Malice

Plot synopsis:
A young college coed is leaving school for the day. She jumps on her bike and heads home. Upon arriving, she calls out to her cat to come for her meal. She spies the cat cowering under a table, growling softly. Just as she comes close to reassure her cat, a mysterious figure comes out from the shadow and violently attacks her.Quick cut to college professor Andy Safian (Bill Pullman) and Detective Dana Harris (Bebe Neuwirth) at the hospital discussing the ongoing problems with campus security. Jed Hill (Alec Baldwin), the new surgeon at St. Agnes hospital works feverishly to save the girl, even though he is told "we're going to lose her." The surgery is successful. In the locker room, Hill tells the surgeon who made the comment that while he wants to make new friends, if he ever says something like that again, he will "remove (his) lungs with a f***ing ice cream scoop."Andy and Jed meet to discuss the girl's condition. After a moment, Andy realizes that he knew him from their old high school, Van Buren. They hope to see each other around.Andy goes to see his wife, Tracy Kessinger (Nicole Kidman), at work. As they talk in the elevator, Dr. Hill steps in with a colleague. They are invited to a reception to welcome Jed to the hospital. They politely decline and leave. As they walk along the street, they talk about the new plumbing for their Victorian house will cost them $14,000. Tracy suggests renting out the third floor to a tenant, but Andy refuses. He also suggests that she be very careful coming home from work, a maniac being on the loose.When she arrives home. Andy notices his wife getting out of the car with a man, who gives her a gentle peck on the cheek. She had told him she was coming home with a woman. She claims the man is a lawyer who is handling old buisness with her mother's estate. Andy apologizes. Later they are eating Chinese food in bed and she seductively feeds him and she gently gyrates on his lap. They begin to have sex, when Andy quickly turns off the light, noticing their next door neighbor's young son is watching them. (He assumes this because of the silhouette in the window). Tracy doesn't seem bothered by it, since the mother works nights and the boy might just be lonely.The next morning, Andy is sanding the stair railing, and is surprised by Jed's appearance in the front doorway. They have a pleasant conversation and Jed invites him to go out for a drink. Jed happens to point out a Degas statue and asks if it's the real thing. Andy assumes it is.As they are drinking, Andy lets it slip that his wife has been having trouble getting pregnant. He mentions a doctor named Lillianfield that Tracy has been going to. Jed says he "is a good man." When he gets home, he suggests to Tracy that Jed take the third floor as a tenant. Tracy does not seem thrilled with the idea, even suggesting that Andy is doing it to relive his high school years again, hanging with the star quarterback. When she finds out that Andy discussed her problem with Jed, she is annoyed, but not mad. She gives in and says it's OK for Jed to move in. The doorbell rings and she asks Andy if he wants to bet if it's Jed. He says no. "Because when money is involved, you take me seriously," she mutters.Detective Harris comes in while Andy is in the middle of a session with Paula Bell (Gwenyth Paltrow). He asks his secretary to make sure she gets a wake up call in order to not miss her next class. Harris tells Andy that not much progress is being made on getting the rapist. Andy laments that he is tired of seeing students leaving the school for fear of their safety. She asks for a list of people who have access to the student's schedules.Tracy comes home and prepares to take a bath. Her pain shoots up again and she is startled when Jed appears in the bathroom to check on her. They share a long glance as they hear Andy announce that he is home. Later that night, Jed is involved in a sexual marathon with one of the nurses from the hospital. Tracy is extremely annoyed because the noise is keeping her awake. As Andy is about to go ask him to hold it down, the noise stops. The nurese jokes with him that the only reason he is a doctor is for the money and women. He laughs, and jokes about his tolerance with alcohol. After coming out of the bathroom, Tracy stares coldly as the nurse runs naked to the upstairs bathroom.The next day. Andy is annoyed that Paula still has not shown up for her appointment. After talking to his secretary, he decides to go to her house to check on her. He arrives and the house is completely quiet. He calls out for her, but gets no answer. The front door is open, so he lets himself inside. He then notices the back door is slightly ajar and that a