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A Perfect Murder
Metascore
50 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 22 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 22
  3. Negative: 5 out of 22
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  1. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: David Denby
    90
    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.
  2. Slate
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    80
    It has been sexed up, opened out, and finished off with a disappointing bang-bang climax, but it's still good fun.
  3. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    I think it works like a nasty little machine to keep us involved and disturbed; my attention never strayed, and one of the elements I liked was the way Paltrow's character isn't sentimentalized.
  4. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    70
    The story has enough nasty twists and tantalizing clues for its ingenious mechanics to remain engaging.
  5. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    67
    I've seen far worse thrillers than A Perfect Murder, but the movie is ultimately more competent than pleasurable.
  6. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    63
    By the head-scratching dénouement, the "perfect" in the title seems particularly misplaced. How about Dial M for Muddle.
  7. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Sandra Contreras
    60
    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.
  8. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    60
    A Perfect Murder begins better than it ends, and the pleasures it offers turn out to be more of a transitory nature.
  9. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    50
    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.
  10. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Hollis Chacona
    50
    Tasteful, chilly, and polite, it is foul play at its traditional best: Anglo-Saxon, urban, and upper class.
  11. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    50
    A Perfect Murder is more like a handful of anemic ice cubes floating in a lukewarm puddle.
  12. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    50
    Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive," "Steal Big Steal Little") has made a technically competent thriller that's not only thrill-less, but dull.
  13. Variety
    Reviewed by: Leonard Klady
    50
    The dilemma in this Perfect Murder is its singular failure at creating a rooting interest for a character or situation.
  14. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Michael O'Sullivan
    50
    The unsatisfying thriller A Perfect Murder is a triumph of style over substance, with style in this case winning only by default.
  15. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    50
    This is simply efficient, routine storytelling with a high gloss but an undernourished sense of character.
  16. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Anthony Miele
    40
    This film once again proves that Hollywood has apparently run out of original ideas and is forced to remake another classic film and, like most Hollywood remakes -- big surprise -- it SUCKS.
  17. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Rita Kempley
    40
    The trouble is, we don't really much care about this philandering billionaire glamour puss, who seems perfectly capable of taking care of herself. We don't care about her husband or lover either.
  18. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    38
    What the film lacks is suspense, surprise (the new ending is a dud) and passion.
  19. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    38
    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.
  20. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Jean Oppenheimer
    30
    The picture's biggest problem is that no one is sympathetic.
  21. San Francisco Examiner
    Reviewed by: Barbara Shulgasser
    25
    I HATE to whine, but if Michael Douglas is half as tired of playing yuppie scum as I am of watching him do it, then he must be napping on a regular basis by now.
  22. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    20
    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.
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 11 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. jessetaylor25
    5
    "A Perfect Murder" is a remake of Alfred **** classic "Dial 'M' for Murder" which in turn is an adaptation of a Frederick Knott play. It certainly provides thrills, but what this film lacks that the great Alfred **** never went without, is great suspense. The film sometimes feels flat with what it's presenting and what little suspense it does have is executed so wearily that the whole thing feels tired and recycled. Aside from that, "A Perfect Murder" does come together as a solid thriller for the most part; it never ceased to keep my attention and most of the character interaction was intriguing. The police inspector role was cut down a lot from the original film this time leaving most of the detective work up to Paltrow's character. The ending left me a little cold, but all-in-all, this is an okay thriller.… Full Review »
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