Another movie that depicts the pure brilliance of Nicole Kidman. Her multifaceted portrayal steals the show. But on with the action.
Some spoilers.
This is probably the first time ever that a serial killer is used only to further the main plot, which turns out to be something else entirely. The story starts out easy enough: a happy couple, Tracy and Andy, live in a nice little town, where he's a college dean and she is a kindergarten teacher. She adores children and is being treated with oestrogen to increase the chances of getting pregnant. He loves her and dotes on her. So far, so good.
Then one day he meets an old school friend, who in the mean time has become a very successful surgeon. Since Jed is new in town, he is offered hospitality by his old friend. Of course, we guess immediately that there's something fishy about him. Inevitably, one day disaster strikes: Tracy is rushed to emergency room because of severe abdominal pain. Jed finds he has to remove her ovaries, thus also terminating a first trimester pregnancy.
Later it turns out that Jed made an error in judgment; one of Tracy's ovaries could have been saved. She receives an important amount money out of her malpractice suit, but what good does it do if she can never have children? She is bitter, her relationship to Andy takes irrepairable damage and she leaves him. Jed obviously has to move out. End of story?
Far from it. Since there is no such thing as a perfect crime, details that do not easily fall into place nag at Andy. Helped along by a rather surprising revelation courtesy of the local police, he follows the voice of his doubts and finds out more than he probably ever wanted to know.
The final twist is both cute (for its implausibility) and chilling, since it shows just how far people are willing to go in order to obtain, and keep, what they regard as happiness.
Some spoilers.
This is probably the first time ever that a serial killer is used only to further the main plot, which turns out to be something else entirely. The story starts out easy enough: a happy couple, Tracy and Andy, live in a nice little town, where he's a college dean and she is a kindergarten teacher. She adores children and is being treated with oestrogen to increase the chances of getting pregnant. He loves her and dotes on her. So far, so good.
Then one day he meets an old school friend, who in the mean time has become a very successful surgeon. Since Jed is new in town, he is offered hospitality by his old friend. Of course, we guess immediately that there's something fishy about him. Inevitably, one day disaster strikes: Tracy is rushed to emergency room because of severe abdominal pain. Jed finds he has to remove her ovaries, thus also terminating a first trimester pregnancy.
Later it turns out that Jed made an error in judgment; one of Tracy's ovaries could have been saved. She receives an important amount money out of her malpractice suit, but what good does it do if she can never have children? She is bitter, her relationship to Andy takes irrepairable damage and she leaves him. Jed obviously has to move out. End of story?
Far from it. Since there is no such thing as a perfect crime, details that do not easily fall into place nag at Andy. Helped along by a rather surprising revelation courtesy of the local police, he follows the voice of his doubts and finds out more than he probably ever wanted to know.
The final twist is both cute (for its implausibility) and chilling, since it shows just how far people are willing to go in order to obtain, and keep, what they regard as happiness.