Year of Release: 1993
Director: Harold Becker
Starring: Bill Pullman, Nicole Kidman, Alec Baldwin, Bebe Neuwirth, Peter Gallagher, Anne Bancroft, Joseph Sommer, George C. Scott, Tobin Bell, Debrah Farentino, Gwyneth Paltrow, Diana Bellamy, Ann Cusack, Joshua Malina
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
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Synopsis and Review:
Following the success of "Sea of Love", director Harold Becker tackled another thriller, this time around hailing from celebrated screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, with co-authorship from the wonderful Scott Frank (who wrote the screenplay for Barry Sonnenfeld's "Get Shorty", Steven Soderbergh's "Out of Sight" and Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report", to name but a few). The film follows the story of a young married couple, comprised of Andy and Tracy Safian, who live in the Boston area, and have recently bought a Victorian house they've been restoring. Andy is an associate Dean at a local college and Tracy is an art teacher to children. They've been trying to have kids without much success. The college where Andy teaches has been under scrutiny due to female students being attacked and raped. One of them has to go through surgery following a vicious attack, but thanks to the intervention of a renowned surgeon, Jed Hill, manages to recover. As it turns out, Jed has recently moved to the area, and is actually an old high school friend of Andy's. As he's looking for a place to stay, Andy suggests he rents out the top floor of their house, much against Tracy's approval. After another student gets killed, Andy goes to the police station to clear out his name, and is informed his wife is in the emergency ward. As it turns out, Jed finds himself in the unfortunate position of having to remove her ovaries, since one burst due to a cyst, while the other seems to be in rough condition as well. As Andy agrees to the procedure, turns out, that the second ovary was indeed healthy. As Tracy recovers, she wants Jed to pay for that brutal malpractice, while also moves away from Andy. As insurance intervenes to pay a settlement, Andy starts uncovering some details that prove that not all is what it seems.
"Malice" is an interesting film that followed a trend common to some of the films from the early 90s: young couples and family units are either placed in dangerous situations, or aren't all that they seem to be. That was the case with John Schlesinger's "Pacific Heights", Jonathan Kaplan's "Unlawful Entry", Alan Rudolph's "Mortal Thoughts", Wolfgang Petersen's "Shattered" and Alan J. Pakula's "Consenting Adults". The main issue with "Malice" is the fact that it tries very hard to have multiple plot threads going simultaneously, with the focus initially being the attacks in the campus, before it turns around, and then focuses on the elaborate scheme being deftly placed in execution by some of the other characters. The anchor to both these threads is Andy, whom for the most part is reacting to the events, and who is somewhat of a blank canvas (as are most of the characters in this film). There is a surprising lack of depth for all the characters here, and while that at times can be effective in a taut and straight to the point B-movie, this film has seemingly loftier ambitions, particularly as it tries to place a fair amount of twists and turns before the big revelations start unfolding. While the film has a tremendous cast, Nicole Kidman somehow feels miscast (Michelle Pfeiffer at the time would have been a better choice), whereas Alec Baldwin, Bill Pullman, Anne Bancroft and Peter Gallagher, bring the most memorable performances to the front (even if the roles aren't exactly that different from what is expected from them). The production team is excellent, from the cinematography of the iconic Gordon Willis, to the score from Jerry Goldsmith. While watchable, this film could have benefited from a far more focused narrative thread.
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