Un baiser avant de mourir

Why do they do it? Just because a film was made once in the fifties, someone thinks they need to remake it with today's hot stars. At least they could improve on the story.

The most glaring hole in this version is the fact that the father (Max von Sydow) hired a private detective to investigate the boyfriend of his daughter, and yet he declined to investigate the boyfriend of his other daughter, both played by Sean Young, which would have exposed the plot.

Matt Dillon plots to have it all and has to do some things that just stretch us beyond belief to get there. He just seems to be in the right place at the right time just once or twice too often for my tastes.

I fell in love with Sean Young when she did No Way Out back in 1987. I haven't seen much of her lately and understand that she has not been doing so well. I thought she was good in this role and think that she has been unfairly criticized.

Still, I believe film noir is best watched in films of the fifties and remakes just don't do it for me.

This film contains a very good performance from Matt Dillion, but the rest isn't very good at all. Bad pacing, I was ultimately bored unless Dillion was on the screen. If you are a Matt Dillion fan check it out.

Sean Young gets a double Razzie nod for sleepwalking through her dual role in this journeyman thriller which sticks Matt Dillon out front as an upwardly mobile man who prefers to murder his way to the top of the corporate ladder. Full of contrivances and asking many questions while providing few answers, this mediocre rehash of a 1956 thriller makes for little more than a nominal couch potato no-brainer. Okay to zone to. (C+)

"like a bad tv movie" Thanks to MCMucus, Kalamazoo. You summed it up in 5 words. I could only add that a pompous score tries to tell you that a wonderful drama is unfolding in front of you. It's not. It's hard to find anything of value in this film.

With a few changes, and for reasons known only to themselves, the powers that be remade 1956's "A Kiss Before Dying" in 1991. Now the sisters are twins, and the plot is taken out further - rather than just getting engaged, Ellen now marries the killer. That's not a spoiler - we see him murder her sister in the first reel.

The original of this film, with Robert Wagner, Joanne Woodward, Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith and Mary Astor was much more entertaining. This update is boring and acted in a lazy manner by its stars, Sean Young I, Sean Young II, and Matt Dillon. Isn't one Sean Young bad enough, we had to have two of them? Supporting players Diane Ladd and Max von Sydow have precious little to do. The only part I liked was the scene from "Vertigo" on TV - but I do hope the director wasn't trying to compare himself to Hitchcock.

I don't understand Hollywood's obsession with remakes, except that I suppose they're cheaper because the studio already owns the property. But a fresh story line here and there wouldn't hurt. On top of which, it is a rare occasion when the remake is actually better. This is not one of those cases.