Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Millionaire industrialist Steven Taylor is a man who has everything but what he craves most: the love and fidelity of his wife. A hugely successful player in the New York financial world, he considers her to be his most treasured acquisition. But she needs more than simply the role of dazzling accessory.
A Perfect Murder is a sleek but unremarkable thriller remake of Dial M for Murder transplanted to 1990s Manhattan. The plot is competent and reasonably engaging but relies on familiar noir mechanics without adding much freshness. Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow deliver solid if not exceptional performances, while Viggo Mortensen adds some grit as the artist-lover. Cinematography is polished and atmospheric — NYC interiors are shot with cool elegance — but nothing cinematically distinctive. Novelty suffers as the film is largely a glossy retread of Hitchcock's concept, updated with financial thriller trappings but not reinvented. The ending is functional but lacks the satisfying twist or punch that would elevate it, feeling somewhat rushed and anticlimactic.