lock of her hair is on the floor. He walks out back and notices one of her shoes. He then approaches the hedges and finds her brutalized body hidden inside. Detective Harris says he will need to provide a statement.Leter, Jed tries to cheer up Andy at the bar. He relays a story about the first time he saw a dead body in medical school. After Jed makes a comment about pro athletes not being able to stay clean for a million dollars, Andy says he would "give his right arm" for a million. Jed presses him on it, saying what if was a surgical prcedure. Would he do it? Andy says no, as does Jed after cracking an ice cube in his mouth. Andy heads home as Jed decides to check on the local women playing darts.Andy comes home and Harris is waiting for him. She tells him there is circumstantial evidence tying him to the rapes. He is outraged at being considered a suspect. She then tells him he needs to come to the station to provide some sperm to rule him out. Reluctantly, he agrees to go.Tracy comes home and her pain is now unbearable. She calls out for Andy, but he is still at the station. She calls 911. While chatting it up with the dart ladies and drinking bourbon, Jed is paged to the hospital, where he sees that Tracy is the person he needs to operate on. Back at the station Andy is ruled out as a suspect and as he is leaving, is told his wife called 911. He rushes to the hospital.It turns out one of her ovaries has ruptured and needs to be removed. They discover that she was 4 weeks pregnant, but she miscarries due to the trauma. A doctor notices a problem with the second ovary and Jed says they need to get a histology report to make sure it isn't still a live ovary. They realize they don't have the time to do it. Jed goes out and tells Andy the options. They can remove the ovary and she'll be fine (but never able to have kids). Or they can leave the ovary in and hope she does not die from toxic shock. Andy says to do whatever he needs to. He tells Andy that she was 4 weeks pregnant, but the baby is gone. Jed goes in and against the advice of fellow surgeons, he removes the other ovary.Later, it comes to light that he removed a healthy ovary. Jed has the chance to bury the report, but declines. He stands by his judgement call. The turn of events destroys Tracy. She tells Andy she is leaving him, and she files a lawsuit against Jed Hill, for $20 million.At the deposition, Jed is made out to be a top notch surgeon, but has a "God-complex". He states that when people go into the chapel and pray to God that their loved ones will be alright, who does the lawyer think they are praying to. "You ask me if I have a God complex. Let me tell you something. I am God." He then gets up and walks out. Tracy's lawyer then mentions they know he was drinking the night of her surgery. They decide to settle. Tracy doesn't seem to care about the money. As she exits the building, she notices Andy across the street. She shoots him a cold stare and then leaves in her lawyer's car.Back at work, Andy is working late into the night, when one of his bulbs goes out. He goes downstairs and finds the janitor (Tobin Bell) has a makeshift place and is living down there. He finds a lock of hair on the night table as well as in a cigar box. He is startled when he appears behind him. He explains that he got kicked out of his old place and this is just temporary. Andy says not to worry about it and leaves. As he is walking away, he is jumped from behind and he ends up fighting him off and rendering him unconscious.At the station, Detective Harris invites Andy to get a drink. While there, she talks about how her family accuses her of wielding her honesty like a blunt instrument. She tells him that there is something he needs to know about his wife. Something important. He goes back to the station with her.Later, he goes to Jed's hotel to tell him that thet baby was not his. It turns out that Andy is sterile (which cleared him of the rapes). Jed tells him it doesn't change anything regarding his situation. He feels bad for Andy and says that bad things happen to good people all the time, for no good reason. Andy, suspecting that maybe Tracy's lawyer is the father, goes to confront him.Andy barges in and accuses her lawyer (Peter Gallagher) of having an affair with his wife. He says he did not. But since he cannot give him any information about where she is, he should talk to her friends or mother. Andy says he should know her mother is dead, since he handled her estate. He says he never did. As he is leaving, he suggests that Andy bring her a bottle of scotch.Andy arrives and uses the bottle of scotch to entice Tracy's mother (Anne Bancroft) to open the door. They talk about Tracy's childhood, how she always