Product: To Die For (1995)
Rating: 4.0
It seems some amateur critics have missed the point entirely
That's right. Suzanne Stone is NOT cold blooded. She is ambitious, young, not wonderfully intelligent and rarely taken seriously. This film's subtly powerful accusations on the professional world's sexist undertones are what make this film so powerful. Some may confuse Kidman's performance as weak, yet I found that the superimposed stoicism of her character is what makes her all the more emotional and REAL. The film comments beautifully on the the idealized "Brilliant Beauty" and "Femme Fatale" that is so often seen on screen and so rarely in the real world. It attempts to deconstruct this stereotype's opposition to the "Beautiful-but she's a moron" stereotype. Kidman gives Suzanne Stone what she needs to be both pitied and hated. However, the direction seems to be more in favor of the "hated." It is easy to watch this film and hate a woman like this, but the film is manipulative, like the news. The subtle innuendos may be too subtle, but this may have been a directors decision to give the film a more "true to life feel." I.E., the subtle sexism in the professional job market. You need to see this one.