A Perfect Murder (1998)

Isn't it a remake of Dial M for Murder? Is it better than the original?

R1 a lot is changed in this one. It’s loosely a remake

GP’s wardrobe in this movie is wonderful. Still looks great today.

Michael Douglas doing a variation on the Gekko.

Isn't there a full frontal shot of Viggo Mortensen?

Goop’s affair with Viggo is what broke up her and Pitt.

Viggo was gorgeous in Psycho. Here, no.

Isn't the catchphrase: That's not a happy to see me look.

Wow, I forgot how fabulous her wardrobe was. Excellent costuming job - that is how old money dresses. It would look appropriate today.

Her wardrobe was very Upper East Side in the 90s. Which is still how they dress.

Does Blythe have a cameo in this?

I saw it in theaters and loved it.

I really like this one, too. Good chemistry, tight pace, nice performances. I love the way her friend says “Money, honey”!

So pleased to see I’m not the only one who loved her costumes/wardrobe in this.

OP, It's so funny that you posted this because I find myself watching this movie every time I see it in my cable schedule. I don't know why. It's certainly not a great movie but it's very comfortable and easy to watch. Goop and Viggo have a great love/sex scene where the kisses seemed real and not acting. I always wondered about that.

[quote] This was back when I liked her a lot, when she was first making it big.

I thought she was OK then as a kind of Grace Kelly clone.

But I have no interest now.

Dial M for Murder (1954) is far fetched and talky and lacks genuine excitement. Would be interested in seeing A Perfect Murder though

Michael Douglas is repellant.

He'd be equally repellant if he retained his real name Michael Demsky.

But that works for the role, r17.

Sigh.

I miss the 90s.

I love this movie.

Combines well with “The Game,” “The Devil’s Advocate,” and “Primal Fear” for a fall movie marathon.

I watched this on some network that did six minutes of broadcast and four minutes of commercials. It's why I will always defend GP as a good actress. I sat through the commercials to watch the whole movie! Michael Douglas and Viggo were brilliant as well. The scene with Michael and Viggo on Amtrack is one of the best movie scenes I think I've watched. There are so many OMFG moments in this movie. If you haven't seen it, I suggest watching it. It's deffo worth the time.

I had that haircut. I remember thinking 'this is a classic that will never date.' I think I took a pic of Natalie Imbruglia into the hairdressers, lol.

R3 Paltrow looks ridiculous in those still shots. Terrible hair and lipstick. I’m always amazed at how basic and bland she is.

R22 You have to wear dangling tendrils now.

Dangling tendrils screams trashy and I'm amazed at the number of women who haven't figured it out.

Are dangling tendrils the trashy version of 'beach waves' r24?

R26 Dangling tendrils is the current fashion where you drag all your hair downwards to try and reach your breasts.

Of course most women don't have enough hair to do that so they drag all their hair forward so there's nothing hanging on the back. Therefore they can be only be photographed from the front side. The alternative is to fake it by buying weaves.

This lady is wearing the 1860s version of Dangling tendrils.

I remember everyone wanted that shade of lipstick. Naturally, it was discontinued.

I love that apartment and the lavish lifestyle they seemed to have. My friend loves the part where Gwyneth gets punched right in the face.

I like how in the scene where she is being attacked she reaches for knives but choose the roast spike instead.

My friend loves the part where Gwyneth gets punched right in the face.

So do I

Was the Gwyneth painting supposed to be a joke? Her eyes look wonky.

I loved it and IMO it was a very good re-imagining of the classic Dial M for Murder. I have always been a fan of David Suchet and I really loved him in this role. Michael Douglas is a brilliant actor, IMO, and doesn't get nearly enough credit for it. Viggo is too. Did anyone see Viggo's turn as a Latino ex- con drug addict in a wheelchair in Carlito's Way? He was amazing. Gwynnie did just fine. She was very sympathetic as the poor little rich girl. Hard for her to draw sympathy but she managed. I think I like it because He husband is trying to have her killed, and she gets beaten, then betrayed by her boyfriend, etc. It was fun.