stashed away any money she had, how her father abandoned her and took her hidden money. As she is drinking, she laughs about how gullable Andy is. He says he knows she has been there becuase of the Degas statue on her mantle. She laughs and say you can get one of them anywhere. She then tries to get him to do a card trick, and asks him to bet. He says no. "Because when money is involved, you take me seriously." She then tells him he should just "get into the game" and go for the $20 million himself. When he brings up Dr. Lillianfield, she smiles and tells him "Welcome to the game."He finds Lillianfield's address through a ruse using a change of address excuse. He finds out the address and lies in wait inside the house. He hears Tracy as she comes in the door. To his horror, Dr Lillianfield turns out to be Jed Hill. They kiss passionately as she orders him to take her upstairs and have sex with her. After they go upstairs, Andy leaves the house, devestated.He goes home and knocks a bunch of items from her dresser to the floor. But, he notices something odd. There is a syringe with some liquid still inside of it. He then notices they neighbor's son's silhouette again, playing on his keyboard.As they walk along the beach the next morning, Jed laments about how his mentor wrote him a letter saying he was sorry about everything. While Tracy finds it amusing, Jed is upset that his mentor never apologized about not giving him the chief of staff job at Mass General. They kiss and head back to the house to make love again. While she is laying on the bed, a syringe sticks her. Jed realizes that now Andy knows what it going on, that he has been in the house. Jed rehashes the plan and lets Tracy know the improvised part of her getting pregnant was what tipped Andy off. He figured out there was no Dr Lillianfield. Tracy says to let her handle him.At a bar/restaurant, Tracy acts all loving and seductive with Andy, trying to convince him that things can go back to normal. She runs her foot up his leg, until Andy tells her that she dropped her shoe. She realizes that her ploy is not working. She then goes on the attack, trying to intimidate him, saying that if he goes to the police, that will make him look crazy. She gets up and wishes him "happy hunting." Andy then tells her to "sit the f*** down." He tells her he knows what was in the syringe and that the lab guys told him that the substance in the syringe could cause the ovarian cysts she got if injected in massive doses. He then suggests that maybe he should have put curtains up in the bedroom because someone might have seen her injecting herself to cause the cysts. Enraged, she shatters a wine glass in her hand. He then warns her that if anything is to happen to him, the police will go to her neighbor's son. He wants half the money.Back at the house, Jed suggests strongly they give him the money and they should leave the country. He tells her they don't have a choice. She then suggests that without the kid, there is no case. He is horrified by the suggestion. He then slaps her and tells her not to bring it up again. If something happens to the kid, he will be the state's star witness against her. She then pulls out a gun and kills him.Tracy waits outside her former neighbor's house and waits for her to leave. She calls Andy and tells him she has his money. He gives her a meeting place and then heads out in his car. After he leaves, she approaches the neighbor's house. She then silently walks upstairs and slowly approaches the boy with plastic wrap, while he is playing his keyboard as usual. She puts it around his head, only to find that it is really a CPR dummy from the police station. Tracy goes ballastic, smashing the dummy on the keyboard. Andy turns out the light and taunts her saying, "Like shooting tuna in a barrel, huh?" She lunges for him and they fall through a bannister and land on the floor. As she is about to get up, Detective Harris, dressed as the neighbor (she is a nurse), stomps on a piece of wood Tracy is preparing to pick up saying "I won't mind shooting you." She tells Andy he may need a doctor. He laughs.Tracy is led out to the police car and sees the neighbor and her BLIND son go back into the house. She is stunned. She looks at Andy with a mixture of sadness, shock and, belatedly, respect. The car drives off and Harris and Andy sit on his porch. She suggests he needs ice. He says he'll take his with some scotch. They head off in her car.THE END

Tags: revenge, intrigue, neo noir, murder

Review:
The first time through, MALICE is a great psychological thriller, with twists and turns through a plot that contains rape, murder, life-and-death trauma, and a fight to the death...all within the first 45 minutes.
