Review of Death Becomes Her (1992) by Kenneth L — 16 Aug 2011

This is a funny and surprisingly nasty early '90s comedy. It's got some good performances, solid direction, fancy special effects, and a very original story. Although it was actually made by Robert Zemeckis (the director of Forrest Gump and Back to the Future, among other things), it feels like something that early 1990s Tim Burton would have made.

A vain actress (Meryl Streep) steals a plastic surgeon (Bruce Willis) from her old rival (Goldie Hawn) and marries him. Years later, she is introduced to a magical potion that prevents her from aging by a bizarre vamp (Isabella Rossellini). At the same time, her rival is trying to convince the surgeon to murder her. Bizarre, grotesque, funny stuff happens from there.

This isn't one of Meryl Streep's Oscar-type roles, but she's still very good here. The role mainly requires her to be shallow and awful, which she pulls off well. Goldie Hawn (who I remain convinced actually is shallow and awful) is funny as the screechy, aggrieved rival. I was surprised by how well Bruce Willis, who usually does tough-guy action roles, managed to play the neurotic pushover surgeon. And Isabella Rossellini is appropriately ominous and alluring in her part. Oh, and Sydney Pollack has a very funny cameo as a doctor.

Like I said, the movie has a very Tim Burton-esque feel to it, in the way it mixes gruesomeness and humor. Some truly icky things happen here, but they never really dampen the movie's mischievous, puckish tone. The Oscar-winning effects are really great, especially for 1992, and are required to do some subtly tricky things. Alan Silvestri's musical score seems a bit of a Danny Elfman rip-off, in keeping with the general Tim Burton feel. Overall, the movie is a rather broad satire of vanity and plastic surgery. It's a bit on the silly side, but I enjoyed it.