Nicole Kidman is right on target in this notable dark comedy, an adaptation of the Joyce Maynard novel which was itself inspired by a notorious real life story. Nicole, looking absolutely ravishing throughout, is a completely self-serving sociopath named Suzanne Stone who's simply hellbent on achieving her personal American dream of being a TV personality. When she realizes that her nice guy husband Larry (Matt Dillon, in a solid change of pace performance) is going to be an obstacle in her path, she turns on the heat and convinces dumb as dirt, lovelorn teenager Jimmy Emmett (Joaquin Phoenix, in his breakthrough performance) to bump off Larry. She then proceeds to play to the media to her hearts' content.22 years later, this film version remains pretty damn relevant, in the era of reality television where just about any person can become a celebrity for no really good reason, and fame & fortune is still seen as a worthwhile goal. Working from a screenplay by actor Buck Henry, director Gus Van Sant gives us a thoroughly absorbing film with a fair amount of ideas to mull over. Just like any good dark comedy, it's funny in a twisted sort of way. I'm sure some people who've followed the story, or read the book, or seen the movie, must know one or more people like Suzanne Stone.An exceptional cast full of familiar faces is the real drawing card: Phoenix, Casey Affleck as his degenerate "friend", Alison Folland as the awkward girl who hangs out with the two of them, Dan Hedaya and Maria Tucci as Larry's parents, Kurtwood Smith and Holland Taylor as Suzannes' folks, Tim Hopper and Michael Rispoli as investigating detectives, Wayne Knight as the manager of a local TV station, and especially Illeana Douglas as Larry's sister, a cynical sort who has Suzanne pegged right early on. Making cameo appearances are author Maynard (as Suzannes' lawyer), screenwriter Henry (as a huffy teacher), and filmmaker David Cronenberg as the mysterious man at the lake. Kidman is a marvel as she really struts her stuff for the camera.Ultimately, one does feel somewhat sorry for Jimmy when it's seen just how pathetic he really is. He's just one of many characters who get jerked around by Suzanne, a master manipulator if ever there was one.Eight out of 10.

This film by Gus van Sant is based on the ambitions of Suzanne Stone, a weather girl from a local TV station who wants to achieve fame and success at any cost. When her rich husband becomes a problem, she decides to arrange a lover to kill him. A simple plot, but with good premises for what Van Sant wanted: a kind of black comedy about sex, ambition and manipulation. He skillfully presents most of the film as a documentary, using cinematography and some visual and sound tricks to give more authenticity to that illusion. Nicole Kidman carries the film in her back with grace and malice, and seems very ease with her character, a girl who uses all the weapons to get what she wants. The remaining actors make a good supporting work, but are completely overshadowed by her talent.This movie is likely to appeal to black humor lovers. It's not a thriller or mystery movie, it's all pretty obvious to the public since the beginning. However, Kidman's performance is already a reason to make the film worth watching.

Well, I sort of expected something a little different, but what I did get was pretty good anyway. I expected her to be clawing her way to the top through lies, trickery, deceit, and murder. She was clawing her way to the top, but she really did not seem to get anywhere.This movie is about an obsessed woman named Susan. She is obsessed with being on television, and will do anything to get there. We are not sure if she went all the way with one television producer, but as far as she gets is a small cable channel in her home town. She has dreams of Hollywood, but she never really gets there, and I think that this is the main thrust of the movie - the fact that she is obsessed with something that she can never have.The movie is told from the point of view of the characters looking back. It begins with the death of Susan's husband, and the characters look back to see how this happened. Her husband's parents had connections in the mafia, which is a very bad thing when it came to her lies and deceit to get her off of the murder charge.She is a smart girl, but she is obsessed with one thing so much that she will kill for it. At first she seems to love this guy immensely, but as the movie drags on, she becomes more distant from him in pursuit of her goal - to the point that when he tells her to give up, he is no longer somebody whom she can look up to. He goes from being an encouraging friend to an arch-enemy.This is a somewhat strange film, but it has been crafted well. I haven't seen many movies by Gus Van Sant, but after seeing the brilliance of My Own Private Idaho, I decided that I liked his work and will generally take an interest in movies that I know that he has made. This movie does not change my mind about him, but rather strengthens my view that he is an above average filmmaker.

Gus Van Sant delivered, in 1995, this not very interesting satire on the media and exposure, staging Nicole Kidman who is ready to die (and kill) for her moment of glory. The script is unfortunately too linear, not enough catchy, and the choice of showing the outcome in the first moments of the movie turns out to be a serious mistake, ruining some of the interest of story. Moreover, the documentary style, with those interviews, is quite heavy and doesn't seem to serve any real purpose.The actors seem a bit left to themselves, such as Joaquin Phoenix in one of his first roles, and deliver lacklustre performances, hot helped by characters that lack consistency.Finally, and more surprisingly, the photography is close to being bad and gives the impression of watching a banal TV movie, which is very disappointing considering what GVS is capable of.