The second time through, though, provides a look at all the things you might have missed the first time around...and a chance to savor an outstanding performance from perhaps the most underrated actor in Hollywood, Alec Baldwin.Bill Pullman plays Andy Safien, an associate dean at a small New England college outside of Boston that's currently under siege by a serial rapist who claims his latest victim as the film opens.
Jed operates to save her life (after a night of drinking and wild partying), but renders her unable to bear children...leading to a malpractice suit from Tracy and an incredible soliloquy on surgeons with a God complex from Jed during the deposition.But once the first half of the film is over, things really start to roll.
Without revealing the rest of the plot, suffice it to say that as Andy, Tracy, and Jed all try to start their lives over again, their fates become inextricably entangled.The movie is worth seeing once as a thriller.
The opening scene's haunting music will stay with you forever and draw you into a roller coaster ride of suspense, drama, and deceit.The film revolves around a couple who's lives become interwoven by a mysterious and arrogant surgeon who manipulates and cons his way into their lives with little surprises around every turn.
Watch for outstanding performances by Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman, and Bill Pullman, as well as a powerful supporting role by Ann Bancroft.Malice is very difficult to review without giving away parts of the movie, so I will not go into great detail.
this is one very good movie.it's got suspense,a twisting plot,great intensity,and a good story.it may not be wholly original,but it think it works,thanks to its three main actors,Alec Baldwin(The Good Shepherd)Nicole Kidman(The Interpreter)and Bill Pullman.But Kidman really surprised me with the intensity she brought to her role.i'm generally not a fan,but she is effective in this movie.the supporting performances are also good.i also like the fact that the movie isn't completely predictable,like happens in so many movies.the movie is also very well paced.there are no lagging spots to slow things down to the point of boredom.anyway,i really enjoyed it.
It stars Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher, Bebe Neuwirth and Josef Sommer.
Music is by Jerry Goldsmith and cinematography by Gordon Willis.Andy (Pullman) and Tracy Safian (Kidman) take in a respectable Dr. Jed Hill (Baldwin) as a lodger thinking he ticks all the ace lodger boxes.
However, he turns out to be far from ace and after having to perform emergency surgery on Tracy, the Safian's world gets turned upside down...Malice is an old fashioned thriller, it has flaws and major implausibilities, but if taken on its own popcorn thriller terms it rounds out as a good night's entertainment.
There's considerable thriller talent involved in the production, with Becker (Sea of Love), Frank (Dead Again), Sorkin (A Few Good Men), Kidman (Dead Calm) and Baldwin (The Hunt for Red October) all having been party to producing some quality genre offerings.
Cast are on form, with Baldwin revelling in oily egomania and Pullman classical in gullible's travels mode.You will wish it had a more thundering climax, even if it is actually a touch clever, and credibility is often stretched to breaking point, but Malice operates out of the upper echelons of 1990s thrillers and still remains entertaining today.
The college professor Andy Safian (Bill Pullman) and his former student and presently school teacher Tracy (Nicole Kidman) are happily married and are trying to have a baby.
When the last victim of the rapist that studies at Andy's college is sent to the Saint Agnes Hospital, the surgeon Dr. Jed Hill (Alec Baldwin) saves her life.
Last but not the least, it is great to see the young cast with Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher and Gwyneth Paltrow working with the veterans George C.
One aspect that nettled me was poor dialogues, weren't as good as they were needed in a thriller like this, and maybe a tad more enthusiasm from director Harold Becker would have gone a long way.Check out the synopsis section for a better view on the film.
