Product: To Die For (1995)
Rating: 5.0
Pitch perfect example of misguided reasoning's...
I had heard a lot of great things about Nicole Kidman's performance in this black comedy, so many good things that I had to check it out. The problem was that I could never find it anywhere. Then, gloriously, it came on Encore the other night and so I DVR'd it and settled down to take in the gift that is Kidman. What I found was not just Kidman's finest screen performance ever, but quite possible Gus Van Sant's finest film ever. `To Die For' is just that, a film that is to die for. It is funny, smart, witty and darkly powerful; a film that plays to its strengths, and thankfully it has many of them.Gus Van Sant is a hit-or-miss director with me. He has a unique style that I appreciate when it is channeled properly (ala `Elephant') but find myself put off when it is misdirected (circa `Psycho'). He attempts to commercialize his talent with mixed results, at times drawing enough star power to make up for lack of material (witness `Good Will Hunting') but then there are times when even his best efforts result in mediocre offerings (take `Finding Forester' for instance). There is no denying that Van Sant has talent and he has vision, and I respect that, but at times that talent and vision is muddled and produces films I don't feel are really up to par. Regardless though, I still longed to see `To Die For' if not for Kidman and Kidman alone.Luckily for me, Van Sant is at the top of his game here and matches Kidman's brilliance step for step, pace for pace. Kidman plays Suzanne Stone, a young and ambitious woman who will do anything to achieve the fame she knows she is destined for. She marries Larry Maretto, a good looking Italian man who supports her dreams and believes in her, but his support is not enough for it alone won't get Stone what she wants. When Stone takes her ambitions to the next level, trying to engage some high school students in a news segment, she meets three particular students who prove to be the key to Stone's inevitable success. Jimmy, Russel & Lydia are putty in Stone's hands, easily manipulated and convinced to go along with Stone's scheme to rid her of her husband and catapult her to the spotlight she so longs for.Fame comes at a cost; and that cost is something Stone will soon have to pay.Van Sant films this black comedy as if it were part mockumentary, which aids in adding connectivity to the film, for it allows the characters to engage to audience and make them a part of the film. As each actor talks directly to the viewer we begin to feel like a part of their schemes and thus feel an intimate relation to the film. Even though the film has some devastating situations (murder and adultery) they are played out much like a Coen film, used for comedic effect and so while we are allowed to judge we are never allowed to judge too harshly.Nicole Kidman is a force in this film, a dynamic ball of comedic energy. The way she can consume her character, delivering each and every line with precision and dedication, creating a character that is funny as can be yet serious as heart attack. She brilliantly manages to coat her satirical performance with enough genuine sincerity that her character becomes a real person instead of a farce. Matt Dillon is sorely underused as Larry, Stone's unsuspecting husband. He manages well with what he is given, but the film (like Stone) is pretty much uninterested with him. Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck and Alison Folland are wonderful as the three dimwitted students whom Stone uses and abuses. Phoenix has the most screen time, for he plays Jimmy, the student who falls for Suzanne and thus becomes the focus of her attention. Phoenix has surely turned in finer performances (it's nice to see the fine actor he's become) but this is far from a bad performance. He captures the mental level of his character, which isn't high mind you, and manages to make him interesting. His first line in this film alone is priceless. I also enjoyed the supporting performances by Illeana Douglas and Dan Hedaya who managed to make their small roles seem larger than they really were.In the end `To Die For' is a brilliant satire, a fantastic film about the dangers of fame and obsession. Sure, it may seem far fetched at times but that's what a satire does; it blows truths out of proportion in an effort to cause the audience to realize the facts resting before their eyes. In a world so obsessed with being on the top of everything, of being in front of the cameras and in the magazines and on the lips of every living breathing human being, `To Die For' is a wonderful example of why that particular thinking is so far off the mark.