis re-invented the plot and characters enough that A Perfect Murder manages to stand on its own. The general layout starts off pretty much the same - though more sexed up, which would make Hitchcock deeply jealous - before diverting and really going in its direction. Oddly enough, it is this direction that is certainly lesser than the Dial M for Murder set-up, but it is nonetheless still intriguing and rather gripping to watch. It is a film that certainly has many plot contrivances and enough twists that it winds up twisting itself up. However, no matter where the film goes, it nonetheless manages to compel and entertain, while standing as one of the better murderous spouse thrillers from the 1990s thanks to strong performances from Michael Douglas as the shifty hedge-fund manager and Gwyneth Paltrow as his adulterous wife.
Upon discovering his wife Emily (Paltrow) is having affair with painter David Shaw (Viggo Mortensen), Steven Taylor (Douglas) sees an opportunity. With his risky and illegal stock market bets threatening to collapse and leave him broke, Steven needs money. Fortunately, Emily has a trust fund and no pre-nuptial agreement was signed. Discovering David's lurid past with prior trysts with rich heiresses and his time in jail, Steven uses the information to blackmail David into agreeing to kill Emily for $500,000. Planning everything down to the smallest detail, Steven believes he has crafted the perfect murder that will leave no trail to himself and solve his financial woes at the expense of his wife who he does not love anymore anyways. However, when things go sideways and an unexpected incident occurs, Steven's plans are **** and he must evade detection by the now suspicious Emily.
While it may not re-write on 1990s thrillers, A Perfect Murder nonetheless often embodies their best elements. Building great anticipation for the planned murder through meticulous pacing and planning by Steven and David, the film allows the audience to visualize the murder and how it will happen right before it finally does happen. This anticipation turns into great tension as the moment finally occurs and we watch Steven plan his alibi and put every wheel into motion that he knows will see him exonerated. Once the attack occurs and the cops show up, the tension rises dramatically. Somehow, Emily is still alive and now Steven must cover up his tracks. Forcing the audience to recall every element that he put in place beforehand as he must now clean up any mess leftover by the would-be killer, A Perfect Murder shows these loose ends throughout the rest of its run-time and his efforts to snuff them out before Emily and the cops detect anything. Thrilling and similarly showing the psychotic nature of this crime, A Perfect Murder is a film that drops you into the mind of a killer and, somehow, gets you root for him as he tries to navigate the minefield of a cover-up he has made for himself when his plan goes haywire in the execution phase.
What really helps to sell A Perfect Murder as better than your average thriller is the acting. Though the film is riddled with cliches, it is the acting of its cast that allows it to really soar and carve out its own name. Chief among this is Michael Douglas. He really made his name for playing these men in poor relationships such as in Fatal Attraction or Basic Instinct, bringing this knowledge and his ability as an actor to the table for his role in A Perfect Murder. Calculating, wicked, and cold, Douglas' psychotic husband character is one that instills fear but an odd degree of sympathy as he is a man who is being cheated on. This confusion - largely brought on by him being the protagonist - is exemplified by Douglas who plays this charismatic charmer so well that we half forget he is also a murderous psychopath. As his wife, Gwyneth Paltrow gives one of her stronger performances. As she begins to piece together what happened to her, you can see the gears turn in Paltrow's head as well as you can see the denial and the emotion she feels as she comes to this shocking realization: both men she was with were liars and possible killers. It is a chilling place to be in for her and Paltrow sells this woman's confusion and emotion incredibly well.
However, what does hold the film back is its cliches and its contrivances. For the latter, the inclusion of David blackmailing Steven in the end and threatening to expose him does bring the film home to some degree, but feels overly written. Similarly, lines of dialogue dedicated to David rubbing in the fact he is sleeping with Emily come as cheesy and rather gross, highlighting that the film though thrilling may not be the best written film ever released. In fact, it is a film that tries to do too much.
Report
L’histoire est certes passionnante mais le film ne l’est pas vraiment, hélas !… et par ailleurs la fin grand-guignolesque le dessert énormément et lui ôte du coup une crédibilité chèrement acquise (quelques questions restent en suspens…).Heureusement Douglas et Mortensen sont là pour sauver les meubles mais on ne peut en dire autant de la baltringue Paltrow : tout au long du film, on a qu’une envie : c’est de la secouer pour qu’elle se **** mise en scène est classique mais tout à fait efficace, on sent la patte du Fugitif… toutefois il faut bien l’avouer, tout cela reste un peu juste, pour ne pas dire assez décevant.
Report
Production Company
Warner Bros.,
Kopelson Entertainment
Release Date Jun 5, 1998
Duration 1 h 47 m
Rating R
Tagline A powerful husband. An unfaithful wife. A jealous lover. All of them have a motive. Each of them has a plan.
Website
http://www.aperfectmurder.com/
Awards
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Golden Trailer Awards
• 1 Nomination
