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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 433592" data-attributes="member: 23">Malice (1993) <img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.abicart.com%2Fshop%2F16575%2Fart75%2Fh7329%2F175737329-origpic-999a47.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=461d04715121eebdbe053a32c20b4e837fea09e88e70383176b50483987d7ef3" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 620px" /> As is usual of late, this is a first-time watch. Back when it came out I wasn't into thrillers, and this definitely fits into that category. Wikipedia calls it a "neo-noir thriller", but to me it feels more like a contemporary psychological thriller such as Fatal Attraction, Single White Female or The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. It also has an iconic poster, which was purloined by several other films of the era (it was recently name-checked as the inspiration for the Scream 2 poster in a video I watched on that film). I suspect my avoidance back in the day might also be down to an aversion to Nicole Kidman (which is better managed these days to the point I could happily watch The Others a second time despite her central role). Further testing me, this film also has appearances from Gwyneth Paltrow and Brenda Strong. Fortunately, both have only minor roles (even more fortunately one of their characters is [ISPOILER]killed after their first scene[/ISPOILER]). The male leads are Bill Pullman and Alec Baldwin, neither of whom feels like a Hollywood A-lister to me. Not that this has to be a bad thing. It's just that I don't associate them with any specific knockout film roles. Pullman is an actor I'm lukewarm towards, in the sense that I rarely notice him. I can't decide if this is because he's bland or because he's too good an actor and disappears into his roles. He's very good here, but, again, I had to really think about that because nothing really jumps off the screen. Alec Baldwin takes top billing, which is interesting because his role feels smaller than Kidman or Pullman's. He certainly commands the screen more than his cast-mates doing his intense, cocky-but-charismatic thing which is used to excellent effect here. [MEDIA=youtube]LqeC3BPYTmE[/MEDIA] I knew nothing of the plot, which is the best starting point. I like when I think a film is going to go in one direction then it goes in another, and that happened here. But it was so twisty that it eventually became what I thought what it originally was. Along with a host of other things. Each turn and revelation is exciting, and they keep coming right to the end. It's clever without being smug or showy. There is one very significant plot (the[ISPOILER] serial rapist-killer[/ISPOILER]) which is compelling enough but feels unconnected from the main story. It's a Macguffin, but for the fact that one important piece of information comes to light as an outcome of one of the key players briefly becoming  a suspect. The information could have surfaced in a less convoluted way, so I still say it's a Macguffin. But it's a watchable one (which is fortunate given the amount of screen-time it eats up). This morning I've looked at a few reviews which point out what they view as flaws. Yes, it's melodramatic. Yes. It's soapy. Yes, it's borderline ludicrous. It's also gripping and highly entertaining. I'm very glad I took the time to watch this one.</blockquote>

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