I loved it.

Viggo in Carlito"s Way was amazing? Shit, that was one of his campiest performances ever.

"Keel mi you cockasacker!!! I gote diaperz man, I cunt hump!!!"

I loved Carlitos Way when I was younger

I prefer it to Dial M For Murder. The cast is excellent!

Yes well Viggo may not be a great actor but he is certainly better than the awful Bob Cummings.

And Michael Douglas lacks the devilish charm that Ray Milland brought to the husband role = perhaps a performance better than his in The Lost Weekend.

I couldn’t get passed the age difference between Douglas and Paltrow (28 years) even if those marriages existed in real life.. Douglas was beyond what I thought was his prime (Wall Street/Fatal Attraction/War of the Roses/Basic Instinct/Falling Down). I liked Dial M at the time and this film was part of a Hitchcock remake kick at the time (with Psycho). So I was in a snobby mood when I saw it and possibly wasn’t open to enjoying its hidden pleasures. All I remember is the kitchen utensil being used as a weapon and rolling my eyes at all the “twists.”

Maybe it’s worth a revisit all these years later? The director did the movie version of The Fugitive (which was good). And the look is pretty slick.

It’s never been uncommon for a much older man to be with a young woman.

"kitchen utensil being used as a weapon"

I don't remember that. What was the kitchen utensil?

Turkey thermometer, I believe. Right into the neck.

[quote] the awful Bob Cummings.

He appeared in those lame 1960s comedies so for me he epitomises that inbred, bourgeois, brainless, self-satisfied, sexist Hollywood lifestyle.

I don't know why Hitchcock chose him for 'Dial M for Murder' in '54 but he was forced to use him in 'Saboteur' in '41 because Gary Cooper turned him down.

I guess he was vaguely pretty in the early 30s.

Never pretty. But many men in films weren’t.

I rewatched it last night because of this thread. Yes, I do love it.

Michael describes the prepared dinner as a roast, not a turkey. But you just knew that after the attention the director gave the temperature spike that it would be used later in the plot.

[quote] Never pretty. But many men in films weren’t.

This guy was.

The weapon was a thermometer for meat.

The Gwyneth character is presented as coming from old money but Michael has his own money since he tells Viggo that all the artwork in their house is his. Therefore Gwyneth must get something out of the marriage to stay, though she is shown to dislike Michael's controlling personality. She is not a saint because she is cheating on her husband.

I remember snoozing through the film until I heard a familiar voice. I opened my eyes and saw someone I grew up with playing a small part in the film. I almost shat. I stayed awake for the rest of it, expecting the person to reappear, but they never did. Whenever I go to the MET, I look for the townhosue that Michael Douglas and Gloop lived in.

[quote] someone I grew up with playing a small part in the film. I almost shat…

Is this person interesting or famous, R50?

[quote] Dial M for Murder (1954) is far fetched and talky and lacks genuine excitement.

It was written for the stage and unfortunately Hitchcock was pursing this egotistical, dead-end notion of making films in a confined setting ('Rope', 'Lifeboat', 'Rear Window').

This thread convinced me to watch. This movie is so intensely 90s! It has a similar vibe to the GOOP Great Expectations, minus the soundtrack but less awkward (although Douglas is overacting at his best).

R47 That guy was an Adonis. I wish he kept his original name.

That’s an Adonis to you? He was cute…

How did this just get bumped? Lol I'm just watching it now!

And out of nowhere, old Con Con Towers as Goop's mama

Viggo Mortensen was just gorgeous, I would love to roll around with him in that sweaty loft all day

[quote] Viggo Mortensen was just gorgeous.

Yes, Viggo Mortensen WAS gorgeous. Not so much now.

I'd still suck his hairy dick

I loved this movie and yes it is a remake of Dial M for Murder with Grace Kelly.

Clothes by Ellen Mirojnick.

VIggo is very underrated. I saw him in Carlito's Way and he was a guy in a wheelchair, and he was superb.

