Satire as dark and biting as To Die For is a rarity, and when done well is an event to be cherished. And when it's timely too...well, buddy sign me up and take my six dollars.
To Die For is the story of the vigorous pursuit of latest draft of the American Dream. Nicole Kidman is Suzzane Stone, utlra-WASP and daughter of the waning middle-class. Suzzane is lacking. A lot. She lacks intelligence, wit, taste, compassion, soul and scruples. What Suzzane does have, however, is a goal -- to be on television. She also has blond hair, blue eyes, and a body, well...to die for. And that nagging feeling that we're missing something, tht moment in the too early morning when we lie awake wondering who we are and what we're doing, Suzzanne has seen to the heart of that riddle. She understands implicitly that the untelevised life is not worth living. Her goal to be on television is not so much ambition as genetic destiny.
Luckily, the same personality that must b seen as brutally flawed by any humane society leaves Suzzanne perfectly adapted to achieve her goal of television. Where she's going the lacks are strengths and scruples are what people who fail have.
The word Oscar has been tossed around a few times in describing Nicole Kidman's peformance and not without reason. In a movie with standard supporting characters her perfomance might have stood out even more. As it is, it is just one among many in To Die For. Matt Dillon is does a good job as the loving, doltish Italian husband who makes the mistake of getting in Suzzanne's way. Joaquin Phoenix manages to be scary, funny and pathetic as the Beavis-comes-to-life, Jimmy (????).
The best perfomances in the film, though, come from the women. Elizabeth Peña should be cast a lot more often. She comes close to stealing the show as Suzzanne's ice-skater sister in law. And (NAME??) is everything Suzzanne is not, funny, smart, warm -- human. Her ice skating also makes for one of the best closing credit sequences ever. Finally, there's (chubby girl) who's Lydia -- dumb, dirty, poor and suffering from extremely low self-esteem -- gives us another painfully realistic and brutally funny picture of America's youth.
To Die For doesn't quit there, however. It's strengths are wide and deep. The film is told in the form of flashbacks, monologues, documentary style interviews and video footage. The script shows that Buck Henry has still got it. Gus Van Sant too, it seems, is back. He manages to juggle the myriad elements of the movie in a way that not only gives the movie a strong narrative drive but occasionally ....
[editor's note: The article ends here. Zak was obviously too overwhelmed by the task of writing about a movie he liked to continue.]
by zakkk@aol.com
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