Friday, January 10, 2014

Movie review - "Malice" (1993) *** (warning: spoilers)

The sort of thriller they used to make a lot in the 90s which seem to have gone out of fashion now. Watching this I kept thinking "they're so young" - there's a super slim and darkly sexy Alex Baldwin (far more comfortably cast here as a egomaniacal bastard than he would be in his nice guy hero roles), emerging Hollywood name Nicole Kidman, baby faced Gwyneth Paltrow and still-looks-the-same Bill Pullman.

This goes on for too long, you'll probably pick the twists early, and it's been supplanted a lot by TV and other thrillers but it remains a decent thriller, with a strong story (even if there's an entirely jettison-able serial killer subplot). Nicker's American accent slips a bit but she is sexy and makes an ideal femme fetale, Bill Pullman does his dull hero thing well, Baldwin is outstanding, particularly kicking goals with his "I am God" speech which smacks of Aaron Sorkin, who worked on the script. 


It's a shame there aren't more verbal flourishes in the script like this - but I guess Sorkin hadn't reached rock star status yet. It's also a shame Baldwin and Sorkin haven't combined more because Baldwin does his dialogue so well.

Excellent support cast including George C Scott, Anne Bancroft, Peter Gallaher and Bebe Neuwirth. Apparently William Goldman worked on the script.

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