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Dr. Jed Hill (Alec Baldwin) is the hot new trauma specialist on the block. His first night on duty, he saves the life of a patient another doctor gives up for dead. Looking for a place to stay while he gets his feet under him, he takes up the offer of an old schoolmate, Andy Safian (Bill Pullman), who is renovating an old house along with his wife Tracy (Nicole Kidman). Tracy and Jed don't hit it off well, and it's only with reluctance that she agrees to rent out the third floor of their house. Then, as if things aren't tense enough at home as a result of Jed's arrival, Andy has to deal with the problem of a serial rapist at the college where he's an assistant dean--a case in which he has unexpectedly become a suspect. That situation is only beginning to resolve itself when Tracy collapses and has to be rushed to the emergency room with internal bleeding. The attending surgeon turns out to be Jed Hill, and one of his judgment calls during the operation could be a huge mistake....
MALICE is a well-crafted, intelligently-scripted thriller that is perhaps a bit too slick to be considered film noire, but is nevertheless Hitchcockian in intent. The movie breaks free of the mold that so many of its genre have lately fallen into, that of a seemingly-helpful friend/neighbor/nanny/police officer/whatever turning out to be a wacko. MALICE has a little more class than that.
There are quite a few twists and turns in the plot, some of which aren't that difficult to figure out, but a few that are likely to take the viewer unawares. Make no mistake: the intent of this movie is to surprise the audience, and it succeeds fairly well at that. While it's true that in the aftermath of MALICE, careful thought will reveal some logical flaws in the script, these aren't nearly as noticeable during the action.
The plot has some structural problems resulting from trying to do a bit too much for the running time. By not concentrating on one primary storyline (there's the serial rapist and the doctor with a god complex), it dilutes both. There are also several scenes and plot threads that, while interesting, ultimately have nothing to do with the story. The inclusion of these is more odd than frustrating, however.
The unusual genesis of the script might have something to do with the irrelevance of some of what appears. Writer Aaron Sorkin was initially approached by creative consultant William Goldman to flesh out a premise of Goldman's. This was before A FEW GOOD MEN had made the transition from play to film. Sorkin wrote the first two drafts of MALICE (then called DAMAGES--the title was subsequently changed to avoid confusion with the 1992 Louis Malle product), then had to leave to work on MEN. At this point, DEAD AGAIN writer Scott Frank was brought in to continue the job, and drafts three and four were his. When Sorkin again became available, Frank was let go. So, although the shooting script came from Sorkin's pen, it included numerous elements of both his own and Frank's versions. Considering the number of cooks involved in this broth, it's amazing that the final product is so polished.
Scott Frank's involvement immediately makes one think of DEAD AGAIN, but this movie is closer to SHATTERED in execution--the plot twists aren't nearly as well-camouflaged as in the Kenneth Branagh-directed thriller. Sorkin's literate contributions are in evidence, and include a wonderful speech given by Alec Baldwin as he describes the nature of his supposed "god complex." That is only one of a few standout scenes, all but one of which feature Baldwin.
The acting is uniformly good, with appearances by Anne Bancroft (who is wonderful) and George C. Scott (who is solid, but nothing to write home about). Baldwin loves this kind of role, and Nicole Kidman shows that she's capable of being more than Tom Cruise's on- and off-screen love interest. Her performance harkens back to the one she gave in DEAD CALM. Bill Pullman is the weakest of the trio, but he gets better as the film progresses. It's apparent that his "nice guy" image dogs his tracks, however.
Jerry Goldsmith turns in a surprisingly spare score, more reminiscent of Bernard Hermann's Hitchcock material than his own overblown BASIC INSTINCT music. It's a pleasure not to be bombarded by blasts of music any time something dramatic is about to happen. Goldsmith deserves credit for this. There are movies that demand loud, bombastic themes, but this is not one of them, and the composer recognized this.
