To Die for (1995) [VHS]

To Die for (1995) [VHS]
by Gus Van Sant

To Die for (1995) [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: Casey Affleck, Illeana Douglas, Joaquin Phoenix, Matt Dillon, Nicole Kidman
Director: Gus Van Sant
Producer: Jonathan T. Taplin
Producer: Joseph M. Caracciolo
Producer: Laura Ziskin
Producer: Leslie Morgan
Producer: Sandy Isaac
Writer: Buck Henry
Writer: Joyce Maynard
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
Running Time: 106 minutes
Release Date: 1996-11-05
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Studio: Sony Pictures

VHS Movie Reviews of To Die for (1995) [VHS]

Movie Review: Perfectly Plastic...
Summary: 5 Stars

In TO DIE FOR, Suzanne Stone (the glorious Nicole Kidman) is an ultra-ambitious, wannabe media megastar. This takes a certain type of person, a person without fear, heart, or conscience. Stone puts her psychotic tendencies to work, building her TV career by any means necessary. This includes marriage, murdering her unbelievably clueless husband (Matt Dillon), and relentless self-promotion. This is a woman driven to be in reality what she has always been in her own blank mind. She WILL be famous! Fortunately, she won't have to sell her soul in the bargain, due to the glaring fact that she does not possess one! Kidman IS Suzanne Stone, an empty shell w/ a wonderful paint-job! She oozes along, manipulating the foolish and living only to be noticed. Don't worry though, she definitely goes too far and receives her day of recompence. Joaquin Phoenix is perfectly thick in his role as Suzanne's primary pawn. TDF belongs in every black comedy collection...

Movie Review: direct rip-off of the movie "Murder in New Hampshire".
Summary: 1 Stars

"Murder in New Hampshire" is a much better movie, is a True Crime story, and was made before "To Die For". They are both accurate depictions of the Pamela Smart story, and are extremely similar. "To Die For" was hyped as a comedy. Unbelieveable. I'm sure that the victim's loved ones don't find it the least bit funny. Neither do I.

Movie Review: Exellent
Summary: 5 Stars

Very satisfied with movie. Very happy as movie was lost during postage contacted Amazon and very satisfied with result and obtaining new DVD. Thank you Amazon

Movie Review: Blind ambition gone wrong
Summary: 4 Stars

Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) will do anything to be the next Barbara Walters. She starts out as a small town weather girl and while making a documentary with some high school students, hatches a diabolical scheme to kill her husband (Matt Dillon) whose ambitions don't match her own.

Loosely based on the true story of Pamela Wojas Smart, this movie is a clever black comedy focusing on the blind ambition of Kidman's character. She plays her as an outwardly dumb blonde who is, in fact, ruthless and willing to do anything to be famous. Joaquin Phoenix plays Stone's teenage lover who blindly carries out her plan. He's quite young-looking and completely believable as the adolescent pawn in her deadly chess game.

The story is filmed like a documentary, in keeping with Suzanne's goal of being a celebrated interviewer. Having the characters speak into the camera reduces the tension but increases the humor, as most of the people involved are completely gullible and fall under Suzanne's spell. It's a macabre story played mostly for laughs with good acting all around.

Movie Review: KIDMAN IS "TO DIE FOR" IN THIS BLOOD-CHILLING FILM...
Summary: 5 Stars

In To Die For Nicole Kidman delivers a magnificent, realistic performance as Suzanne Stone, a devious New Hampshire housewife who dreams of becoming the top TV personality in the world. As a beautiful, manipulative weather girl with a modicum of talent for the job, she uses her feminine wiles to reach her dreams of fame and glory. Unfortunately, she's also greedy and grasping, so she doesn't stop there.

Although I think this is a spoiler, other reviews, including Amazon's editorial review, have already mentioned that when her husband gets in the way of her plans, she tricks some gullible teenagers into murdering him. Joaquin Phoenix is superb in the role of the teen boy who is so infatuated with her he will do anything for her. Her sexual escapades with him in front of the other kids are shocking.

When I viewed this film it seemed like a drama/thriller with deadly consequences to me, so I was surprised to read that it's supposed to be a dark comedy. I generally enjoy satire and dark comedy, but I saw nothing funny about this movie. If, indeed, it's a dark comedy, then it's pitch black, IMO.

I did find the cold, hard, nonchalant attitude of the character portrayed by Kidman to be amusing at times--in a shake-your-head-in-bewilderment kind of way. That made me wonder how a person could ever become so calculating. She seemed to lack a conscience, so perhaps that explains it.

The only thing remotely comical in To Die For is Suzanne Stone's grandiose opinion of herself.

I should have had a clue that it was a satire when I read the name of the brilliant director Gus Van Sant on the credits; he's known for that type of movie and I think he's one of the most outstanding directors in Hollywood.

But no matter what they call this well-crafted, well-acted movie, Van Sant drew the best from all the actors. Matt Dillon was excellent in the role of the faithful husband, Joaquin Phoenix perfect in the part of the obsessed teenager and Kidman deserved the 1995 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

This is a gripping, blood-chilling, fact-based movie, with so many twists and turns it will make your head spin. The surprise, satisfying ending is to die for!

Five stars all the way! I recommend it for adults.

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Summary of To Die for (1995) [VHS]

If anyone ever doubts whether Nicole Kidman is a good actress, they should immediately be required to watch this outrageously wicked comedy from 1995, for which Kidman deservedly won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Leading Role. While director Gus Van Sant handles the fact-based satire with razor-sharp precision, Kidman delivers a deliciously devious performance as Suzanne Stone, a small-town New Hampshire housewife who fancies herself the next Barbara Walters, Jane Pauley, Diane Sawyer, and Maria Shriver all rolled up into one meticulously coiffed package. So determined is she to have a successful career on TV that she'll stop at nothing--even the calculated murder of her husband (Matt Dillon)--to get the attention she feels entitled to. To carry out her scheme she recruits some unwitting local teenagers including one boy (Joaquin Phoenix, matching Kidman's excellence) whose infatuation with Suzanne leads to sexual escapades and predictably troublesome consequences. It's a satirical comedy in Van Sant's capable hands, but it's so close to tabloid reality that the film never seems implausible--which only gives it a funnier, more blood-chilling quality of humor. Featuring Illeanna Douglas, George Segal, and Seinfeld alumnus Wayne Knight in memorable supporting roles, this is one of the best comedies of the '90s--especially if you prefer comedies with a decidedly darker edge. --Jeff Shannon

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