Review of Malice (1993) by Sonny R — 09 Jul 2010

An intricate tale of deceit and cruel intent that contains some incredibly strong acting from the three leads. I consider Alec Baldwin to be one of the greatest actors of all time for a few very good reasons.

He is commanding on screen, he possesses a natural charm and also a natural intensity that he can unleash simultaneously, and he always captures my attention and makes me fully interested in a story. Nicole Kidman gave the performance of a lifetime in this film.

I was surprised by how convincing she was here. Kidman succeeds at almost outacting Baldwin but of course no one can upstage the great Alec Baldwin. Bill Pullman, although the weakest of the three players, is incredible as the primary lead.

Pullman may be the weakest of the three leads but that does not mean that he is bad or not convincing in this film. Actually, stating that he is the weakest is not saying much since all three of the leads are absolutely extraordinary, especially Baldwin and Kidman.

Bebe Neuwirth gives a notable performance as a detective. I really do not like explaining the plot of a movie in my reviews because I feel it is highly unnecessary so I will not go into the details of the story.

I will say that it is a thriller that contains many twists and turns and it is not a film for the lazy viewer. Roger Ebert claimed in his review that this film is far too busy and has too many twists and turns.

I do not agree with Ebert's views but I understand what he means. I like how a serial killer subplot was added in simply for atmosphere. This film is a brilliant little tale with a very appropriate title.

The acting is the stuff of legend, and of course I'm referring to Baldwin and Kidman. These two players are incredible and delivered much more than I was originally expecting. This film is co-written by the awesome Aaron Sorkin, who I greatly admire.

Malice is a malicious masterpiece, and I meant for that to sound clever but in a silly way.