The first thing to bear in mind is that there are (like in Hitchcock's "family plot",there the comparison ends)TWO distinct plots : -The threesome Baldwin/Pullman/Kidman and the ominous plans of some of them.-And then a serial killer who hangs about the campus ,in the college where Andy works.There's a very thin ,very thin connection between the two stories,and it's a question of ...well I will not write a spoiler.The screenplay is far-fetched,but has enough unexpected twists to sustain the interest till the very end (yes,even the very last sequence contains a "revelation") But the real meat lies in one sequence.A bewildered Andy pays a visit to an old alcoholic shrew ,played by Mrs Bancroft.Had she had a more important part,she 'd have stolen the show hands down.Every minute of this sequence is a lesson young actresses should pay attention to.Dig the way she delivers the line :"welcome to the club"."Malice" is fun to watch,after a hard day's labor.Not much food for thought,but entertaining throughout.
Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman and Bill Pullman provide the right chemistry in "Malice."Problem with this film is that there are two themes brought to the screen.
While they are tied together, a third theme is not adequately explained as the film ends.Nevertheless, we have a good story about a serial killer killing young college co-eds, while at the same time Baldwin and Kidman plot against her husband (Pullman) who it appears is the jerk of the year.When Pullman finds out that he has been duped, he wants to be cut in on the $20 million dollars that Kidman has won with the aid of Baldwin, her lover.Bebe Neuwirth plays a detective caught up in both situations.
Scott does well in a brief appearance as a witness for the surgeon Baldwin.A good thriller with wonderful plot twists..
Good roles for Baldwin and Kidman, Pullman is a panty-waist teacher and is OK but to me, he seems he comes across roles like that in MANY his movies...zzzzzzzzzzz!} Appearances by old pros Bancroft {good performance} and Scott {not noteworthy} seem to be 'there' to just add their names to the promotable aspect of the film at release time, in my opinion!
Very interesting twist in the plot, and a terrific scene about Alec Baldwin's "God complex".
Odd. Odd suspense thriller about smooth, suave doctor Baldwin moving in with Pullman and Kidman and the various strange things that start happening after he moves in.
Bill Pullman does a decent job of playing the film's wrongly viewed protagonist character, and Nicole Kidman, in an early role, makes the most of her role as Bill's girlfriend.Another reason to rent this one, of course, is the fact that it featured one of Nicole's first love scenes, and you do see a good bit of her, and you can't help being impressed with what you see.
"Malice" features three of the finest actors in business - Alec Baldwin, Bill Pullman and Nicole Kidman in a brilliantly crafted complex mystery with smart direction and great screen writing.
Bill Pullman also had some of his best moments in this film, especially in the last confrontation with Kidman's character Tracy in the restaurant.
His blend those common material with passion plus strong performances from his cast, Alec Baldwin, Bill Pullman, and especially the gorgeous Nicole Kidman in her early carrier.Despite the plain plot, but the solid cast and good directing make it as a memorable thriller.
At the beginning I thought this was going to be one of those thrillers that are worth watching just for kill time, but in terms of cinema don't bring anything really; however, as the movie advanced I really enjoyed all the twists that it had, even with side plots and situations that really make you doubt who's the bad guy, and maybe by the end makes you wonder "what did that have to do with the principal plot line?" And maybe the answer is none, just to confuse you more, and it's done in a very elegant way, not like those kind of thrillers that throw a bunch of situations just to confuses the viewer and end up ruining the whole picture, but not this one.
In conclusion, a very good thriller, obviously not a masterpiece, but in therms o plot and acting (specially by Kidman and Baldwin), it really holds up to thrilled that you won't forget..
Excellent performances by Nicole Kidman, Anne Bancroft (albeit a very small role for her), even Alec Baldwin, whom I generally do not care for.
Baldwin and Kidman, it turns out, are more than just passing friends, and Pullman is right on in a familiar role as a clueless good guy.
