I like movies and I enjoy going to see them in the theater. I also enjoy renting them, on DVD now that I have a DVD player. My own collection of movies on DVD keeps growing. Lately because I’ve been busy with some work related things, I haven’t had a chance to go to the movies or even rent any for a while. I have still been watching some movies on television. I do prefer to see movies on DVD, or even VHS tape to being on television since the stations I get all edit the movie and have a million commercial breaks, but I still watch movies on television. Recently, I watched
Malice again. I first saw it in the theater when it was first released and I’ve seen it several times since then. The last few times I’ve seen it has been on television. I still enjoy the movie when I see it.
PLOT
Andy was a professor at a college in a small New England town. Andy also counseled some of his students. His wife
Tracey worked with babies and young children. Tracey and Jed wanted to have a baby. They bought a big house that they were working on restoring. There was some kind of problem with the plumbing that was going to cost them a small fortune to fix. Andy and Tracey discussed renting out a room in the house to make some extra money that would help them with the expenses of finishing the work on the house.
Jed Hill, a successful surgeon, arrived in town. He and Andy had gone to school together, but the men hadn’t seen each other in years. They renewed their friendship and Tracey met Jed. She didn’t really like him. Tracey and Andy decided to rent out a room and Andy convinced her that they should rent the room to Jed. After he moved in Jed had a lot of women over, which really upset Tracey. When he had a woman over, Jed had music blarring and Tracy and Andy could hear everything since Jed’s room was above theirs.
Tracey had a medical problem. I think her problem was ovarian cysts, but I can’t remember for sure now. The problem caused her to have a lot of pain at times and she had medicine that she took for the problem. She was having some attacks fairly often. Andy discussed Tracey’s problem with Jed without her knowing. Once she found out what Andy did, she was very upset. She didn’t want Jed to know about her problems.
There was a serial rapist attacking female students at the college where Andy worked.
Dana, a friend of Andy’s, was the police officer investigating the rapes. Some of the victims were Andy’s students. He discovered the body of Paula after she failed to arrive for an appointment he had with her. She had a history of missing classes and appointments, but Andy was still concerned when she didn’t show up, so he went to check on her. Andy was taken in for questioning to rule him out as a suspect.
While Andy was at the police station, Tracey had severe pains and had to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital. Surgery was needed to save her life. Jed, who had been drinking for hours, was called in to do the procedure. He had to do something rather drastic to save Tracey’s life. When she found out what he did, she was furious even though it had saved her life. She was also mad at Andy for telling Jed to do whatever was necessary to save her life. She moved out telling Andy that she wanted to be alone. She sued Jed and he was accused of having a God complex. Andy learned some surprising things about his wife after she moved out.
CAST
Alec Baldwin - Dr. Jed Hill
Nicole Kidman - Tracey
Bill Pullman - Andy
Bebe Neuwirth - Dana
George C. Scott - Dr. Kessler
Gwyneth Paltrow - Paula
Harold Becker - Director
Aaron Sorkin and Jonas McCord - Story
Malice was made in 1993 and 107 minutes long. It was rated
R and had nudity, some sexual situations, swearing, and some violence. Children shouldn’t see this movie. It may be all right for teenagers to see the movie, but parents need to make that choice for themselves. The last few times I’ve seen the movie has been on television and the movie had been edited. The swearing was edited, but there was still some left in the movie. The nudity was also edited out, but in one scene a bare backside was still shown. People who don’t like to see movies with nudity in them shouldn’t watch this one.
I have seen
Malice several times since it was first released and I still enjoyed it the last time I watched it. The movie was a psychological thriller. The first time I saw it, I had no idea what would happen and I was surprised by a few things. Even though I am no longer surprised by the movie, it was still entertaining to me. I’ve never been bored watching it, even now that I know how it ends.
There was some mystery in
Malice, but I’m not going to be too specific about that because I don’t want to say too much and ruin the movie for people who haven’t seen it yet. The serial rapist subplot was also a mystery, but it didn’t seem to be as important to the plot. Though as a result of that investigation, something else is learned that tied back into the main focus of the movie. There were a lot of things going on in the movie that were somehow tied back into the main focus of the movie. There were several suspenseful moments in the movie. The first time I saw this movie it kept me guessing about what would happen next and how everything would turn out.
