SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

LilyDaleLady Caught this on late night TV -- can it be almost 25 years ago? wow. Most of the folks here have gone to amazing careers, and need no introduction -- Baldwin, Kidman, Pullman, scriptwriter Sorkin.But this is a terribly written movie -- handsomely produced -- finest actors -- but ultimately feels like a manipulative rip-off. I am not sure I processed that back in '93, because I knew less about both fertility treatments and the legal system.For starters: "Jeb Hill" (Baldwin) is an absolutely top surgeon at an MA hospital, but is willing to operate on his GIRLFRIEND, rendering her both sterile and MENOPAUSAL (!!!) by removing both of her ovaries -- for a lousy $20 million? Hello? the actor was 34 here, so presumably his character is roughly this age -- a surgeon at the BEGINNING of a brilliant, 35 plus year career -- and who would throw it AWAY for a lousy $20 million?Wait a sec. But it isn't $20 million. $20 mil is the SETTLEMENT, meaning Kidman's lawyers skim a minimum of 30% off the top, and more likely 40%. Let's go with 30% though. Now it is only $14 million. And the two con artists would presumably be splitting it -- they are not even married -- so that's a lousy $7 million each. (In reality, this would have gone to trial -- Dr. Hill's remarks were off the record, and he would have retracted them -- and that would have probably meant way less even than this.)$7 million? to give up your CAREER, which presumably Hill loves and is brilliant at-- to retire in his early 30s? A thoracic surgeon probably earned close to half a million a YEAR back then -- over just 20 years that is $10 million by itself. And Kidman was willing to go through SURGICAL MENOPAUSE to get her $7 million? with all of the risks, discomforts, etc. of early menopause? The script keeps saying "children" but she never wanted kids (*because we all know that mean bee-yotches in movies are not maternal and hate kids). But did she want the OTHER risks and miseries of menopause? or the side effects of taking estrogen pills for the next 20 years? HOT FLASHES? hair loss, weight gain, dry skin, sexual side effects? Are you kidding me? If a woman HAD $7 million, she'd probably gladly pay every penny to be able to NOT go through early menopause!It is as if the scriptwriters had no idea what really happens to women to lose their ovaries. They did not do even the most minimal research.Today, this would be even greater hooey, since it would be easy to have tested the aborted fetus to determine if it was Bill Pullman's biological child, which would have blown the whole lawsuit apart. The plot line with him accused of rape feels manipulative.Also the end with the whole "blind child they think has seen everything" -- unbelievably hokey and "convenient". The whole script is just stupid & manipulative.Only bright spot is a small role by the legendary Anne Bancroft -- giving everyone here a master's class in art of real acting (as Kidman's drunk, hostile mother). Though whoever thought that dark, ethnic looking Bancroft could be the mom of pale, lanky redhead Kidman doesn't know much about genetics as well. And what abusive DRUNK cares if they drink single malt scotch? Do the writers here know that a single malt costs about 10 times what a bottle of cheap whiskey costs? No drunk would make that cost/benefit analysis and decide to drink the hoity-toity stuff.A film that was never very good and has aged badly. Only interesting to see Kidman (a tremendous natural beauty here at 25) and Alec Baldwin (a super-hottie in his day) when young. Baldwin especially has matured into an hilarious comedian, once he aged past his hottie stage.Only worth viewing again for Bancroft's terrific scene, which is only about 4 minutes out of the whole film.

clevelandbill-66860 Is Malice one of the last films of the 1980s?Strange question for a movie made in 1993, right? But no ... I think movies take a long, long time to get made, and they reflect what was in their creators' minds at the time of the creation. Easy to think that Malice was a product, literally, of the late 1980s.What I saw was Yuppies. Doctors and Lawyers and College Deans. Big city apartments, waterfront houses on the point. That 80's hair and 80's clothes. Not a sighting of (soon to be de rigueur) flannel shirts to be seen. No beards. No trust fund or startup company kids starting grunge bands.I also saw an "end of the 80's" message, tiny, a little veiled, but there. Let's get to that (and it is our tiny little spoiler). The 1980's was about conspicuous consumption, of stretching the limits of experience in everything, fine clothing, fine automobiles, interesting food, wine, drugs, etc. It didn't really matter how you got there, so long as you were a consumption machine, consuming the finest of everything ... you were "King of the 80's".SPOILER ABOUT TO HAPPENSo, just as 1987's Gordon Gekko said "Greed is Good" and we were starting to doubt that truth ... Bill Pullman's character let's slip a final nail in the 1980's Yuppie coffin. This is right at the end of the movie, where he needs some ice for a wound he received: "I'll have mine in a glass with some scotch...single malt, nothing blended. Blended whiskey is crap. Someone told me that once."But the way he said, "Someone told me that once" comes off as very dismissive. It is said with a little tiny bit of derision. Enough to say, F the scotch, let's drink a Busch beer, jump in the mosh pit, and get the 1990's grunge scene rolling ...Where Ordinary People (a 1980 film) is one of my early 1980's films, the transition from the 70's to the 80's ... Malice is now my transition to the 1990's film, or at least the last of the 1980's films.I hope comments from you and others may improve upon my judgment here. I came of age in the 1980's, graduating high school in 1985, and the good and bad of that decade are really interesting to me ... especially as we become the rulers of the universe, for real, this time. Are we going to bring our bad or our good 1980's ideas with us?