Over the past several years, I've become increasingly disillusioned with thrillers. Occasionally there's a diamond in the rough like DEAD AGAIN, but mostly these films are dreary, predictable, and utterly uninteresting--entirely the opposite of what the word "thriller" means. While MALICE won't win any awards, it's a cut above the average. Yes, there are Hollywood conventions in it, but the movie also keeps the intelligent viewer in mind. While the final result is something of a curious mixture, it's ultimately one that provides a source of entertainment.
By : James Berardinelli
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rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
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It has long been my belief that the best movie mysteries are those after which you can say to yourself, "I should have figured that out." I loathe Joe Eszterhas-style thrillers which make me feel as though I've been had; nothing that can change the "whodunnit" by shooting five new minutes of footage is constructed tightly enough. Almost equally annoying are those which seem to twist and turn just for the sake of twisting and turning, forcing you to engage in a two-hour discussion with your fellow moviegoers just to figure out what the heck you just saw. MALICE avoids all these pitfalls. This is a sharp, artfully-constructed thriller, a snappy entertainment that does everything I ask a film in its genre to do: keep me guessing without manipulating me.
Andy Safien (Bill Pullman) is a student dean at Westerly College, a picturesque New England campus plagued by a string of serial rapes. While following up on the latest assault, Andy meets Dr. Jed Hill (Alec Baldwin), a cocky new thoracic surgeon who turns out to be an old high school classmate of Andy's. Andy soon invites Jed to move into the house being remodeled by Andy and his wife Tracy (Nicole Kidman) in an attempt to defray expenses. Tracy is none-too-pleased by Jed's playboy manner, an added burden to the chronic abdominal pain she is experiencing. However, life in the Safien household will soon go from bad to worse. Andy becomes a suspect in the rapes, and Tracy suffers a severe medical emergency, forcing Jed to make a decision which will set in motion a serpentine chain of danger and deceptions.
This is the point where reviewing a film like MALICE gets tricky. Comment on the plot is next to impossible, particularly on those few points where I felt credibility is stretched. All I can really say is that the script by Aaron Sorkin (A FEW GOOD MEN) and Scott Frank (DEAD AGAIN) is intelligent and impressive in its plausible intricacy. There is an ingenious red herring crafted into the story which successfully diverts attention from other key elements. There were moments when I sensed the entire audience realizing the same thing at the same time. I saw very little of that telltale sign of a confusing mystery: people leaning over to friends and spouses to ask what just happened. Every explanation was clear and smooth, if not always perfectly believable.
If there's one problem with the plot-heavy script, it's that certain character developments are shallow. Bill Pullman is very good as the pleasant Everyman with a streak of jealousy, but his character would have benefited from some early evidence to make his later behavior more believable. Ditto Nicole Kidman, who has the most challenging role. I found Bebe Neuwirth basically annoying as a police detective sporting an accent that appeared to be a mutant hybrid of Boston Brahmin and Brooklyn Italian. On the plus side, Anne Bancroft has a showy bit part as a loony mentor a la Robin Williams in DEAD AGAIN (apparently a Scott Frank trademark). Alec Baldwin is perfect as Jed, delivering a great speech about his "God complex" with utter conviction. Baldwin should stick to roles such as this which require colossal displays of hubris.
Director Harold Becker showed his talent for atmospheric suspense in SEA OF LOVE, and surpasses that effort with MALICE. While never spectacularly tense, MALICE is always gripping, thanks to a methodical unfolding of the story with something important happening in almost every scene. Becker even cleverly undercuts genre expectations, particularly in an ominously underscored shot of a big dark house ... on a cliff ... overlooking crashing surf ... during a thunderstorm. The audience was in hysterics. This is a smart, deft directing job, and one that establishes Becker as a name to watch for.
I think I can get away with saying that you shouldn't go into MALICE expecting a scream-out-loud suspense film. It's more subtle than that, but never less than thoroughly intriguing. This is a mystery for mystery lovers.
By : Scott Renshaw
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