There really wasn’t any romance in
Malice, but there were several sexual situations and some sex scenes in the movie. Jed had women over and had sex with them once he moved into the room in Andy and Tracey’s house. He and his women friends were vocal and loud while having sex and the sounds could be heard throughout the house. Those scenes weren’t too long and didn’t show a lot, but they could offend some viewers. There was some nudity in the movie. Nicole Kidman was briefly topless in one scene. Alec Baldwin and Bill Pullman were shown without shirts at different times. Alec was shown that way more than Bill was. Since it has been a while since I’ve seen the R-rated version of the movie, I can’t remember for sure if Alec showed off his bare backside or not. During the edited version on television, the bare backside of a woman was left in the movie. Two of the main characters in the movie, Tracey and Andy, were married and they seemed to have a loving relationship, at least at first. There was a rapist attacking women, but none of the rapes were actually shown on camera. Anyone who is offended by seeing nudity in a movie or sex scenes should probably avoid seeing
Malice.
At different times during
Malice there was some creepy sounding music playing that did add to the suspense of the movie. The lighting that was used in some scenes also helped to add to the suspense of the scene. Some of the scenes were dark and shadowy, making it harder to tell exactly what was going on. There were a few interesting camera angles used during different scenes.
I thought that the acting in
Malice was very good. There were some complex characters in this movie. Jed was a talented surgeon who seemed nice when he showed up in town. He went from being nice and charming to being controlling and arrogant. Alec Baldwin was great as Jed, especially when he gave his response to being accused of having a God complex. He was very believable and convincing in his role. His eyes were very expressive in this movie. Just by looking at his expression and in his eyes it was clear how arrogant Jed was.
Nicole Kidman was also very good in
Malice. I know many people don’t like her and think she can’t act, but I don’t agree with that. I think she is very talented. The role of Tracey was very different from the other roles she had played before this movie was originally released. She hasn’t played another role quite like Tracey since then either. Tracey was a loving wife who was having some medical problems. After she had to have emergency surgery, she seemed to change and become colder, more calculating. Tracey was a very complicated character with secrets. I think Kidman did a very good job with this character. Bill Pullman was good as Andy, but his performance didn’t stand out as much to me. He did seem to be a bit stiff at times. This was the first time I had ever seen Bebe Neuwirth in anything other than
Cheers. Dana was very different from Lilith, the role she played on
Cheers. Dana was a police officer who was good at her job and determined to track down the rapist. This role really showed off Neuwirth’s range as an actress to me. Her character also had a very strong accent. Gwyneth Paltrow had a small role as Paula. She only had a few minutes of screen time, but she did ok with what she had. This movie came out before Paltrow became a wall known, award winning actress. George C. Scott had a small role with only a few minutes of screen time too.
Andy, Tracey, and Jed were the main characters in
Malice. I think the movie was a bit more focused in on Andy and Tracey than it was on Jed, but he was very important to the plot as well. Those three characters were well developed. Andy did grow some during the movie as he learned exactly what was going on. He started out a bit naive, but that changed by the end of the movie. Tracey and Jed changed over the course of the movie. Tracey seemed to change a great deal. Later in the movie, Andy learned some things about Tracey and her past that really helped to explain several things. Dana wasn’t in as much of the movie, so she wasn’t developed that much. Paula was barely in the movie, so basically nothing was known or learned about her.
CHARACTERS
Andy - He was a college professor in a New England town. He also counseled some of the students. He was a kind, trusting man who could be naive at times. He and his wife bought a large old house and were restoring it. He was loyal to his friends and family. When things started happening that didn’t make sense to him, he started investigating on his own to learn what was going on.
Tracey - Andy’s wife. She was well liked and loved her husband. She worked with children and wanted to have a baby with Andy. She had a medical problem that caused her to have pain and resulted in her having to have emergency surgery. She changed after that. She kept secrets from her husband.
Jed - He was a successful surgeon. He and Andy had gone to school together. He seemed to be kind and charming, but he was really very arrogant. He was a playboy and picked up several different women at bars around town. He performed the surgery on Tracey. He was accused of having a God complex.
Dana - She was a police officer and one of Andy’s friends. She was investigating the rapes that happened on the college campus. She was a good cop and dedicated to her job.
Paula - One of Andy’s students. She tended to be late for or completely miss classes. She came up with some unique reasons why she missed classes. She was a victim of the rapist.
Malice is an entertaining psychological thriller that I have enjoyed watching more than once. People who like this type of movie or any of the actors may enjoy this movie as well. It is worth watching.
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