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FILM REVIEWS

A Perfect Murder
By Steve Rosen
Denver Post

June 5 - The best-laid plans can go bad - that's why there's rarely such a thing as "a perfect murder.''

That's also why the movie "A Perfect Murder,'' which appears to be a carefully planned update of the classic "Dial "M' for Murder,'' doesn't work. It has elements of an exciting movie, but isn't exciting. Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow star in the film, directed by Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive'').

"Dial "M'‚'' was a play by Frederick Knott that Alfred Hitchcock adapted into a 1954 movie. Set in London, it concerned an aging tennis player who, learning that his wealthy wife is in love with an American mystery writer, cajoles a weak criminal into killing her.

The scheme involves having the killer slip into the apartment while the wife is alone - the husband hides a key for him. He is to hide near the phone and strangle her when she answers her husband's unexpected call. Things go wrong, of course, but in the tensely clever way of entertaining mysteries.

Hitchcock's "Dial "M'‚'' is essentially just a play on film - virtually all the action occurs within the couple's apartment. Today it's most remembered as an early experiment in 3-D filmmaking, and for the vivid acting by Ray Milland and Grace Kelly as the troubled couple. Still, the scene where the killer attacks Kelly is unnervingly raw and realistic for its time, a precursor to Hitchcock's later "Psycho.''

As a straight remake, it just wouldn't work today. It's too stagey, and the characters' superficial politesse is way too archaic for the rough-and-tough late-1990s.

But there is always an allure to a story of a rich husband wanting to kill his wife. All it needs is a contemporary edge. "A Perfect Murder'' methodically sets out to provide that edge - which probably is exactly why it lacks it.

The action occurs in contemporary New York; the troubled couple (Douglas and Paltrow) live in a mansionlike apartment off Fifth Avenue. It oozes ostentatious wealth in the same way their bathtub's fountain-like faucet slowly pours water.

Steven Taylor (Douglas) is an unethical foreign-currencies trader, a man who barks and snorts orders and seems to drench even his simplest and most innocuous statements in caustic, angry derision. Emily (Paltrow) is his young trophy wife who also is independently wealthy and a U.N. interpreter. She also carries herself as if on a fashion-show runway, self-consciously tilting her head around her long, soft neck as a giraffe might do.

Her lover David Shaw (Viggo Mortensen of "G.I. Jane'') is a grungy but talented downtown artist whose quiet, mumbling voice belies the fury with which he paints. He lives in a dilapidated but spacious Brooklyn loft. Mortensen exudes a New York-streets authenticity that reminds one of Sam Shepherd or "Trash's'' Joe Dallesandro.

Unlike "Dial "M,''' Emily never becomes a murder suspect in "A Perfect Murder.'' That is a wise change. This film has one extremely ruinous twist on "Dial "M.'‚'' Steven hires David himself to kill his wife. He threatens to blackmail the artist about details of his shameful, hidden criminal past.

Steven doesn't seem to care much that his wife is having an affair - he wants her dead for her money. This is appropriately cynical and noir-ish, but it also stretches credibility. If that's all Steven is interested in, why should he, or we, care about the affair?

This effectively neuters the entire plot. By the time of the wildly ineffective violent climax, we've stopped caring. Screenwriter Patrick Smith Kelly's adaptation made an error with this angle.

Furthermore David appears to love Emily, yet agrees much too easily to Steven's request. And why should a talented artist care about his past? His art should speak for itself.

Given those inconsistencies, the talented Mortensen seems to be searching for motivation. He can't seem to decide if David at heart is a victim or a villain.

You'd think Douglas' presence could provide all the edge this movie desires. His character here is an extension of "Wall Street's'' Gordon Gekko, only more mean and ominous with his longish, combed-back hair. But he's too mean and ominous, actually. In fact, he's insufferably overbearing and ultimately horror-movie scary. Paltrow has been a lively presence in recent films like "Sliding Doors'' and "Great Expectations,'' where she also had an affair with a hip contemporary artist. But here she is emotionally missing in action. As a result, Emily is a with drawn character.

Director Davis bathes "A Perfect Murder'' in a somberly dark and portentous tone. He also doesn't wince at showing us unpleasant images, such as a murder victim whose neck has been skewered by a meat thermometer. Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski captures such downbeat but unusually artful images as a telephone's cracked veneer reflecting light.

This is stylish direction, but it's not effective. The effort only accentuates "A Perfect Murder's'' unpersuasive glumness.

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