To Die For
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the 1995 film directed by Gus Van Sant; To Die For is also a 1994 film by Peter Mackenzie Litten. For the gothic-doom band, see To/Die/For.
| To Die For | |
|---|---|
 original film poster |
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| Directed by | Gus Van Sant |
| Produced by | Laura Ziskin |
| Written by | Buck Henry, based on the novel by Joyce Maynard |
| Starring | Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon and Joaquin Phoenix |
| Music by | Danny Elfman |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 1995 (Cannes) September 27, 1995 (USA) |
| Running time | 106 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million (estimated) |
| IMDb profile | |
To Die For is a 1995 film written by Buck Henry, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard (ISBN 0-595-26939-7), and directed by Gus Van Sant. It stars Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon and Joaquin Phoenix. Major supporting roles feature Illeana Douglas, Wayne Knight, Casey Affleck, Dan Hedaya and Alison Folland.
The film includes cameo appearances by George Segal, David Cronenberg, author Maynard, and screenwriter Henry. It features original music by Danny Elfman.
Kidman was nominated for a BAFTA and won a Golden Globe Award for her performance.
To Die For is a mixture of styles, combining a traditional drama with darkly comic direct-to-camera monologues by Kidman's character, and mockumentary interviews, some tragic, with certain of the other characters in the film.
The film (and the novel it's based on) were both inspired by the facts that emerged during the trial of Pamela Smart, a teacher who was imprisoned for seducing a young man and convincing him to kill her husband. The film, however, is considerably more satirical and arch than Maynard's comparatively straightforward treatment of the story.
[edit] Plot
Suzanne Stone (Kidman) is a young, beautiful, and ruthless woman who dreams of being a world famous news anchor. To that end, she marries Larry Maretto (Dillon) because she believes his Mafia connections will keep her financially comfortable, and starts climbing the network news ladder, beginning as a weather girl at a local cable station. When Larry, who truly loves Suzanne, starts asking her to take time off from her career to start a family, she immediately plots to get rid of him, seducing a high school student, Jimmy (Phoenix), and strong-arming him and his friends into killing Larry. The story becomes national news, and Suzanne finally has the stardom she's always wanted — while Jimmy goes to prison for life. In the end, however, Suzanne finally gets her comeuppance when Larry's family has her murdered, and the hitman ironically buries her under the ice, a fitting end for a cold woman. In a final irony, Jimmy's plain, unassuming friend Lydia (Folland), whom the waspy Suzanne always dismissed as "trailer trash," becomes rich and famous from telling her side of the story on television.
[edit] Reception
The film has been called a satire on the tabloid media and the "cult of celebrity" in America; In an oft-repeated line, Suzanne and other characters say "You're nobody in America if you're not on TV." It could also be seen as a comment on the artificiality of the American ideal of beauty; Suzanne is the perfect replica of the blonde, blue-eyed, well-endowed beauty, but she is also a cold, remorseless psychopath.
The film, and Kidman's performance in particular, won high critical praise but performed only modestly at the box office.
| Movies of Gus Van Sant |
|---|
| Mala Noche • Five Ways to Kill Yourself • My New Friend • Ken Death Gets Out of Jail • Drugstore Cowboy • Fame '90 • Thanksgiving Prayer • My Own Private Idaho • Under The Bridge • Even Cowgirls Get the Blues • To Die For • Four Boys in a Volvo • Good Will Hunting • Ballad of the Skeletons • Psycho • Finding Forrester • Gerry • Elephant • Last Days • Paranoid Park |
