Review: "A Perfect Murder"

Steven Taylor (Michael Douglas) has been having a few bad days in a row, but he hides this well behind custom-made clothes. His stocks have been going Enron and his lovely, trust fund baby, trophy wife is spending extended lunch breaks in some bohemian, artist boy's loft. Emily Bradford Taylor (Gwyneth Paltrow) is an accomplished translator for the United Nations with a passion for assisting refugees. She explores the art world in her free time, which sets her on a collision course with David Shaw (Viggo Mortensen) and the two have been steaming up the windows in David's loft for about six months. So Steven starts doing a little research, setting the stage for "A Perfect Murder."

The press for this film states "All of them have a motive, each of them has a plan," to which I'll add that every last one of them is cornered into lying profusely and in over his or her head. This, of course, is where the intrigue thickens and viewing becomes a thrill ride. If Emily is Steven's crown jewel, her awareness grows that she's been acquired in much the same way and David becomes Emily's diamond in the rough. When Emily plans David's impromptu debut at the Met for a night when Steven is scheduled to work, he crashes the party and her frustration with her controlling husband becomes apparent.

What Emily is not aware of is that both Steven and David were initially attracted to her for basically the same reason and how each character adapts to the numerous plot twists provides clues to who stays alive by the time the credits roll.

Screen chemistry is abundant in this film, from the controversial love scenes (that made tabloid headlines and earned Mortensen uncalled for hate mail after Paltrow split from actor Ben Affleck) to the subtle, yet fascinating bond between Paltrow's Emily and David Suchet's Detective Karaman. Every scene between Steven and David is a keenly choreographed verbal fencing match, blistering Douglas' movie star polish with Mortensen's feral fire. In characteristic method immersion, Mortensen holed up in the loft set and he brings his documented habit of painting until he drops and sleeping in his clothes to David. The scenes where he works on a painting of Emily are evocative of the complexity of David's feelings for her and the tangled web that the three have woven.

The solid cast and remarkable visual art tell a story beyond the triangle of powerful haves, exploitable if not disposable have nots and Suchet as the solitary developed character from the endangered New York (probably US and possibly global) middle class, trying to sort out the mess. A fascinating examination of a blue collar criminal who finds himself capable of remorse and a white collar criminal utterly without it, "A Perfect Murder" is a film to rent or own: while one viewing is satisfying, subsequent viewings are rewarding as well.

Colleen Wallace

 

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