[quote]R11 Does Blythe have a cameo in this?

No. But Goop’s mother in this is played by none other than that repentant whore Nurse Kelly from THE NAKED KISS.

Dont remember much from this otherwise other than Goop’s clothes

They dressed her like Carolyn Bessette

I expected nothing from this movie but actually like it a lot, for what it is. It’s perfectly cast.

[Quote]And Michael Douglas lacks the devilish charm that Ray Milland brought to the husband role = perhaps a performance better than his in The Lost Weekend.

'devilish charm'? Milland's bland like Bob Cummings and Grace. There's no tension in this film whatsoever. It feels more like a read through than a bona fide film

Constance Towers is perhaps best known as Helena #2 on General Hospital. Although I loathe Goop, she was good in this movie.

R69 Unfortunately Hitchcock was still in his unfortunate 'ten-minute-take' mood.

He took a stage play that was confined to one set and didn't bother making it into a movie.

[quote]Goop’s affair with Viggo is what broke up her and Pitt.

I've never heard about this. Is this "CDAN" nonsense or did they really fuck?

Viggo's accent in "Eastern Promises" is way better than Vincent Cassel's who didn't even try.

They fornicated. They connected.

They consciously coupled for a moment in time.

[Quote]He took a stage play that was confined to one set and didn't bother making it into a movie.

and ironically the same year Hitchcock's Rear Window which is also confined to one set was released and works brilliantly. The author Frederick Knott is also responsible for Wait Until Dark.

^ the author of Dial M is Frederick Knott

Frederick Knott is also responsible for this diabolically dreary talk-fest

Hitchcock didn't believe in opening up plays if they worked on stage in enclosed environments. Yet if you look at someone like George Cukor he directed a lot of filmed plays and they were mostly well done.

This isn’t a REMAKE of Dial M for Murder, it’s an updated adaptation. Its similarities are there but many differences also.

R80 you're right. You wouldn't see it implied Grace Kelly was getting her box eaten by her long-haired lover

(on camera, anyway)

I wonder if Brad Pitt tried to get Viggo blackballed after Viggo’s affair with Paltrow. Or maybe Brad wasn’t that powerful back then?

Brad ? Back then Brad would've been smart to ask for acting lessons from Viggo.

Viggo and Brad had similar looking cocks

Because of this thread, I have just rented it. It's a very rainy Sunday and I'm being a couch potato.

Goop speaking Arabic is hilarious.

I want to know which apartment they used for the Gwynnie and Michael Douglas Manse. My Gawd it was gorgeous. Any info on that location, because I want one!

R88:

"The interior shots were done in a studio with a photograph of the New York skyline"

R86 any room on your couch?

It's ridiculous her robe didn't come undone during the fight scene

Off Michael Douglas was evil and cold in this movie. I like him. He is excellent as a character actor and it is usually some really nasty type. Some vengeful, evil POS.And anyone who saw him in Falling Down, boy he was menacing. He was smart to take the career track of character actor playing bad guys.

It’s not a great movie but Gwyneth looks great.

Who ever dressed her for this movie deserved an Oscar nomination because her character was enhanced greatly by that wardrobe. Everything was expensive. Even her casual clothes. She projected wealthy NYC Socialite. Very high class.

R95 so it was Gwyneth as Gwyneth?

R96, not really. Gwyneth IMo is Hamptons, and L.A. but this character was very much Upper East Side Manhattan. In the first scenes between her and Michael, they're getting ready to go to a Gala at the Met, and she's in her dressing room choosing something to wear, and he walks in and says "No, wear this..." and chooses a gown for her, kind of a deep reddish rust color and it's plain but it is exquisite as they glide up the stairs and into the museum.

Not really, the character’s clothing were very tasteful, classic, expensive. Expensive fabrics and perfect tailoring. Adult, womanly.

In the 1990s Gwyneth Paltrow was in her early 20s and her style was preppy East Coast mixed with heroin chic Calvin Klein and Old Hollywood glamour.

