The old adage goes, "The best laid plans of mice and men oft times go astray," and that's certainly proven in this week's film, "A Perfect Murder." Fortunately, the filmmakers' plans to revamp and update Alfred Hitchcock's lesser known 1954 film, "Dial M For Murder," work out much better than that of the picture's main character. Based on Frederick Knott's stage play that Hitchcock shot in 3-D with Ray Milland and the lovely Grace Kelly, this isn't an exact remake. The characters have changed as have bigger pieces of the story, and while the overall plot is similar, it's undergone a modern retrofitting.
Director Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive," "Chain Reaction"), working from a screenplay by Patrick Smith Kelly (his feature film writing debut), has delivered an old-fashioned suspense thriller that should completely please fans of the genre. Unlike many similar films, this one differs in that you're never exactly sure how it will end (in fact, they redid the ending after test audiences didn't like the way things initially turned out). Likewise, it lets the audience know up front the identities of the would-be killers. The "fun," therefore, comes from having their plan unravel and watching them trying to cover their tracks. As they do, the plot begins to twist and curve and thus ensures more suspense and complete audience involvement.
To make that happen, however, you need an engaging cast and in that regard Davis has mightily succeeded. While some may argue that Michael Douglas ("The American President," "The Game") is only replaying his Gordon Gecko character from "Wall Street" (for which he won an Oscar), the characters aren't exactly the same. Besides, Douglas plays the extremely successful, sophisticated and impeccably dressed character so well that he's always completely believable and the audience loves him in that sort of role. His is certainly not a likeable character, but he's always interesting to watch and the audience will get a kick out of watching him squirm when his "perfect murder" becomes anything but that.
Filling the Grace Kelly role (a nearly impossible task) is Gwyneth Paltrow, the hardest working actress of the year with this, her fourth movie of 1998 (the others being "Great Expectations," "Hush," and "Sliding Doors"). Equally capable of playing dignified characters like Douglas, Paltrow is perfectly cast as the love-starved wife who begins to figure out what her husband's up to. Viggo Mortensen ("G.I. Jane," "Crimson Tide") also delivers a good performance as the somewhat creepy lothario whose actions set the plot into motion and then later alter its course.
It's that twisting, convoluted plot, however, that really makes the movie entertaining. Right from the start we're introduced to the notion that plans will go awry. When Steven decides at the last moment to join Emily at a reception to which she's also invited David, we not only see the plot gelling, but also have that notion of things going wrong planted in our subconscious.
Of course, everyone knows that the murder won't work as planned -- or else the movie would be rather short -- but the tension and suspense are still there in the big scene. Obviously things go wrong and it's watching Douglas' character try to connive his way out of a major predicament that provides the thrill for the audience. He's a perfect "love to hate" character and that benefits the picture so much better than a standard issue, cardboard villain.
Although a few moments are telegraphed a bit too much (the meat thermometer gets a closeup that can only signal its later use), the chief detective's role seems almost like an afterthought, and purists will balk at any of Hitchcock's work being redone (and there are even more coming down the pike), overall the film works quite well. As long as the subject matter doesn't bother or repulse you, and you like suspense/thrillers, you'll probably get a kick out of this film. We did and thus give "A Perfect Murder" a 7 out of 10.