'A Perfect Murder' is imperfect recreation of Hitchcock gem
By Tam Notosusanto
JAKARTA (JP): The Hollywood mantra these days seems to be that if you cannot make original thrillers that surpass classic thrillers of the old days, simply remake those old classics.
Hence the 1996 Diabolique, a reworked concoction of Henri- Georges Clouzot's masterpiece. But even though they shot it in color, added new twists to the plot and had Sharon Stone starring in it -- trying in vain to mimic the grand Simone Signoret -- the movie fizzles.
Apparently, Hollywood never learns. It has now turned to Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder. Although Warner Bros.' 1998 version of the 1954 suspense classic is retitled A Perfect Murder and is revamped with a 1990s touch, it is still pure imitation. And one that doesn't live up to the first film's reputation.
The newer movie still has a husband (Michael Douglas) who plots the murder of his wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) and gets mighty fidgety when all his well-laid plans backfire. Screenwriter Patrick Smith Kelly also retains the wife's boyfriend (Viggo Mortensen) and the inquisitive police investigator (David Suchet), making adjustments to those characters created by Frederick Knott in his play and screenplay adaptation.
Instead of Ray Milland's vile but humanly defective has-been tennis star, we now have Steven Taylor, a flat, one-sided, super- malevolent husband from hell. He is probably the twin brother of those rich, corporate SOBs Douglas played in Wall Street (1987) and The Game (1997), only less complex and less interesting.
Meanwhile, Paltrow's Emily is as naive and vulnerable as Grace Kelly's victimized wife in the original film, but is now given a more prestigious look (she works for the U.S. Ambassador to the UN and speaks several foreign languages), and greater self- reliance.
Add in Mortensen's David Shaw -- a more duplicitous version of the boyfriend originated by Robert Cummings -- and this film adaptation has undergone a general face-lift. It may look prettier and more exciting, but not necessarily smarter.
A Perfect Murder (APM) introduces Emily as the unfaithful wife who sneaks out of her office at lunch breaks to have mid-day trysts with the beloved David. The reason for her infidelity is quite obvious: David is an artist hunk, while Steven, her husband, is just one of those boring, middle-aged executive types.
But Emily is soon overcome with guilt as Steven starts to show signs that he has cottoned on to the affair. When the two lovers meet at a function at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they are startled by Steven, coming out of nowhere, teasing them, "I left you for 30 seconds and you eloped with a younger man".
The terror continues when the two are in bed in David's studio, and Steven's voice booms out through the answering machine. For a moment, we might think we were back in Fatal Attraction terrain, with Douglas now playing Glenn Close's role of the "I won't be ignored" Alex.
It does not take too long before Steven confirms his acknowledgement of his wife's betrayal in front of David. And that's not the only thing he reveals to the audience. He verbally discloses David's dossier: a profile of a con man, gold digger and opportunist who hits on rich women to get at their wealth. With a blackmail threat and an offer of US$500, Steven successfully recruits David into his agenda of ending Emily's life.
For the murder scene, the movie simply reenacts the one from the original. A telephone call becomes a cue for the killer to strike. And as all Hitchcock fans would expect, Emily survives the murder attempt, while her attacker is not as fortunate.
Director Andrew Davis, however, reminds us that this is a 1990s version by having Steven calling home on his cell phone. But unlike in the play and the film, the telephone call does not play a key role in incriminating the evildoers. It's quickly discarded just like the cell phone that Steven throws out of his car into a dark alley.
The first half of A Perfect Murder is swift, strong and intriguing. We would almost believe that this remake may work after all as a decent reinterpretation of a renowned cinematic piece and not just one of those desperate efforts to cash in on the success of a brilliant movie.
All those impressions are quickly diminished as the film subsequently shuns real intrigue and psychological tension for mere action sequences and a thinly constructed plot line.
Director Davis seems to be more at home with that kind of material, having made action spectacles like The Package, Under Siege and the Oscar-winning The Fugitive. He does not seem to have the knack for stylish thrillers, alerting us to imminent incidents with unsubtle references. Zooming in on a wedding ring, or giving an extreme close-up of a sharp kitchen tool, he conventionally, and foolishly, informs us of those objects' importance in the subsequent scenes.
When we see David alone in his train compartment, ostensibly safe and sound, we know something is going to spring out from somewhere, lunging at him.
A Perfect Murder does not have the strength of the Hitchcock original because it made the wrong choice of setting aside the detectives and the investigation aspect of the story. The commanding presence of John I. Williams's police inspector in Dial M for Murder is replaced by the barely seen Karaman. It's a shame, because he is played by Suchet, a sublime actor who incidentally plays Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's fictional sleuth, in a BBC television series.
What we are left with is a dumbed-down version of a cinematic achievement, with implausibility and contrivance chasing one another in presenting cardboard villainy and the tedious helplessness of a damsel in distress. We could only hope that an unworthy attempt such as this would never be repeated again, and that we can finally leave Old Hitch at peace.
Alas, it may be wishful thinking. The new Psycho is coming out in December in the U.S., and Rear Window, starring Christopher Reeve, is currently in production.