To Die For (1995)

Directed by: Gus Van Sant | 106 minutes | drama, comedy | Actors: Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck, Illeana Douglas, Alison Folland, Dan Hedaya, Wayne Knight, Kurtwood Smith, Holland Taylor, Susan Traylor, Maria Tucci, Tim Hopper, Michael Rispoli, Buck Henry

After the less well-received ‘Even Cowgirls Get the Blues’ (1993), director Gus van Sant made the better ‘To Die For’ in which the television medium is ridiculed in a very cynical way. After filming ‘To Die For’, it was Casey Affleck who brought Gus van Sant a script from his brother Ben and his friend Matt. This would later become the well-known ‘Good Will Hunting’ (1997). ‘To Die For’ is the film adaptation of Joyce Maynard’s novel of the same name, the writer can also be seen in the film as Suzanne’s lawyer. Conversely, actress Nicole Kidman comes for the book when the character Suzanne says she would like to see that actress who just married Tom Cruise. The story is loosely based on the true event of Maine teacher Pamela Smart who got some of her students, including her 15-year-old lover, to kill her husband. The TV movie that was made about this is not comparable to ‘To Die For’. This film is told in an inventive way in which the perspective is constantly changed. Suzanne tells her story while sitting in front of the camera and this is interrupted and supported by flashbacks of commentary, interviews, weather reports, parts of a talk show and reports from and with other people. Each in turn shares his or her feelings with the camera.

Nicole Kidman is on a roll as the opportunistic and superficial Suzanne Stone. The way she talks and explains the motives for her choices is a fine example of acting. The same can be said about the three young actors who play the hopeless youths manipulated into committing murder. Phoenix then already shows to be talented when the infatuated sucker Jimmy or James as Suzanne is the only one who calls him. It was the debut of Alison Folland playing Lydia, a neglected overweight teenager. Finally, Casey Affleck plays the aggressive puss Russell. These empty-headed losers are all too easy a tool for the devious Suzanne. Precisely to portray these kinds of characters believable, one has to act strongly. Matt Dillon plays soft-spoken Larry Maretto whose dreams of a family collide with Suzanne’s ambitions. Let her solution to the conflict be exactly what gives Suzanne that coveted fame. There is a scene where Larry shares his plans for the future with Suzanne. The camera zooms in and the space outside the circle with Larry darkens when viewed from Suzanne’s point of view. This is perhaps the key to the gun Suzanne is aiming psychologically at her husband and also the narrowness of her thinking. Towards the end of the film we jump back to the present and the story Suzanne told us turns out to be videotaped for a business meeting. The film’s denouement is as sarcastic as the title ‘To Die For’ predicts.

In this film, the effect of the camera on less intelligent people is emphasized several times. You’re nobody in America until you’ve been on TV. The film also touches on subjects such as the media circuses surrounding criminal cases in America and the endless fascination of the public. The film can be compared to ‘Network’ (1976), ‘The King of Comedy’ (1993), ‘Being There’ (1979), ‘Serial Mom’ (1994) and ‘Natural Born Killers’ (1995). The only criticism a few will find is that Van Sant didn’t go far enough in this black comedy. But the humor in the silliness of some of the characters and the acting make To Die For an undeniably good film.