Malice - Some People Are Just Mean

Once upon a time, Alec Baldwin’s name appeared before Nicole Kidman’s in the credits of a movie, even when the actual lead in the movie was Bill Pullman. In this case, once upon a time was 1993, and the movie was a thriller called Malice. Much has changed for these actors in that amount of time. Another interesting little tidbit here is that the screenwriting credits go to Scott Frank and one Aaron Sorkin, who certainly has made a household name of himself with his whip-smart dialogue on TV’s The West Wing. It’s fun to see a movie like this, not really old, but enough has changed since it was made to cause you to take notice. The film itself holds up extremely well, it isn’t dated in its look or feel. It’s the real world (well, the Hollywood world) that makes the viewer say “Huh? She’s way more famous than him”. This movie was just a little taste of things to come for Ms. Kidman, and a taste of things soon gone for Mr. Baldwin.

As the movie opens, we see a young girl attacked in her apartment, and learn that she is not the first to fall victim on the small New England college campus where our story takes place. Andy (Bill Pullman), Dean of Students at said college, is understandably upset by these developments, and takes out his ire on police detective Dana (Bebe Neuwirth). We soon meet Andy’s lovely wife Tracy (Nicole Kidman), and learn that they are renovating an old house, which is costing them dearly. Tracy suggests taking in a boarder, but Andy wants nothing to do with it. They are also trying to have a baby, but Tracy has been having trouble, and is seeing an out of town doctor for assistance with a diagnosis.

Cut to story line number two, where we have Jed (Alec Baldwin) an extremely talented and unbelievably arrogant surgeon who is new to this town. We see him perform a brilliant surgery and then browbeat a colleague for a comment made during the procedure. Somewhere along the way, Andy makes his way down to the hospital only to run into Jed, with whom he coincidentally went to high school. Jed of course was BMOC and doesn’t remember Andy, however, the two end up having drinks together. Jed doesn’t really seem to be quite Andy’s cup of tea, but he is somewhat stuck in high school, still seeking the approval of the big shot.

Soon, Andy has offered to rent the top floor of their house to Jed. He expects Tracy to be thrilled, but she doesn’t like Jed, and his presence irks her greatly, particularly his bedroom antics. Soon, Tracy experiences a medical crisis, resulting in surgery, and eventually a lawsuit. And now you get no more plot summary, for to give that to you would be to give away too much! Suffice it to say that there is mischief afoot, and people are not always what they seem.

Director Harold Becker delivers a solid thriller here. The plot is complicated, but not so far out as to be confusing, and he has all his thriller ducks in a row, red herrings and all. There is virtually no trace of the Aaron Sorkin dialogue we have grown to know (and some of us to love) via The West Wing, but the screenplay holds together well. The photography (Gordon Willis) is basic, no bells and whistles to either add or detract from the story. The one element that is truly out of balance is the score (Jerry Goldsmith). Heavy handed is putting it mildly. There is far too much foreshadowing in the score, and most of it leads to nothing. A lighter touch would have more than sufficed.

The three leads all give nicely textured performances, lending each character layers of complexity slowly revealed as the story progresses. Nicole Kidman shows some of her potential here, and so as not to spoil things, I’ll just say that an angry Nicole Kidman is scary! Alec Baldwin is always at his best when playing the arrogant a-hole (Glengarry Glen Ross comes to mind) and he has a speech here about doctors playing God that is fabulous. Bill Pullman is a very serviceable everyman, and if he doesn’t have the screen presence of the other two, it simply works to the benefit of the film. Bebe Neuwirth as the police detective is clearly in a supporting role, and as such is fairly undeveloped. All I can say about this performance is she needs to lose that horrible northeastern accent. It diminishes her character, making her into a caricature. George C. Scott and Anne Bancroft show up in small but effective parts, each perfect as always in the roles they are given. Also, look for an unformed adolescent Gwyneth Paltrow appearance. Ten years is a long time in Hollywood.

Overall, Malice is a good, solid, if not knock-your-socks-off, thriller. The story has a good number of red herrings and twists and turns that keep you from guessing the whole thing in the first ten minutes. While you might find yourself a bit ahead of the movie at times, you’ll enjoy finding out if you’re right in your predictions. I made several throughout the movie and was glad the times I was wrong, but not disappointed in the outcomes the times I was right. If you’re a fan of the thriller genre or any of the three principal players, definitely give this one a look.