The stage curtains open ...Alec Baldwin shines in this very good, very strong thriller featuring other good performances by Nicole Kidman, Bill Pullman, and Bebe Neuwirth.
It boasts an awesome cast, which includes Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman, Bill Pullman, Anne Bancroft, George C.
Bill Pullman and Nicole Kidman play a married couple who somehow get involved with Alec Baldwin and that is where things start to take a turn for the worse.
The plot gets progressively hard to believe and Nicole Kidman is given more than her acting ability can handle, which becomes a burden on the movieDuring the earlier portion of the movie (the better portion) Malice demonstrates on two or even three occasions that Director Harold Becker is more than capable of making his product not just a thriller but a scary movie, the kind that makes the audience jump, but suspense seems to be of little interest in the end.
Bill Pullman, who should be billed first, gives a great performance with average roles played by Alec Baldwin and Nicole Kidman.
Nicole Kidman is good, but the most important seems to be the performances from Baldwin and Bancroft.
Nicole Kidman andBill Pullman are also great; however,it's Anne Bancroft who walks away with the movie.
There are several nice twists in this well acted suspense story of a professor's (Pullman) wife (Kidman) having an affair with an obnoxious, egotistical doctor.
(Baldwin)Pullman doesn't know of the affair at first and is happy with Kidman's pregnancy and then the twists come in to play.Altho most viewers may find this predictable it is still very well acted by all and a good appearance is made by Frazier's wife Neuworth.If you don't expect too much you will have a pleasant time watching this..
Bill Pullman and Nicole Kidman play a happily married couple, whose idyllic world gets shattered when an obnoxious surgeon (Alec Baldwin) comes into their lives, causing a break up.
Terrific acting performances by Nicole Kidman, Bill Pullman and Alec Baldwin.
Terrific actors Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman and Bill Pullman (and Gwyneth Paltrow in a small part) manage to make the preliminaries gripping, but once the story threads start tying themselves into knots, there isn't much this cast can do except struggle.
I mean look who he had to work with: Nicole Kidman, Alec Baldwin, and Bill Pullman.
Harold Becker directed this suspense thriller that stars Bill Pullman & Nicole Kidman as Andy & Tracy, a seemingly happily married couple who would desperately like to have children.
Alec Baldwin plays a new doctor in town named Jed whom Andy used to know.
The skill sets of our three stars (Kidman, Pullman and Baldwin) are already evident, but the additions of the likes of Anne Bancroft and Bebe Neuwirth, even in their limited time allotments, add much spice, subtle and not so subtle, to the cinematic mixture.
"Malice" was probably one of my favorite films in the 1990's, and still is today.Alec Baldwin is fabulous playing the egocentric doctor, Jed Hill.
***SPOILERS*** What takes a lot away from the movie "Malice" punch is that it's actually two stories in one that have really nothing to do with each other.Were at first made to believe that the film is about a serial killer on the loose on this small New England collage campus murdering and raping young female students.
It's then when were introduced to the new doctor in town handsome arrogant and all full of himself Jed Hill, Alec Baldwin, that the film changes course into an illicit affair between Doc. Hill and the assistant dean of the collage Andy Safian's, Bill Pullman, sexy wife Tracy, Nicole Kidman.The serial killer angle is quickly eliminated with the killer collage handyman Earl Leemus, Tobin Bell,discovered and apprehended, after a life and death struggle, by Andy which in all respects should have ended the film.
Scott as Dr. Kessler, Jed Hill's professor at Harvard Medical School,and Babe Neuwirth as the local police detective Dana Harris, assigned to the collage serial murder case, the movie "Malice" just doesn't hold water and fall apart well before it's totally ridicules and unconvincing ending.
When I saw "Malice" many years later, I was quite surprised at what they had seen while I had watched something as silly as "Cool Runnings" (which I will say, was a pretty funny movie).
It portrays a three-way relationship between a professor (Bill Pullman), his wife (Nicole Kidman), and her gynecologist (Alec Baldwin).
