Malice - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
Movie critic Roger Ebert made this amusing observation about Malice: "This is the only movie I can recall in which an entire subplot about a serial killer is thrown in simply for atmosphere." He's referring to the fact that this hokey but highly charged thriller is so packed with plot twists and red herrings that you'll soon find yourself so confused that you just have to sit back and hope that it will all make sense by the time the credits roll. It never does make much sense, but the movie at least has the look, feel, and twisted momentum of a really good thriller, and the talent on both sides of the camera is pretty impressive. Alec Baldwin plays a hot-shot surgeon who meets up with an old med-school buddy (Bill Pullman), whose wife (Nicole Kidman) has no objections when Baldwin moves into the upstairs room of their New England Victorian home. The situation's ripe for intrigue, suspicion, temptation, emergency surgery, legal proceedings, and just about anything else you'd find in a movie that desperately struggles to out-Hitchcock Hitchcock. Talk about McGuffins--this movie's chock full of 'em! When the plot thickens to the consistency and clarity of quicksand, you can still enjoy the darkly stylish work of master cinematographer Gordon Willis--or you can check out director Harold Becker's more coherent thriller Sea of Love. With Kidman and Baldwin working up a steamy lather, this one's just fun enough to be an agreeable waste of time. --Jeff Shannon

Description
What happens when you open your home to someone who's gutsier than you, more devious than you and crafty enough to steal your life right out from under you? Plenty of Malice. Starring Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman and Bill Pullman and boasting an excellent supporting cast (The New York Times) that includes OscarA(r) winners* Gwyneth Paltrow and Anne Bancroft, this bold, riveting thriller is deviously entertaining (The New York Times). Easy-going college dean Andy Safian's (Pullman) quiet New England world has just been terribly disrupted. Two coeds have been raped, a third has been killed and the police are beginning to suspect him! At home, bills are pilingup, his wife (Kidman) is developing severe stomach cramps and the new tenanta devilishly handsome surgeon (Baldwin)is regularly entertaining nurses late into the night. Little does Andy know that all of these events are related and that he's about to be blindsided by something more daring and deadly than anything he could have ever imagined! *Paltrow: Actress, Shakespeare in Love (1998); Bancroft: Actress, The Miracle Worker (1962)

Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Totally Underrated: A Brilliant Movie July 20, 2000
19 out of 19 found this review helpful

Leonard Maltin, who usually agrees with me (!), gives this movie only 2 1/2 stars. The Amazon reviewer says it doesn't make much sense and is full of McGuffins! Well, they're both way off base this time. McGuffins? Try to come up with even one good one, and you'll have something that most thrillers don't have at all. Come up with several, as does MALICE, and you have a totally brilliant thriller. Yes, the serial killer subplot was thrown in--for laughs, maybe? No matter, it served its purpose of deflection, setting up the main character, and even -- horror of horrors! -- filling time while time needs to be passing by in order for the main plot to mature. The movie was touted as being from the same director who brought us SEA OF LOVE, which to my mind is an immediate turn-off. But it shows--as William Goldman shows so clearly in his books--that the same director can be quite different depending on the screenplay. MALICE has a great screenplay, so all the director had to do was film it. Of course, I exaggerate, but wait a moment--look who he had to work with: Nicole Kidman, Alec Baldwin, and Bill Pullman. Each turned in a totally outstanding, memorable performance. Pullman had the hardest role and he pulled it off. Kidman is one of the greatest actresses of our generation. Baldwin was good as usual, and we especially have to thank the casting director for choosing him for this role, which seems to be "pure Baldwin," if you know what I mean (e.g., most Bogart movies are "pure Bogart," as if there were no one else who could possibly play that role, including George Raft as Rick in CASABLANCA). And even Peter Gallagher shows up here in an early role that makes a strong impression. George C. Scott is perfect, as always, in a cameo role. Nicole Kidman does not seem to be all that impressive through most of the movie, but she's playing a role, and playing it to the hilt, as we find out later. She gets her chance to show what she can do in the last fifteen minutes, and you can see her incredible range, her ability to focus the film, the depth of her resources as an actress, which she exceeds only in her bravura role in TO DIE FOR. All in all, MALICE is one of the finest thrillers of the 90s, and my prediction is that it will become a major cult favorite and be reissued sooner or later on DVD.

