Amazon.com video review:
Movie critic Roger Ebert made this amusing observation about
Malice: "This is the only movie I can recall in which an entire
subplot about a serial killer is thrown in simply for atmosphere."
He's referring to the fact that this hokey but highly charged thriller
is so packed with plot twists and red herrings that you'll soon find
yourself so confused that you just have to sit back and hope that it
will all make sense by the time the credits roll. It never does make
much sense, but the movie at least has the look, feel, and twisted
momentum of a really good thriller, and the talent on both sides of
the camera is pretty impressive. Alec Baldwin plays a hot-shot surgeon
who meets up with an old med-school buddy (Bill Pullman), whose wife
(Nicole Kidman) has no objections when Baldwin moves into the upstairs
room of their New England Victorian home. The situation's ripe for
intrigue, suspicion, temptation, emergency surgery, legal proceedings,
and just about anything else you'd find in a movie that desperately
struggles to out-Hitchcock Hitchcock. Talk about McGuffins--this
movie's chock full of 'em! When the plot thickens to the consistency
and clarity of quicksand, you can still enjoy the darkly stylish work
of master cinematographer Gordon Willis--or you can check out director
Harold Becker's more coherent thriller Sea of Love. With
Kidman and Baldwin working up a steamy lather, this one's just fun
enough to be an agreeable waste of time. --Jeff Shannon
