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A Perfect Murder
A powerful man (Michael Douglas) discovers his wife's (Gwyneth Paltrow) infidelity with an artist (Viggo Mortenson), and makes what he thinks is a perfect deal to solve the problem.

Starring Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Viggo Mortensen...  View more >

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Reviews Summary


Please Note: Reader Reviews are submitted by the readers of The BigScreen Cinema Guide and represent their own personal opinions regarding this movie, and do not represent the views of The BigScreen Cinema Guide, or any of its associated entities.

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Michael Douglas performs an outstanding role in this remake of Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial M For Murder". The plot takes many twists and turns throughout, which keeps the interest and suspense level very high. The use of lighting and sound just adds more to a very professional job done on all levels. I would recommend this movie to those who enjoy a good murder story. I enjoyed the original Hitchcock film, and I'd say that A Perfect Murder is on par with the original, and in many cases an improvement. **** out of *****.

[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
A Perfect Murder is a far cry from being "perfect". While the headline actors and actresses will initially fill the seats, once the word gets out, the attendance will drop and fast. The character played by Michael Douglas was one of supreme confidence, intelligence and tack, but when things take a turn for the worst, his character plummets to that of a mindless idiot, who makes obvious mistakes in carrying out his plan to eliminate his wife. The plot is as predictable as Michael Jordan never going scoreless in a game. Douglas' screen presence is still powerful, but if you combine this outing with that of "The Game", it appears that his list of good scripts is a little short these days. Sorry Mike, but you need to go back to the drawing board on this one.

[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
This movie could have been a lot better without the presence of Viggo Mortensen as the boyfriend. With the exception of Michael Douglas, the entire cast seemed bored (Gweneth Paltrow attempts to convey elegence by pretending to be bored in almost all of her movies). Mortensen does all this, but he also slurrs his words to ensure maximum irritation. Where did this guy learn to act? I myself am an actor, and one of the fundemental rules is to always annunciate while delivering your lines (oops, I forgot, this is HOLLYWOOD, the REAL actors are on Broadway!)

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
What a great thriller! Michael Douglas notches another outstanding effort! The movie was riveting throughout and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
I don't know why the featured critic totally trashed the spine tingling thriller starring an evil Michael Douglas, a sexy Gwyneth Parltrow, and a good looking artist played by Viggo Mortiesen. It is so riveting that I was on the edge of my seat through out the entire movie, maybe I really liked it because i never saw the original one (Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial M For Murder").

It has a basic story, husband, wife, affair, all the elements to commit a perfect murder. Well Parltrow is having an affair with Mortiesen, Douglas gets pissed and wants her dead, but not because she is betraying him, because he is going broke and she is filthy rich.

So he blackmales Mortiesen which leaves him no choice but to kill the one he loves (plus he gets half a million), but Douglas's plans get intercepted by (i'm not telling you) and from there every character decieves one another in order to survive.

I am clueless why but i was ruiting for Douglas's character througout the film, he had this certain evil appeal that got to me. He was also extremely smart, who else could plan a murder so perfectly and gently so that nothing would go wrong, but when it does he becomes audacios and takes matters into his own hands (like the rest of the characters)

The setting is in New York, and wow it was extremely colorful and way over elegant, i would kill for the house they lived in.

The abrupt ending got me a little upset but it was the only way for the movie to make sense (I like twisted ending like "Seven"), what also left me quite queer was that Douglas didn't care about Parltrow having the affair, all he wanted was the money, greedy man.

Well overall a very good thriller, great acting and background too, from the start you are on the edge of your seat with incredible dialouge.

Please do not wait for rental, see it now!

GRADE:B+

[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
"A Perfect Murder" is a fairly good movie. It stars Michael Douglas as the jerk husband. Gwyneth Paltrow as the unfaithful wife who is in love with a sleazy artist played by Viggo Mortensen. The sleazy artist does seem to care about the woman he is having the affair with but not enough to keep him from agreeing to kill her for $500,000 when the jerk husband confronts him. This is the plot of "A Perfect Murder". Of course, things don't go perfectly. If it did this would be only a 1/2 an hour long movie. That's where the suspense comes in and makes up the bulk of the movie. This is done fairly well with statements that have a double meaning, etc.

The main weakness of the movie is that none of the main characters is truly likable enough to feel much sympathy for. A perfect example of this is in the movie "Titanic". Rose is unfaithful to her fiance' Cal with Jack. But in that movie people are practically cheering when the event occurs. If Cal had done same thing the audience would have demanded his head or other parts of his anatomy on a silver platter. That is because Cal is such a jerk and the fact that Rose and Jack just seem belong together. "A Perfect Murder" does not even begin to bring the audience to a consensus. If it had this movie would have been much better. Instead of just OK.

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Remaking a Hitchcock film is a risky venture but APM works well due to good direction and super performances from a top notch cast. Michael Douglas picks up from where he left off with last year’s super thriller "The Game," and Gwenyth Paltrow is smart as the unfaithful wife. It’s also a good looking film with style and mood, and the twists, turns, psychological mind games and suspense make A Perfect Murder a remake well worth remaking.

10-point scale rating: 8

May 21, 2003
Jun 30, 2013

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