aschmid-28547 Yes, it's true this movie has plenty of flaws and is full of plot holes. However, if you are willing to look past all that, "Malice" can be a diabolical treat!! It boasts an awesome cast, which includes Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman, Bill Pullman, Anne Bancroft, George C. Scott, and Gwyneth Paltrow (in one of her earliest roles) and is highly entertaining all around!The acting is dead on, especially by Alec Baldwin who churns out a chilling performance as a supremely arrogant surgeon with a chip on his shoulder. Also, this is one of the only roles I can recall where Nicole Kidman plays a purely evil character with sinister motives, and she pulls it off well. The film begins with a serial killer/rapist wreaking havoc on a small, New England town. Bill Pullman and Nicole Kidman play a married couple who somehow get involved with Alec Baldwin and that is where things start to take a turn for the worse. The film is wonderfully eerie and chilly. It reminded me a bit of an old Hitchcock film. Again, if you can bypass some plot inconsistencies and swallow the red herrings thrown at you, you will indeed be entertained. Some might call it trashy entertainment, but this film still remains to be one of my all time favorite thrillers!

seymourblack-1 "Malice" is a tremendously enjoyable psychological thriller with an off-beat story which is full of surprises, suspense and unpredictable characters. Murder, deception and betrayal figure prominently and frequent plot twists make it extremely gripping right from the start. The action is perfectly paced, the dialogue is sharp and Gordon Willis' impressive cinematography contributes strongly to the atmosphere of the piece.In a small town in Massachusetts, a young married couple who long to have children spend their spare time and a great deal of their money on renovating their Victorian house. In the day, Tracy Safian (Nicole Kidman) works in the children's ward of the local hospital and her husband Andy (Bill Pullman) is an associate dean at the town's college. Andy's job has become more difficult recently due to the activities of a serial rapist and killer who has been targeting the college students and this has led to Andy being critical of Detective Dana Harris (Bebe Neuwirth) for not making quicker progress in hunting down the culprit.Dr Jed Hill (Alec Baldwin) is a surgeon with a big reputation who's new to the town and immediately impresses his colleagues by saving the life of one of the rape victims. Andy recognises Jed as an old schoolmate and offers him temporary accommodation at his home until the doctor can find a suitable property of his own. This appears to be a good arrangement for both men and Andy looks forward to the extra income helping to fund his on-going renovation work. Tracy doesn't really take to Jed and soon becomes unhappy about his presence in her home, especially when he proves to be an extremely noisy tenant who regularly brings different women back to his room.After another of Andy's students is killed and he finds the body, Detective Harris suspects him of being involved and he's asked to provide a sperm sample. Tracy is suddenly taken ill with severe abdominal pains and is rushed to hospital where she's immediately operated on by Jed who has to remove one of her ovaries. Due to a problem also being identified with the second ovary, Jed speaks to Andy and explains that unless the second ovary is removed, it's possible that Tracy will die. In view of the circumstances, the heartbroken Andy gives his consent, the operation is completed and Tracy makes a full recovery.Tracy reacts angrily to what's happened and decides to sue Jed and then leaves Andy because he gave his permission for the operation to go ahead. Her action against Jed is successful and a settlement of $20,000,000 is agreed in her favour.Andy is cleared of any suspicion of involvement in the rapes but when he tells Detective Harris that it had been discovered during the operation that Tracy was pregnant, she informs him that he couldn't have been the father because his sperm sample confirmed that he was sterile. Obviously shocked by this information, he then embarks on an investigation that uncovers a whole series of shocking revelations."Malice" has a strong cast and the quality of the acting is particularly good. The cameos featuring Anne Bancroft and George C Scott stand out but the best performance comes from Alec Baldwin as the extremely conceited surgeon who drinks and womanises too much and suffers from a "God complex". He has the power to be both charming and threatening and really brings his colourful character to life. Bill Pullman does a good job as the hapless husband who discovers how little he knows about his wife and Nicole Kidman does well in a role that requires her to show different and sometimes contrasting aspects of her complicated character."Malice" is totally unpredictable, full of outrageous developments and often puzzling and amusing at the same time. As a source of pure entertainment, it's great.