Malice

Malice is a very gripping mysterious thriller! The opening scene's haunting music will stay with you forever and draw you into a roller coaster ride of suspense, drama, and deceit.

The film revolves around a couple who's lives become interwoven by a mysterious and arrogant surgeon who manipulates and cons his way into their lives with little surprises around every turn. Harold Becker's directing is superb in setting the mood and pacing of the film. There are dramatic moments and secrets in the story that will keep you captivated until the very end. Watch for outstanding performances by Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman, and Bill Pullman, as well as a powerful supporting role by Ann Bancroft.

Malice is very difficult to review without giving away parts of the movie, so I will not go into great detail. It's the uncertainties in the movie that make it one to remember. See it, you will not be disappointed! The background musical score is one of the most memorable that I have heard in any movie. Malice is a tale of arrogance, power, mystery, and deception, that must be seen and will be long remembered after the final credits roll.

This is a very fine film that does not get the credit that it deserves!

this is one very good movie.it's got suspense,a twisting plot,great intensity,and a good story.it may not be wholly original,but it think it works,thanks to its three main actors,Alec Baldwin(The Good Shepherd)Nicole Kidman(The Interpreter)and Bill Pullman.But Kidman really surprised me with the intensity she brought to her role.i'm generally not a fan,but she is effective in this movie.the supporting performances are also good.i also like the fact that the movie isn't completely predictable,like happens in so many movies.the movie is also very well paced.there are no lagging spots to slow things down to the point of boredom.anyway,i really enjoyed it. 8/10

This is one of the greatest mysteries of the past decade. It is, no question, the kind of movie that Hitchcock would be making today. Yes, there are flaws in some of the details, but nothing too major. The plot is still brilliant, the pacing perfect, and the characters lively. Especially Alec Baldwin who give the movie its spark, playing an egocentric doctor with a god complex. The best thing about this movie is the way that it unleashes a mystery, little by little, and lets it unfold into something tremendous. Intelligence is all over this script. Everything is done for a reason and great writing here, (by the screenwriter who wrote A Few Good Men), makes for a terrific movie.

This is pretty dark. In the very literal sense, as in, the lighting can hardly be described as being overpowering, and figuratively, since it's not exactly a Disney-fied fairy tale. It may require, if not necessarily multiple viewings, then at least attention paid. The plot is well-written, and takes some serious turns. It should throw most viewers for a loop, and it manages to retain a level of believability that not all recent twist-flicks can boast. The cinematography and editing are of high quality throughout, with no exceptions. The acting is spot-on almost invariably, everyone turns in a solid performance... Kidman, Baldwin, Pullman, Scott, Bancroft, not a disappointment to be found among them. The supporting players, as well. The writing leaves rather little(if not nothing) to be desired, and remains excellent for the duration. The pacing is appropriate. The three attempts at doing a proper accent are appreciated, and this is by no means the only film to lack in that department. There is a bit of sex in this, if not that much nudity, considering. There is a moderate amount of language, and it can be fairly harsh. The DVD holds cast biographies(yes, *yippie*) as well as a trailer, which I would not suggest you watch before the movie itself, as it could give stuff away. I recommend this to any fans of the people involved in making it, as well as the genres of crime, thriller, and/or mystery. 7/10

MALICE is one of those movies that you simply MUST see more than once to believe. The first time through, MALICE is a great psychological thriller, with twists and turns through a plot that contains rape, murder, life-and-death trauma, and a fight to the death...all within the first 45 minutes. The second time through, though, provides a look at all the things you might have missed the first time around...and a chance to savor an outstanding performance from perhaps the most underrated actor in Hollywood, Alec Baldwin.

Bill Pullman plays Andy Safien, an associate dean at a small New England college outside of Boston that's currently under siege by a serial rapist who claims his latest victim as the film opens. Nicole Kidman plays his wife Tracy, a volunteer in the pediatrics ward of St. Agnes Hospital. They're renovating a Victorian house and need $14,000 for the plumbing. Enter Alec Baldwin as Dr. Jed Hill, a former high school classmate of Andy's, who's brand new in town and needs a place to stay. Andy needs the money, Jed needs a room, so the two hook up and soon Jed is sleeping upstairs in the Safiens' home...usually not alone, and his sexual escapades are grating on Tracy's nerves. The rapes continue, Andy is fingered as a suspect, and in the midst of it all, Tracy collapses with a ruptured ovarian cyst. Jed operates to save her life (after a night of drinking and wild partying), but renders her unable to bear children...leading to a malpractice suit from Tracy and an incredible soliloquy on surgeons with a God complex from Jed during the deposition.

But once the first half of the film is over, things really start to roll. Without revealing the rest of the plot, suffice it to say that as Andy, Tracy, and Jed all try to start their lives over again, their fates become inextricably entangled.

The movie is worth seeing once as a thriller. But the second time around, Baldwin's mesmerizing performance is what stands out. Jed is charismatic, seductive, and as charming as a cobra as he weaves his spell over the Safiens. Baldwin's ability to jump from utterly charming to incredibly chilling in the blink of an eye is on full display here; it is truly the performance of a lifetime.

See it once for the suspense, and again for the acting.