A Perfect Murder (1998)

A wealthy Wall Street speculator discovers that his wife has a lover. He investigates him and uses the carrot and stick to make him murder his wife. Planned to detail, it seems like a perfect murder.

Director:

Andrew Davis

Writers:

Frederick Knott (play), Patrick Smith Kelly (screenplay)

Stars:

Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Viggo Mortensen

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Douglas	...	Steven Taylor
Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Emily Bradford Taylor
Viggo Mortensen	...	David Shaw
David Suchet	...	Mohamed Karaman
Sarita Choudhury	...	Raquel Martinez
Michael P. Moran	...	Bobby Fain
Novella Nelson	...	Ambassador Alice Wills
Constance Towers	...	Sandra Bradford
Will Lyman	...	Jason Gates
Maeve McGuire	...	Ann Gates
Stephen Singer	...	Effete Man at Met
Laurinda Barrett	...	Met Woman #1
Aideen O'Kelly	...	Met Woman #2
Reed Birney	...	Merchant Prince #1
Robert Vincent Smith	...	Merchant Prince #2

Storyline

Millionaire industrialist Steven Taylor is a man who has everything but what he craves most: the love and fidelity of his wife. A hugely successful player in the New York financial world, he considers her to be his most treasured acquisition. But she needs more than simply the role of dazzling accessory. Brilliant in her own right, she works at the U.N. and is involved with a struggling artist who fulfills her emotional needs. When her husband discovers her indiscretion, he sets out to commit the perfect murder and inherit her considerable trust fund in the bargain.

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Plot Keywords:

woman in jeopardy | money | urban setting | cell phone | murder | 

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Taglines:

A powerful husband. An unfaithful wife. A jealous lover. All of them have a motive. Each of them has a plan.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, sexuality and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many of the artworks featured in this film are Mortensen's own.

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Goofs

When David takes out the shoe box with the money in it it has a rubber band around it. It did NOT have a rubber band around the box when Steven had it in the bag.

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Quotes

Emily: [referring to his weekly card game] I don't want you to go tonight
Steven: what's wrong?
Emily: I need to talk to you
Steven: it's too late, they'll never get anyone to fill in, besides I beat them pretty bad last week, they're all going to want their money back.

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Alternate Versions

The DVD includes alternate endings in which the protagonists behave differently prior to the final denouement.

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Connections

Version of Bei Anruf - Mord (1959)

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Soundtracks

Park Jam
Written and Performed by Richard Davis

User Reviews

Not Perfect At All

A Perfect Murder is a lot better than I thought it would be, probably because of the smart direction from director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive, Chain Reaction, Under Siege). Given a fairly involved script and an action film, (never mind the dialogue, just cut quickly to the next scene) shooting scheme, Davis has concocted a mainstream thriller that works quite well. A Perfect Murder is based on a middle rated Hitchcock film which was in turn based on a hit Broadway play called Dial M For Murder. Steven Taylor (Michael Douglas, in part revisiting Wall Street's Gordon Gecko) is in financial strife and decides to knock Emily his wife off to grab her money. She's played by the hapless Gwyneth Paltrow. Hubby blackmails his wife's lover (Viggo Mortensen) to do the dirty deed. This film is ferociously mainstream. The music chimes in just so. The bathrobe disappears just so. Michael Douglas plays Michael Douglas to perfection, Paltrow is protected from any line more than fifteen words long, but still A Perfect Murder is never boring. The original Hitchcock version starred Ray Miland and Grace Kelly. There weren't any mobile phones and the wife wasn't screwing the killer. And then there was Grace Kelly rather than Gwyneth Paltrow in that old film. I know who I'd prefer.

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros.

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

5 June 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dial M for Murder

Filming Locations:

The Convent of the Sacred Heart, 1 East 91st Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,615,704, 7 June 1998

Gross USA:

$67,638,368

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$128,038,368

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Kopelson Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1