The performances of Bill Pullman, Nicole Kidman and Alec Baldwyn therefore were great and saved this movie from a complete disaster.
Tracy blames Andy for allowing it to happen as she sues Jed.The movie is overloaded with red herring, blind twist and subplots where a serial killer actually dead ends to nothing but a random guy.
The latter option may have been better for Scott and Bancroft than their roles in "Malice," a thriller that starts off as one movie and ends up being something completely different.
"Malice" is less surprising than it is dishonest.The place is a New England college where dean Andy Safian (Bill Pullman) and wife Tracy (Nicole Kidman) struggle to make ends meet although they appear, to this viewer anyway, to be living in something approaching splendor.
i don't know,this is way up there in the "so bad it'Good " charts Kidman ,Baldwin,and Pullman must cringe when they see it now.I think Woody Allen would have worked wonders with the outlandish plot, and Baldwin's part could have been played with gusto by Leslie Nelson.it was on again tonight i tried to watch it again but life's too short.
the few minutes i watched was for the lovely Nicole she was so hot around 93, has Baldwin ever made a good movie?
Nicole Kidman is great (as always) but I  have liked her better in other roles and the whole dark icky plot just didn't play well with me.
This movie, while less know, should appeal to anyone interested at all in suspense and intrigue.The scene with Anne Bancroft and Bill Pullman still gives me an adrenaline rush when I think about it.
1993's malice is a very well-made thriller/mystery film starring Nicole Kidman Alec Baldwin and Bill Pullman.
The movie starts with concerns about a rapist on the loose attacking college girls, progresses through a tragedy around the inability of the Safiens (Bill Pullman and Nicole Kidman) to have children, and finally ends up being about an insurance scam with tragic results.Of the lead actors, Alec Baldwin (as Dr. Jed Hill) offered probably the best performance of the movie, but I didn't think it as one of the stronger performances I've seen him in.
MALICE tells the tale of a young small town couple struggling to make ends meet, and their life-changing run-in with an old school chum who is now a big time surgeon with a god complex.
Leads Bill Pullman, Nicole Kidman and Alec Baldwin are all fine, and the movie has several twists and turns to keep one alert and awake.
Nicole and Baldwin had been plotting this long before he moved in.I digress, though, but the movie is full of little gems like that which I think makes it good.Others have mentioned the scene where Andy goes to see the mother.
In the day, Tracy Safian (Nicole Kidman) works in the children's ward of the local hospital and her husband Andy (Bill Pullman) is an associate dean at the town's college.
Bill Pullman does a good job as the hapless husband who discovers how little he knows about his wife and Nicole Kidman does well in a role that requires her to show different and sometimes contrasting aspects of her complicated character."Malice" is totally unpredictable, full of outrageous developments and often puzzling and amusing at the same time.
Events that tie together a successful surgeon (Alec Baldwin), a college dean (Bill Pullman) and his gorgeous wife Tracy (Nicole Kidman).
Alec Baldwin, Bil Pullman, Nicole Kidman, Bebe Neuwirth, George C.
Alec Baldwin is his counterpart, the maverick surgeon who has a god complex and is secretly sleeping with his friend Pullman's wife.The movie opens as a rather straightforward drama about a married couple, Andy (Pullman) and Tracy (Kidman), who are happy together but childless.
I wish more movies that want to tell a "moral tale" had the craft to do it as well as this one does; and the scene in the hotel bar near the end is memorable.I've never been a huge Nicole Kidman fan, but she is REALLY good in this; and Alec Baldwin backs her up superbly.
I will cut to the chase...characters played by Nicole Kidman and Alec Baldwin devise a plot to create a malpractice suit.
The film does benefit from strong performances - Nicole Kidman is in her prime and Alec Baldwin's "God Complex" speech is terrific.
His acting is out of the top drawer in this movie, and that is not meant to detract from the performances of Pullman and Kidman, who are also very very good.