To Die For

Gus Van Sant's To Die For (1995) is a study on the nature of celebrity culture, the parasitic control of pride, ambition over talent, envying a life beyond one's reach, and the incalculable mistake of ever screwing over the mafia.

In small-town New Hampshire, Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) romances the Italian and middle-class Larry Maretto (Matt Dillion). Suzanne's ambition, however, is far from being existent as a trophy-wife, despite Larry's promise that he can take care of all her needs. Rather than becoming a bearer of children and not much else, Suzanne desires to become famous and be on television, no matter what the cost. She parlays a local gig as the weatherman into a documentary on what's affecting area high school youth, including Jimmy Emmett (Joaquin Phoenix), and soon concocts a plan wherein Jimmy murders her husband by promising eternity to Jimmy.

If all of this sounds like a normal narrative, screenwriter Buck Henry (noted for his adaptations of The Graduate and Catch-22) and van Sant create a panoramic documentary style to the whole affair, where characters talk to the camera (highlighting the media's omnipresence) and relate how the murder transpired. The film works simultaneously as a character study of Suzanne's unending desire for media acclaim and successs, but also as an ode to the excess and decadent decade of the 90's and its near-singular focus on creating media sensations who would in turn emulate the lifestyle that van Sant is critiquing.

The film ends wonderfully, with a great cameo by director David Cronenberg in another of his smooth but deadly walk-on roles, and the entirety of the film smoothly balances broad comedy with bitter satire. Good stuff.

To Die For: 8/10