In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.

in brief : best bleak comedy film
since heathers . full of wonderful swipes at the fifteen minutes of fame mentality that feeds so much of modern american pop culture .
go see it !
so , i prepared for this film by watching a moving interview on " hard copy " with pam smart , the new hampshire media teacher who was convicted of engineering the death of her husband back in the 1980 's .
" hard copy " 's diane diamond asked smart what she thought about nicole kidman 's fictionalized portrayal of her in the new film to die for .
smart replied that she thought kidman 's character came off as a dumb , vicious tramp
and she thought that the publicity the new movie generates might just hurt her chances in her latest court appeal .
( smart was convicted and given a life sentence for her part in the murder of her husband . )
smart 's got a point .
it would n't be the first time that the public took the better scripted and well - acted movie version of an event as the absolute truth over the duller and far less artistic real life version .
however , given a choice between the mass media ' happening ' of the real event and the fictionalized movie , i would definitely opt for the later .
real murderers rarely have dialogue as witty as what buck henry has written for this movie and smart , while pretty and alluring , is no match for the cinematic charms of nicole kidman .
to die for begins in a town called little hope , new hampshire , the archetypal dry and intellectually barren american suburb .
the story concerns the ambitious suzanne stone and how she tackles the obstacles between her and her life long ambition of being ' on tv . '
of course , one of those little obstacles turns out to be her dull and unambitious husband larry , played by matt dillon .
but , with a little imagination , some charm and raw sex appeal and a rather novel approach to junior achievement , our heroine manages to overcome the nay - sayers in her life , at least temporarily .
kidman triumphs in the trashy role of suzanne .
i have never really been all that fond of this actress but
she shows a wonderful flair for comedy in this picture .
her portrayal of the incredibly shallow and dumb femme fatale resonates .
kidman knows a star - making role when she sees it
and she plays the conscience - deprived suzanne as the ultimate career driven , post - feminist uber - temptress from hell .
she is ably abetted by wonderfully demented comic dialogue , which kidman delivers in a unselfconsciously funny way .
at one point suzanne is expounding on her knowledge of world events to her future husband and sister - in - law .
"
you know , " she knowingly exclaims , " gorbachev would still be the leader of russia or whatever , if he had just had that ugly purplish thing removed from his head .
"
her husband beams at suzanne 's profound knowledge of world politics and then proudly proclaims that this qualifies her to be the next barbara walters .
this is very close to pop culture bashing heaven , folks .
the other standout performance in the film is delivered by joaquin phoenix .
he plays jimmy , a burned out teenager who becomes addicted to suzanne 's sexual favors .
kidman 's character , vapid though she is , is a sort of suave beacon of success to jimmy and his lost friends russell and lydia , winningly portrayed by casey affleck and alison folland .
phoenix looks like the very embodiment of gen - x slackerhood ( as envisioned by tabloid tv , of course ) .
his jimmy has the dead eyes and demeanor of a kid who knows that he ai n't going anywhere , ever .
phoenix reacts to the sexy suzanne with a sort of obsessed amazement
and he makes us believe that a loser character like jimmy really would be willing to kill for someone like suzanne , someone who actually noticed him .
gus van sant ( drugstore cowboy ,
my own private idaho )
direction is first - rate .
he keeps the pacing in this not - quite - thriller snapping along .
van sant rightly keeps the focus of this movie on the amoral suzanne and does n't stop to proselytize the audience about the rightness or wrongness of her actions .
van sant trusts his material and trusts his audience to ' get it ' without stopping to explain what is funny about this all - american story .
the screenplay , by buck henry , is absolutely great and includes some of the best bleakly comic lines i 've heard since heathers .
henry 's story is a blast against the shallowness of the american media and the mindlessness of fame , yet the screenplay delivers this sharp message by focusing on just a few characters .
henry
ably manages to avoid diluting his story by aiming at too many targets and the result is a crisp and funny mini - classic .
danny elfman did the original music for this movie and he delivers another eccentric , loopy score that strongly echoes his themes for edward scissorhands .
either film score would make wonderful background music for halloween trick - or - treat parties .
all - in - all , a wonderful production , well worth your seven bucks ! to die for : a columbia pictures release directed by gus van sant .
written by buck henry score by danny elfman starring nicole kidman , matt dillon , joachin phoenix based on the book by joyce maynard .
rated r - for language and mature themes .
( respect the r , not for under 14 's ) rating ----- stars .
go see it .
P

