Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Nicole Kidman is right on target in this notable dark comedy, an adaptation of the Joyce Maynard novel which was itself inspired by a notorious real life story. Nicole, looking absolutely ravishing throughout, is a completely self-serving sociopath named Suzanne Stone who's simply hellbent on achieving her personal American dream of being a TV personality. When she realizes that her nice guy husband Larry (Matt Dillon, in a solid change of pace performance) is going to be an obstacle in her path, she turns on the heat and convinces dumb as dirt, lovelorn teenager Jimmy Emmett (Joaquin Phoenix, in his breakthrough performance) to bump off Larry. She then proceeds to play to the media to her hearts' content.22 years later, this film version remains pretty damn relevant, in the era of reality television where just about any person can become a celebrity for no really good reason, and fame & fortune is still seen as a worthwhile goal. Working from a screenplay by actor Buck Henry, director Gus Van Sant gives us a thoroughly absorbing film with a fair amount of ideas to mull over. Just like any good dark comedy, it's funny in a twisted sort of way. I'm sure some people who've followed the story, or read the book, or seen the movie, must know one or more people like Suzanne Stone.An exceptional cast full of familiar faces is the real drawing card: Phoenix, Casey Affleck as his degenerate "friend", Alison Folland as the awkward girl who hangs out with the two of them, Dan Hedaya and Maria Tucci as Larry's parents, Kurtwood Smith and Holland Taylor as Suzannes' folks, Tim Hopper and Michael Rispoli as investigating detectives, Wayne Knight as the manager of a local TV station, and especially Illeana Douglas as Larry's sister, a cynical sort who has Suzanne pegged right early on. Making cameo appearances are author Maynard (as Suzannes' lawyer), screenwriter Henry (as a huffy teacher), and filmmaker David Cronenberg as the mysterious man at the lake. Kidman is a marvel as she really struts her stuff for the camera.Ultimately, one does feel somewhat sorry for Jimmy when it's seen just how pathetic he really is. He's just one of many characters who get jerked around by Suzanne, a master manipulator if ever there was one.Eight out of 10.

I am going to go ahead and give this movie an 8, just because I saw it right now and was feeling nice. In actuality, it would be more of a 7.5, or even 7.75. This movie has it all. It's a movie about becoming famous, and trials and tribulations of making it. Great movie, definitely worth watching! 8 Stars.

(Originally reviewed: 12/04/2017) Nicole Kidman has many memorable performances to her name, and her performance here may just be her very best in Gus Van Sant's smart, effective thriller. The narrative is delightful, it tells the story in a unique way, by using the complexity of the character's to go into detail about what's going on and what the situations are, I admire a film that cares about having a well-structured story and complex character's that aren't pushed to the side, and here is a picture that studies it's characters very well, making the film more insightful than your run of the mill, routine thriller. Nicole Kidman play's TV weather personality Suzanne Stone, a woman with a lot on her mind, strong aspirations and energy, she is played brilliantly by Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillion play's the doomed husband 'Larry Maretto', a regular guy who wants nothing more than a normal life, owning a business, having kids, and being with his wife, he is very good, as well as Joaquin Phoenix who play's 'Jimmy' a weird college student with an obsession for Suzanne, and Illeana Douglas, who play's Larry's sister 'Janice', a likable woman who does not trust Suzanne all that much.The supporting cast also includes Casey Affleck as Russell, a class clown, Dan Hedaya, Larry's father 'Joe', a cautious and powerful man with connections to the Italian mafia, and Alison Folland as 'Lydia', one of the three students that agree to help Suzanne, she is as senseless as Russell and Jimmy but perhaps smarter in a couple of aspects. The performances are all convincing and respectable. The film possesses a really good soundtrack that includes Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Sweet Home Alabama' and Eric Carmen's 'All by myself', adequate pacing, some rich, terrific dialogue and a nice, at times smart sense of humour. Other things I admired include Gus Van Sant's very impressive direction, and the complexity of the character's, which are all unique and free of most clichés and typical stereotypes, so kudos to screenwriter Buck Henry who also star's in the picture as the school's principal.However there were one or two things that could have been better, such as the explicitly of the sex, the film is at times erotic, but I think they should have went for a full on 18 rated picture that showed a little more of the sex scenes, I felt as if Van Sant could have took a look at Basic Instinct and includes sequence as erotic as those, one other thing is the scene where her husband is discovered dead, she walks in and doesn't even cry after hearing the news that her husband is dead, which I found unbelievable, there is also no tears shed at the funeral, another obvious suspicion that she may have been involved, but aside from that, I found the picture most enticing, and fairly original for the most part. To Die For is a very good thriller with impressive direction, complexity within the character's and an excellent performance from the beautiful Nicole Kidman.

Great movie by Gus van Zant. Clever, darkly funny script. Deft direction.Now for the weird thing: it stars Nicole Kidman. Yes, a great Nicole Kidman movie. That is normally oxymoronic, here it isn't. (She has made two other good movies - Dogville and Birthday Girl). Kidman's performance is wickedly brilliant. The supporting cast are equally good - Matt Dillon in his usual blokey sort of role is solid. Joaquin Phoenix, in one of his earliest movie roles, shows the talent that later got him two Oscar nominations. Casey Affleck also appears in one of his earliest roles (and demonstrates more acting ability than his brother has in any of his movies).In short, a great comedy-thriller-drama.