Review: MALICE / Harold Becker (1993)
November 19th, 2008 by Scott Marks
Malice (1993)
Directed by Harold Becker
Written by Aaron Sorkin and Scott Frank from a story by Sorkin and Jonas McCord
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman, Bill Pullman, Bebe Neuwirth, Peter Gallagher, Tobin Bell, Gwyneth Paltrow as a victim with Special Guest Stars Anne Bancroft and George C. Scott
Photographed by Gordon Willis
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Running Time: 107 min.
Rating: 
Wanna’ buy a LaserDisc?
Malice starts out poorly and quickly disintegrates into something much worse. It’s a stock thriller plot, interpreted by a pedigreed cast, hack screenwriter and lethargic director. Slow and simplistic for its first hour, the bottom third files faster than calendar pages in a Sirk montage.
The placid lives of pussy whipped Professor Bill Pullman and his way-too hot teacher wife Nicole Kidman derail when a dark friend from the past, Alec Baldwin, appears. A chance meeting leads to a roommate situation which affords Dr. Baldwin the opportunity of professionally manhandling his friend’s naked wife. Don’t worry, they’re both in on it.
Gordon Willis’ exposures are as dim as the dialogue, in stark contrast to the overwritten plot that packs more points than a season of episodic TV. Willis must have spent years studying faded Metrocolor prints in order to develop his look. The cinematographer’s patented muted mahogany, contrast-free tones defined many a great movie, while compromising a great many more. Not unlike exalted DP Sven Nykvist, whose dark frames are also instantly identifiable, when applied to other projects, their styles seem out of place and redundant.
Exposition that could have been dispensed in 3 minutes takes up the first reel, but the laughs start coming at a quickening pace. Dripping in Kidman’s blood, Baldwin bursts into the doctor, patient conference room and overtakes Pullman with the bad news: They’re under the gun and Baldwin wants to remove his wife’s remaining ovary. The good doctor pauses before whispering the obvious: She’ll never be able to have children. Even with the worst HMO on the planet you would think Pullman would demand a second opinion on the spot. Baldwin’s conduct is not befitting a great surgeon, especially a hot shot whose first day on the job established and cemented his reputation by saving a rape victim’s life.
There’s a red herring serial rapist thrown in to divert attention. Luckily Pullman’s desk lamp blows just in time to advance the story. A trek for a replacement bulb uncovers a youthful Tobin Bell. I can look at this guy for hours. His overall quiet, unsettling demeanor makes him a prime candidate to play people you don’t want to know. Another top talent, Bebe Neuwirth appears as the obligatory female cop/possible former girlfriend/friend from the neighborhood/secondary love interest waiting in the wings.
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Tags: alec baldwin, anne bancroft, bill pullman, George C. Scott, malice, malice review, Movie Review, Nicole Kidman, thrillerNicole Kidman finally badmouths Tom Cruise
November 6th, 2008 by Scott Marks
What chance did a relationship that began on the set of Days of Thunder have of spending its golden years in happily ever after land? It’s been seven years since Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise split, and during that time Ms. Kidman has maintained a professional silence…until today.
It’s clear that in their divorce settlement, Tom Cruise retained control of the ego while Nicole Kidman got full custody of the talent. In an interview with Glamour Magazine, Ms. Kidman comes clean about how hubby Tom kept her in her place: “I felt it was my job to put on a beautiful dress and to be seen and not heard.”
Kidman told Glamour she felt dwarfed standing in diminutive Tom’s shadow: “I became a star only by association. I didn’t think [my early movies] were very good, which is why I would always cower in the background.”
The little woman, who was 22 when she met Cruise, added, “I thought, I don’t deserve to be here. We would go to the Oscars and I would think, I’m here to support him.” In addition to the laughably bad Days of Thunder, Kidman and Cruise appeared in two subsequent films together: Ron Howard’s Far and Away (which audiences shunned) and Stanley Kubrick’s final film Eyes Wide Shut. She and Cruise immersed themselves in Kubrick’s notoriously long, cloistered shoot. Their on-screen shenanigans brought about a tidal wave of public speculation concerning their sex life (rumors swirled that Kidman acted as a beard for Cruise’s homosexuality). The high profile couple successfully sued The Star for a story alleging that they needed a therapist to coach them through sex scenes.
Kidman stopped short of discussing Cruise’s sexual persuasion and his blind devotion to Scientology. She can’t: the couple have two children together, Isabella, 15, and Connor, 13, that she doesn’t want to lose custody of.
It is obvious that is as soon as the couple split, Ms. Kidman’s career kicked into high gear with Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge (I’d rather watch Far and Away) and a best actress Oscar for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours.
The 41-year-old is now married to country singer Keith Urban, with whom she has a 4-month-old daughter, Sunday Rose.
Tags: Divorce, glamour magazine, Nicole Kidman, nicole kidman tom cruise, Tom CruiseFiled Under Gossip
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