available for rental - october 12 , 1999 10 things i hate about you is an update of the classic play , the taming of the shrew .
that said , drop any pre - conceived notions of what shakespeare 's work is supposed to be like and welcome yourself to padua high school , home of a student counselor ( allison janney ) who obsesses over the male penis ; a slightly too hip and racist african - american english teacher ( daryl mitchell ) ;
a new kid named cameron ( joseph gordon - levitt ) ; a model named joey ( andrew keegan ) , the subject of cameron and joey 's crushes ; bianca ( larisa oleynik ) ; and bianca 's sister - the shrew ( julia stiles in a marvelous performance ) - whose name is katarina , kat for short .
with movies about high schools similar to these running through projectors like water down the nile , it would be quite easy to write off 10 things i hate about you as just another doltish comedic - romance .
yet , you must realize that the story is timeless , and a few hundred years later it is equally as witty and comical
as when elizabeth gleefully looked on , groundlings below and stuffed brassieres on stage .
the first reminder of the original scribe can be found in katarina and bianca 's last name : stratford .
their family is run by walter stratford ( pretty woman 's larry miller ) , a doctor who is all too familiar with teenage pregnancy and guards his children accordingly .
in what he thinks to be a moment of ironic humor , the family " no dating " policy is amended to " bianca can date .
. .
when [ katarina ] does .
" with prom just ahead , bianca 's fate is grim ; unless , of course , she can tame the shrew .
do n't think this mission to be a simple one , as bianca kindly points out , her sister " .
.
. is a particularly hideous breed of loser .
" getting katarina to date is complex and oftentimes confusing .
when cameron , who likes bianca , learns of her father 's new rule , he is quick to consult a friend for advice .
the scheme they dream up is to fully exploit " someone with money .
" in this case , that is joey - the other guy with a crush on bianca .
cameron 's friend , a loser by teenage verdict , convinces joey to pay someone who has enough guts to take the shrew out .
the solution lies no farther away than the second blatant reminder of the master scribe : patrick verona ( heath ledger ) .
this verona is far from fair ; rumor has it that he previously laid his scene in prison .
moreover , katarina openly opined to the aforementioned english teacher that " hemingway was an alcoholic who hung around picasso , hoping to nail his leftovers .
"
the laws of high school cinema inexorably turn patrick and katarina into romeo and juliet .
providing a constant reminder of the fact that this is n't exactly what shakespeare had in mind are the elements obligatory to a high school comedy :
a party polluted with liquor , a best friend 's betrayal , and prom .
it is the latter that has become infamous for closing films like drive me crazy , american pie , never been kissed , carrie , she 's all that , and ca n't hardly wait .
yet surely even these practices have roots in shakespeare ; falstaff was a drunk , romeo and juliet met at a party , and caesar learned about loyalty the hard way .
P

every now and then a movie comes along from a suspect studio , with every indication that it will be a stinker , and to everybody 's surprise ( perhaps even the studio ) the film becomes a critical darling .
mtv films ' _ election , a high school comedy starring matthew broderick and reese witherspoon , is a current example .
did anybody know this film existed a week before it opened ?
the plot is deceptively simple .
george washington carver high school is having student elections .
tracy flick ( reese witherspoon ) is an over - achiever with her hand raised at nearly every question , way , way , high .
mr .
" m " ( matthew broderick ) , sick of the megalomaniac student , encourages paul , a popular - but - slow jock to run .
and paul 's nihilistic sister jumps in the race as well , for personal reasons .
the dark side of such sleeper success is that , because expectations were so low going in , the fact that this was quality stuff made the reviews even more enthusiastic than they have any right to be .
you ca n't help going in with the baggage of glowing reviews , which is in contrast to the negative baggage that the reviewers were likely to have .
_ election ,
a good film , does not live up to its hype .
what makes _ election _
so disappointing is that it contains significant plot details lifted directly from _ rushmore _ , released a few months earlier .
the similarities are staggering : tracy flick ( _ election _ ) is the president of an extraordinary number of clubs , and is involved with the school play .
max fischer ( _ rushmore _ ) is the president of an extraordinary number of clubs , and is involved with the school play .
the most significant tension of _ election _ is the potential relationship between a teacher and his student .
the most significant tension of _ rushmore _ is the potential relationship between a teacher and his student .
tracy flick is from a single parent home , which has contributed to her drive .
max fischer is from a single parent home , which has contributed to his drive .
the male bumbling adult in _ election _ ( matthew broderick ) pursues an extramarital affair , gets caught , and his whole life is ruined .
he even gets a bee sting .
the male bumbling adult in _ rushmore _ ( bill murray ) pursues an extramarital affair , gets caught , and his whole life is ruined .
he gets several bee stings .
and so on .
what happened ?
how is it that an individual screenplay ( _ rushmore _ ) and a novel ( _ election _ ) contain so many significant plot points , and yet both films were probably not even aware of each other , made from two different studios , from a genre ( the high school geeks revenge movie ) that had n't been fully formed yet ?
even so , the strengths of _ election _ rely upon its fantastic performances from broderick , witherspoon , and newcomer jessica campbell , as paul 's anti - social sister , tammy .
broderick here is playing the mr .
rooney role from _ ferris bueller _ , and
he seems to be having the most fun he 's had since then .
witherspoon is a revelation .
it 's early in the year , it 's a comedy , and teenagers have little clout , but for my money , witherspoon deserves an oscar nomination .
and once campbell 's character gets going , like in her fantastic speech in the gymnasium , then you 're won over .
one thing that 's been bothering me since i 've seen it .
there is an extraordinary amount of sexuality in this film .
i suppose that , coming from mtv films , i should expect no less . . .
but the film starts off light and airy , like a sitcom .
as the screws tighten , and the tensions mount , alexander payne decides to add elements that , frankly , distract from the story .
it is bad enough that mr .
m does n't like tracy 's determination to win at all costs , but did they have to throw in the student / teacher relationship ?
even so , there 's no logical reason why mr .
m has an affair when he does .
there 's a lot to like in _ election _ , but the plot similarities to _ rushmore _ , and the tonal nosedive it takes as it gets explicitly sex - driven , mark this as a disappointment .

P