“YOU AREN’T REALLY ANYBODY IN AMERICA IF YOU’RE NOT ON TV”

By Raymond Benson

While Nicole Kidman had been working in films since the late 1980s and starred in two big movies with future husband Tom Cruise in the early 1990s, for this reviewer it was 1995’s To Die For that proved to the world that Kidman could hold her own and carry a movie alone. Even with an impressive body of work that would continue to today, To Die For can easily be listed as one of the actor’s best works.

To Die For is based on a 1992 novel by Joyce Maynard, which, in turn, was a fictionalized improvisation on the true-crime murder-for-hire case of Pamela Smart. The murder of Smart’s husband by teenagers who were, as it turned out, hired by Smart herself, was sensational TV fodder in 1990-1991. The keywords of “sensational” and “TV” become the thematic concepts of Buck Henry’s adaptation of the novel that turns the tabloid tale into an acerbic dark comedy about the lust for fame and the means by which some people might employ to get it.

Gus Van Sant directs the film with a bravura collage of styles that molds the story into something of a mockumentary. Actors address the camera as if they are in a television reality program (something that was just beginning to take off in those years). Videotape footage mixes with film stock, emphasizing the fine line between Suzanne Stone’s reality and fantasy life on television.

Stone (Kidman) is a drop-dead gorgeous young woman with big ambitions. She wants fame and fortune by being a television personality, and once she sets out to accomplish that goal, her little hometown in New Hampshire will never be the same. First she seduces and marries Larry (Matt Dillon), the son of Italian parents who may or may not have connections to the mob. Larry is in a successful restaurant business, so he has enough money to keep Suzanne in style. Next, she finagles her way into the local cable TV news station, run by Ed (Wayne Knight). When she begins a personal video project at the local high school, she attracts the attention of three juvenile delinquents—Lydia (Alison Folland), who isn’t a bad person but is sadly trapped in a “white trash” world, Russell (a young Casey Affleck), the true bad-news of the trio, and Jimmy (a young Joaquin Phoenix), who is short on brains but long on libido. Suzanne, who feels resistance from Larry regarding her dreams to leave town and head to Los Angeles where she’s convinced she can make it big, decides to seduce poor Jimmy and get him and his friends to bump off Larry. To reveal more, which indeed differs from the true case of Pamela Smart, would spoil the “fun.”

Yes, “fun” it is. This is a comedy, folks. Sure, it’s a pretty dark one, but the team of Van Sant and Henry make sure that this sordid little fable is told with tongue-in-cheek. It’s also somewhat of a cautionary tale, warning us that what we see on television isn’t always the truth. Those beautiful people on the screen who anchor the news, interview celebrities, or present the weather are not gods and goddesses. It’s one thing to work toward a career in television with determination… it’s another thing altogether to think of that career as a Xanadu in which everyone is rich and famous.

Nicole Kidman is superb in To Die For. She’s funny, sexy, and at times very scary. Kidman plays this madwoman to the hilt and she’s the backbone of the movie. Apparently the role was first offered to Meg Ryan, who turned it down. Kidman, however, takes it and delivers an exhilarating star turn. Phoenix, in one of his early appearances, also makes an impression. At the time, who knew that he would one day be a multiple Oscar contender and ultimate winner? The same is true of Affleck. Other notable actors in the movie include Illeana Douglas as Larry’s sister, Dan Hedaya as Larry’s father, and Kurtwood Smith and Holland Taylor as Suzanne’s parents. The film also sports a few interesting cameos: Joyce Maynard, the novel’s author, appears as Suzanne’s lawyer; Buck Henry is a high school teacher; George Segal is a lecherous network executive; and David Cronenberg (!) is a hitman.

The Criterion Collection’s 2-disk package presents the film in a new 4K digital restoration, approved by Van Sant and director of photography Eric Alan Edwards. It comes with a 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack (and it makes Danny Elfman’s lively score sound really good!). The first disk is the picture in 4K UHD with Dolby Vision HDR. The second disk is a Blu-ray and the special features. Disappointingly, there isn’t much in the way of supplements. An audio commentary featuring Van Sant, Edwards, and editor Curtiss Clayton is good enough. The only other extras are some deleted scenes (some of which tantalizingly depict how the film might have had alternate endings) and the theatrical trailer. An essay by film critic Jessica Kiang accompanies the booklet.

To Die For is for fans of Nicole Kidman, Joachin Phoenix, and the caustic mind of Buck Henry.

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