A Perfect Murder [1998]

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
The husband (Michael Douglas) is a currency trader whose portfolio value is going right down the drain. The wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) is the heiress to a $100 million fortune. The marriage is not a happy one, but the promise of long-term affluence keeps them together. The wife pursues an affair with an artist (Viggo Mortenson) who gives her all the passion she doesn't get at home, and when the husband finds out, well ... someone's going to pay with their life. Who will the unlucky one be? We wouldn't dare spoil the elegant plot twists of this devious thriller, but it's well known that Douglas excels at portraying greedy characters with ice in their veins. Here, it's easy to assume that Douglas has pulled off, as the title implies, a killing that nobody will ever pin on him. But this is the kind of glossy thriller (loosely inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder) that delights in disrupting your expectations, so it grabs your attention right up to the final scene. It's a bit too cold really to draw you in but with its able cast and stylish direction by Andrew Davis, this less-than-perfect murder thriller is still definitely worth a look. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

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Synopsis
A young woman, Emily, from a wealthy family and heiress to a one million dollar trust fund, marries a millionaire, but the marriage is not emotionally fulfilling for her. She forms a friendship with a struggling artist who hopes that she will leave her husband. But when the husband discovers the affair he begins to plan the perfect murder...

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2007-07-29 rating:
Surprisingly weak
I am not going to say much about this film.
It is entertaining and not badly done, but please do your selves a favour and watch the Hitchcock original "Dial M for murder".
This film is a remake and I guess you will forget about it quite quickly once you have seen the original.
This film lacks the humor,charme and, most of all "class" of the hitchcock original.

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review by: date: 2007-04-16 rating:
"perfect for whom"
We soon establish that the "heroin" Gwyneth Paltrow (who is extremely rich and works for the United Nations) is having an affair with a young man (Vergo Mortenson) an up and coming artist. Her husband, Michael Douglas is a business man who by all accounts married her for her money. On the surface he is attentive and loving but her description of him to her friend Raquel is that he is manipulative. As the film unfolds we find out that he is in financial difficulties and has been a part of some unlawful dealings. He has discovered his wife's infidelity and constructs the opportunity to confront Mortenson and offer him a deal of 100,000$ to kill his wife, or he will tell her of Mortenson's lurid past, (swindling older women out of their money). Mortenson however, although at first shocked, fits in well with the deal and agrees to the murder. The plan is to go ahead the following night.
Things don't go entirely according to plan and Paltrow does not meet her demise. The film twists and turns to its final conclusion. David Suchet plays the detective with an interesting personality

The acting is exceptional with the 4 main actors working together well. The plot hints slightly of Dial M for Murder with the clue honing in on the door key to the apartment.

Well acted and highly enjoyable film.

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review by: date: 2006-08-27 rating:
Stylish and absorbing
This is a great movie - entertaining, full of twists and turns and is beautifully underplayed. Not excessive in its violence, but packed with intrigue and moments that had us scrunching the cushions and on the edge of our seats.

Michael Douglas is brilliantly cold and classy, Viggo Mortensen keeps you in a permanent quest to work out what he is thinking and what he will do next. Gwyneth Paltrow and David Suchet are superb in their respective roles of potential victim and suspicious police officer.

This is a great thriller, very loosely based on the classic "Dial M for Murder", and makes a great evening's viewing. If you like a good murder mystery, you will enjoy spending a couple of hours with this stylish and absorbing film. I commend it to you!

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review by: date: 2005-11-28 rating:
A perfect film
This is the third time I've seen the film. Each time I've enjoyed it as much as the last. This time I rented it so that my husband could see it for the first time. He loved it too. You just don't know, right up until the last minute, how it's going to end.Michael Douglas is just as good as he was in Falling Down, The Game etc etc. Rent it!!


review by: baba_umlungu date: 2005-02-26 rating:
First class thriller
Thoroughly absorbing thriller, with Michael Douglas at his ruthless, sharp suited (a la "Wall Street") futures broker best and well matched by Gwyneth Paltrow as his wife. Slickly directed and compelling to the end.

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Similar categories

Video . Video . Categories . Horror & Suspense . Thrillers
Video . Video . Categories . Horror & Suspense . Psychological Thrillers
Video . Video . Refinements . Condition (condition-type)
Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Crime, Thrillers & Mystery . All Crime, Thrillers & Mystery
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . BBFC Rating (intended_use_browse-bin) . 15
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Release Date (feature_three_browse-bin) . 1990 - 1999
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Editions (feature_two_browse-bin) . Standard Edition
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Language (theme_browse-bin) . English
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Format (binding_browse-bin) . VHS

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