To Die For

In TO DIE FOR, Suzanne Stone (the glorious Nicole Kidman) is an ultra-ambitious, wannabe media megastar. This takes a certain type of person without fear, heart, or conscience. Stone puts her soulless tendencies to work, building her TV career by any means necessary.

Suzanne is driven to be in reality what she's always been in her own blank mind. She will be famous no matter what it takes. This includes relentless self-promotion and the murder of her impossibly clueless husband (Matt Dillon).

Ms. Kidman plays Suzanne Stone with gusto as an empty shell with a magnificent paintjob. She slithers and slinks along, manipulating the foolish (including a wonderful trio of lunkheads played by Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck, and Alison Folland) and living only to be noticed.

This is a fantastic black comedy about the hollowness of celebrity and those who achieve it...

In Little Hope, New Hampshire, the beautiful and hot Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) wants to be famous and is an aspiring TV personality. She marries Larry Maretto (Matt Dillon), whose father owns a restaurant, and convinces him to use this savings for the university buying a Mustang for her and a condo. Then she accepts to work for the local station receiving minimum wage to develop her own projects, including one with youths in a public school. She meets the punks Jimmy Emmett (Joaquin Phoenix), Russel Hines (Casey Affleck) and Lydia Mertz (Alison Folland) and records hours of tapes interviewing them. When Larry invites her to work at the restaurant in a talent show that he wants to implement, Suzanne sees a threat to her planned career and decides to get rid of her husband. She seduces Jimmy and convinces him that she is in love with him. Then she tells that Larry is a brutal man and Jummy decides to kill him. What will happen to Larry?

"To Die For" is a great tale of ambition and manipulation. Gus Van Sant uses the documentary style to show a beautiful and sexy woman that uses her limited intelligence and her body to reach what she has planned for her career. The cast has great performance and Nicole Kidman is perfect in the role of Suzanne Stone. The screenplay has a sort of black humor and the conclusion is ironical. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Um Sonho Sem Limites" ("A Dream Without Limits")

Note: On 19 March 2025, I saw this film again.

I'm a little hesitant with my rating of 8 because this isn't really a film to be taken too seriously; having said that, I was glued to the screen and it holds up to repeat viewings so that says a lot.

It's peculiar that the closing credits of this film bear the usual disclaimer that "any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental" when the film is in fact the story of New Hampshire school teacher Pamela Smart, who did indeed co hearse a teenage student into murdering her husband in pretty much the exact same manner as depicted here. Writer Buck Henry has changed the characters name, occupation, and a number of the irrelevant details, but this is unmistakably the Pamela Smart story.

Played as dark comedy...! The heretofore unimpressive Buck Henry redeemed himself in my eyes with this wickedly amusing script.

While peppering us with the kind of mirroring observations about the shallowness and stupidity of the media and the society it reflects which makes us both laugh and squirm with more than passing discomfort, the top-notch cast masterfully play out the excellent script in such a mesmerizing fashion you simply will not believe nearly two hours are gone when it is over.

Nicole Kidman in particular displays intelligence and acting prowess I never imagined her capable of; she is in practically every frame of the film and while her character is truly despicable, you can't stop watching. The three teens, played by Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck, and Alison Folland (who stands out as the easily led girl with a not too subtle lesbian infatuation on Suzanne Stone) are engaging. Perhaps the best of the cast after the lead is Illeana Douglas as the deliciously smart ass sister-in-law, she had me in stitches! From the opening credits of rushing reporters superimposed over headlines and newsprint, to the closing credits overlaid with the rather brilliantly selected Donovan song Season of the Witch, this one is a must see film from an era of otherwise bland cinema.

While Gus Van Sant's mockumentary approach does not always work great with Buck Henry's expertly sharp and funny screenplay, 'To Die For' is held together by a brilliant Nicole Kidman performance. Kidman - with her divine looks and devilish smiles - owns every second of this picture that even when she isn't on screen her presence is felt. Kidman is surrounded by an outstanding supporting cast, from Matt Dillon to Joaquin Phoenix to Illeana Douglas to Casey Affleck, giving memorable performances in their own right

This is black comedy at its finest,a wonderfully incisive film.I've seen it many times and it gets better with every viewing.This is one of Gus Van Sants best films,right up there with Drugstore Cowboy.This was the film that proved Nicole Kidman was a force to be reckoned with.Its a brutally good part,and she doesn't waste it.Giving a genuinely unhinged performance,as well as a jaw droppingly sexy one.The performances are all excellent though,Dillon plays the poor dumb schmuck who doesen't know what he's let himself in for with ease.Joaquin Phoenix is great as probably the dimmest character in movie history!Best of all is Illeana Douglas as Dillons wonderfully cynical sister."What did i first think of her?-Four letters beginning with 'c',you know......cold!" This is beautifully put together using mock docu footage,flashbacks,and straight filmaking.Clever,intelligent,and razor sharp,films like this are all to rare.Look out for director David Cronenberg,in a wickedly good cameo!