Sliver

'Sliver' takes a mish-mash of different ingredients and combines them in pursuit of being a highly charged piece of entertainment from the Hollywood movie making machine. One part romance. Two parts torrid sexuality. One part murder mystery whodunit. Plus one part soapbox commentary on surveillance & technology. It shouldn't work. It should collapse under all it's weight, but it doesn't. It's a fun trip.

Carly Norris (Sharon Stone) a newly divorced book editor lands an upscale apartment in a trendy building in NYC after it's previous female tenant is murdered. She may not being looking for another relationship so soon, but certainly misses physical intimacy. She doesn't have to look any further than eager building residents Jack Landsford (Tom Berenger) an accomplished published writer and the mysterious Zeke Hawkins (William Baldwin) to accomplish that. Of course tenants are dropping like flies in this building and if she wants to stay alive, she better get to the bottom of things and pick the right guy, eh.

Written by Joe Eszterhas (Jagged Edge, Basic Instinct) and directed by Phillip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger), I had a pretty fun time with 'Sliver' in spite of myself and the material on hand. Stone can do this role in her sleep. Smart, disarming sexuality. Baldwin weirdly charming while Tom Berenger is always a treat to watch unravel. You can also catch Martin Landau as Stone's boss and CCH Pounder as a detective.

'Sliver' features laughs (intentional or not), few sex acts and an abrupt ending that doesn't leave any ambiguity. Spelling everything out for you in a satisfying manner leaving it being an effective one time watch. Isn't much of depth to really take away - other than most of the characters featured are damaged - but I had a good voyeuristic time watching the sometimes smart, sometimes trashy material play itself out.

Stylistically this is one of the best films from the early-mid nineties. But style isn't substance. The script was less than perfect going into production, and several endings were filmed for lack of a clear resolution. But don't let that stop you from seeing this film. Stone and director Noyce polish a bad script into a fine music video. It's like watching VH1 merge with the Playboy channel. A fine soundtrack with an even better [unreleased] score from Howard Shore play well against the dramatic, color-rich backdrops and voyeuristic black and white camera shots. It's very easy on the eyes, and perfect for a $14 dvd (if they ever release it).

35-year-old book editor Carly Norris, who was married for 7 years but is now having trouble starting a new relationship, wants to move into the posh high-rise Sliver Building on New York's East Side. She is surprised by how quickly her application is approved, but college professor Gus, who also lives in the building, says Carly looks just like the previous resident of 20-B. A number of the building's residents seem friendly, especially Zeke.

Someone is able to see what is going on in the apartments, and this person even has videotapes of some of the action. In addition to whoever this person is, Carly is also spying on people after someone gave her a telescope. Specifically, the couple having sex in a nearby building.

Carly's boss Alex won't give her a raise. He does take her to lunch, where they meet Jack Lansford, author of 'Flesh and Blood', which Carly has never read.

Strange things start happening in the Sliver building. And Carly knows something happened to the woman who had her apartment. The movie has a chilling quality that increases as time passes.

I thought Sharon Stone did a good job here, but her best moment was a funny scene where Carly's date wants to see her panties. And Carly did have a surprising reaction to ... well, I won't give it away. Stone was quite good in the scene, though.

There was plenty of good acting, but I think CCH Pounder stood out as one of the detectives.

Overall, I was happy with the movie. It was a little violent, which is to be expected, but just tense enough to be interesting.

I hate when people bash this film, for it has been and probably always will be my favorite movie of all time. A thoroughly constructed and mastered plot line, beautiful cinematography, a delicious soundtrack from hot 90s various artists such as Enigma, a sultry and subtle power score by Howard Shore and Christopher Young, and the greatest actress who ever lived: Sharon Stone. Sharon Stone is at her best as Carly Norris. William Baldwin is weak, but I guess passable. Tom Berenger is fantastically entertaining. Polly Walker is a joy. Martin Landau, in a small role, is a nice surprise. People for years have told me that this film is torrid and boring, weak and heavy handled, and so on and so on. I disagree. It's perfect, and I hardly think movies are perfect they can always have a little something more, or a little something less. When people say like most of you people on these message boards that the ending is no surprise or weak or arbitrary, you have NOT been watching closely.

What makes you think that Tom Berenger's character is the only murderer about?

I suggest you all look CLOSELY, very CLOSELY at the clues Phillip Noyce and Joe Ezsterhas have laid out for you. If you just take the ending for what it is, you're wrong and need to review the film to understand everything that's been going on, before your eyes and in the unseen. See, there are people in places who can know a very great deal if they choose, and also people who choose to make sure that no one knows a good deal about anything...

So I dare you, watch the film again and find a new ending all on your own.

Apartment complex in New York City is beset with strange deaths and cameras everywhere; new tenant Sharon Stone is dating the mysterious owner, but could he be the killer? Based on a flimsy novel by Ira Levin (who was slumming, but that's a different story), this unappealing film wants to be both sexy crime-thriller and murder-mystery, but it is such a mess from a writer's standpoint that, in the end, all you have left are the performances, which aren't dynamic enough to carry the load. Sharon Stone is low-keyed, perhaps a bit self-conscious, yet this works for her tentative character. Too bad the filmmakers were so concerned with exposing the killer that they lost track of this woman and her plight. Drop all the mystery, and you might have a decent character study. *1/2 from ****