I hate to say it but I found myself wanting to help Michael Douglas cover up his crime. I kept saying to myself, "Yeah, that's a good excuse." That's pretty sick. Of course, you set this up with this clutching corporate bastard stereotype, messing up his marriage by controlling every aspect of it. Gwyneth is his wife (couldn't get much better than that) but he runs the house like the business and soon she is in bed with Viggo Mortenson, who is himself a small time crook. Douglas, wanting to control even more, decides to kill her off and the fun begins. This, of course, is Dial M for Murder where Grace Kelley becomes the potential victim (give me your rejects, please!). Douglas is about as cold as a man can be; Mortenson is artistic one moment and dumb the next. Things get a little uneven at times, and if one thinks too much, it could fall apart just a bit. But just like the first film, it's suspenseful and captivating. One character who is wasted is David Souchet, who played Hercule Poroit on those PBS Mystery things. There is a hint of a connection made between the Paltrow character and his, but it is never capitalized upon. In the original, I remember his associated character being a much greater part of the movie. This would have helped a great deal, especially at the end.
Review of A Perfect Murder
