Review of To Die For (1995) by Josh F — 14 Jan 2011

To Die For is about a small town girl Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) who has dreamed about becoming famous since she was a child. Her ambition to become a famous TV personality turns into an obsession and believes that her husband (Matt Dillon) is getting in the way of her ambitions so she decides to manipulate a few students she has been using for her little documentary to murder her husband.

To Die For is an excellent film based on the real-life case where Pamela Smart manipulated her 15-year-old lover to murder her husband. Only this film satirizes the real-life events making it a type of black comedy. The story is told in a non-linear, sometimes quasi-documentary style, which makes the way events unfold all the more interesting. The segments where Kidman is interviewing herself in character are quite interesting, especially since some of what she says are almost ridiculous, but that's the character she is portraying. Nicole Kidman should have probably had an Oscar nomination because she was excellent as the ditzy, manipulative local TV weather forecaster that believes she is intelligent, keyword being believes. Also of note is the excellent supporting cast that includes Matt Dillon, Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck (in his screen debut), and Wayne Knight. Gus Van Sant's direction is as good as ever and is benefitted by a bigger budget than usual, which let him have much higher productions than usual.

This is definitely worth watching especially for Nicole Kidman's excellent performance (plus she looks as gorgeous as she has ever looked) and a very interesting look at the media. Plus it's a film by Gus Van Sant, which automatically makes it worth watching at least once. 8/10.