R97 Gwyneth literally grew up in rich people Manhattan and went to a wealthy private school. Lol.

Yes, I just realized that. So she definitely knew the type. But this character was old money. When she went home to her mother you saw her roots.

You’re not reading the clothing, r99.

The character was cultured and patrician UN translator with a personal fortune of $100 million, mixed with people from the IMF and museum boards, who married a similarly wealthy industrialist 30 years her senior and went slumming with an artist.

Gwyneth is from Santa Monica, the daughter of a Jewish TV producer and a German Broadway actress, and during her teen years at Spence did zero extracurriculars and spent her time partying and barely scraped into college. She was a fashionista and a quite decent young actress who set her sights on the sexiest man in America.

The costumes of A Perfect Murder speak to the former, not the latter.

R101. Not all wealthy women in Manhattan dressed like Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Actually, her style stood out at the time and was why she was considered a fashion icon. Most women weren’t dressing like that. 90s rich were pretty casual.

R101 but she certainly imagined herself as the former.

She may have imagined herself as the former, but she didn’t dress like it.

[quote]R97 He walks in and says "No, wear this..." and chooses a gown for her, kind of a deep reddish rust color

Red. I might have known it would be red.

Isn't there something chi chi about her bath?

That love scene between Viggo and Gwyneth is one of the most realistic I've ever seen in a movie. Something was going on there, don't you think?

He had his finger up her pussy R107

God. looking back at the photos of Gwyneth in this movie makes me realize how insane the hype over her was back then. Someone was definitely getting some A-1 cock and ball service.

I'm watching this right now and loving it. Michael Douglas was deliciously evil. Yes, a remake of Dial M For Murder, but much more stylish. Not a Gwyneth fan, but she was so much better that Grace Kelly and Viggo is seriously hot.

I want their apartment.

This is an old thread so I'm sure I said earlier (without reading through the thread) that I really do like this movie. It's one of those easily watchable, on the background, repeatable dramas. It's not incredible or anything, but I always enjoy it. I watched it just recently because it's free on Tubi or one of those channels.

Looking at the images of Goop I really do miss shorter hairstyles on women. The current cocker spaniel like flowimg tendrils look is so played out.

I recall in the mid-1970s a more explicit variation of the same script was in preproduction with Lucille Ball attached to the Paltrow part and Brian DePalma on board to direct. Due to various scheduling conflicts DePalma made setting a shooting schedule nearly impossible and ultimately, an advisor of Lucy's suggest she pass on the project. I seem to recall Lucie and Desi Jr. expressing their regret when the film was released with Paltrow that their mother never got the opportunity to essay this roll. This did however jumpstart DePalma's desire to work with Lucy and why he cast her in the Angie Dickinson part in Dressed to Kill. Sadly, once more, it was not meant to be and while Angie did an great job for someone of her talent, one can only imagine what Lucy would have brought to the roll.

With Sarita Choudhury as Raquel Martinez.

Bobby Wygant interviews Michael Douglas.

Bobbie interviews Gwyneth.

It's not a great film, but an enjoyable, well done movie with good performances. It's Douglas's standard mean SOB/master of the universe, but it's a role he does well. Count me as another who likes Paltrow as an actress (and doesn't dislike her unconcealed real life bitchiness - after all I keep coming back here to this lot.)

Sets and clothing are good.

Michael plays such delicious, sleazy, villainous bastards!

There's a small role played by the future Steve Brady from SATC! It's just one scene. David Suchet as the calm and cool lead detective nails it. And, as mentioned, Sarita Choudhury is a nice edition as Gwyneth's friend.

Viggo by Bobbie

TL;DR Dial M for Murder remake. Watch the original.

I don't remember much about it except her bubble bath looked soothing.

Both the would be murderer and Michael Douglas got to slap Gwyneth around. She fought back. Those fight scenes were harrowing and very realistic.

Forgot to say that they wouldn't dare script a fight like those with Grace Kelly.

Her strangling was pretty rough.