4 out of 5 stars

Twisting and Entertaining June 3, 2004
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

Proper enjoyment of this diverting little feature requires not knowing the plot twists, so I'll try to not spoil that enjoyment in praising this film.

I join Roger Ebert in not being able to think of another film that throws in a serial killer as just atmosphere - I watched this movie when it first came out a decade ago, then again on DVD yesterday, and I had completely forgotten the part about the serial killer.

Aside from the fact that George C. Scott and Anne Bancroft have left us, it would be difficult to assemble a cast like this wouldn't it? Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman, Bill Pullman, Anne Bancroft, Gwyneth Paltrow, George C. Scott, Bebe Newirth, Peter Gallagher all contribute to this film.

I love to watch films of any genre and any country and the sensation I like to have at the end of the viewing experience is "satisfied" - in the same way that I'd like my palate and belly "satisfied" by a good meal. This screenplay twists and turns, but rather than in a Charlie Kaufman "hey-look-at-how-many-unexpected-twists-and-turns-I-can-put-in" kind of way this story moves in a way that wraps up loose ends in a "satisfied" kind of way.

Especially used, this DVD can be had for a song also. It's a satisfactory way to pass a couple of hours.

4 out of 5 stars

See It Once For The Story, And Again For The Acting August 1, 2001
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

MALICE is one of those movies that you simply MUST see more than once to believe. 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 Safian, 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. Nicole Kidman plays his wife Tracy, a volunteer in the pediatrics ward of St. Agnes Hospital. They're renovating a Victorian house and need $14,000 for the plumbing. Enter Alec Baldwin as Dr. Jed Hill, a former high school classmate of Andy's, who's brand new in town and needs a place to stay. Andy needs the money, Jed needs a room, so the two hook up and soon Jed is sleeping upstairs in the Safiens' home...usually not alone, and his sexual escapades are grating on Tracy's nerves. The rapes continue, Andy is fingered as a suspect, and in the midst of it all, Tracy collapses with a ruptured ovarian cyst. 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. But the second time around, Baldwin's mesmerizing performance is what stands out. Jed is charismatic, seductive, and as charming as a cobra as he weaves his spell over the Safiens. Baldwin's ability to jump from utterly charming to incredibly chilling in the blink of an eye is on full display here; it is truly the performance of a lifetime.

See it once for the suspense, and again for the acting.

5 out of 5 stars QUIRKY THRILLER REQUIRES UNDIVIDED ATTENTION June 22, 2003
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Previous reviewers have already provided synopsis of the plot so no need for repetition here. I will say that this is one great flick with twists and turns galore. The all-star cast includes Bill Pullman, Nicole Kidman, Alec Baldwin, BeBe Newirth (who played Lilith on "Cheers"), Anne Bancroft, and a young Gwyneth Paltrow playing a college student. All deliver stunning performances. Nicole Kidman is diabolical as Tracy, a young wife whose wholesome, caring demeanor belies a truly evil spirit. Bancroft maximizes a small but meaty role as Tracy's hard luck, alcoholic mother who provides valuable insight into her daughter's past. Alec Baldwin is chilling as Dr. Jed Hill, the thoracic surgeon with a monstrous ego. His doctor/god-syndrome soliloquy alone is worth the price of admission. Reminiscent of the Gordon Gecko (Michael Douglas) greed speech in the movie Wall Street. Bill Pullman is convincing as the charmingly acquiescent college dean who when crossed, proves to be a cunning adversary. I agree with one reviewer who urges several viewings to get the full impact of the storyline and the performances. I've watched this three times and each time I pick up some little tidbit of plot or dialogue that I missed before. A dark, mysterious thriller with quite a few surprises along the way. If you like Hitchcock films, you'll love this.

4 out of 5 stars let me rack my brain for a clever retort... March 19, 2006
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

There are other candidates for best line besides "I AM God." My favorite is "Welcome to the game."

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