To Die For (1995)
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87% of critics liked it
(54 reviews) -
56% of users liked it
(33,594 ratings)
The price of fame is murder -- or at least it is in the mind of one woman in New Hampshire. Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) has spent most of her life wanting to be famous; she's attractive, speaks well, and imagines herself to be intelligent ("imagines" is the key word here), so she has… More The price of fame is murder -- or at least it is in the mind of one woman in New Hampshire. Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) has spent most of her life wanting to be famous; she's attractive, speaks well, and imagines herself to be intelligent ("imagines" is the key word here), so she has set her sights on becoming a TV anchorwoman. However, opportunities for female broadcasters are hard to come by in Little Hope, New Hampshire, and she's convinced that her husband, the once handsome but now flabby restaurant manager Larry Maretto (Matt Dillon), is just getting in her way. Suzanne gets herself a spot hosting a weather report on a local public access station, and is preparing a documentary called "Teens Speak Out," which puts her in touch with a trio of high school students -- Jimmy (Joaquin Phoenix), Russell (Casey Affleck), and Lydia (Alison Folland) -- who are even more desperate for attention than she is. When Suzanne hatches a plot to get Larry out of her life once and for all, she uses Jimmy, who has developed a serious crush on her, to do her dirty work, but Larry's sister Janice (Illeana Douglas), who has long believed there was something fishy about Suzanne, eventually begins to realize what happened to her brother. Nicole Kidman won a Golden Globe award for her work in this film, which represented something of a comeback for director Gus Van Sant after the commercial and critical disaster of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Screenwriter Buck Henry plays a small role as a high school teacher. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Gus Van Sant
- Written By
- Joyce Maynard, Buck Henry
- Genres
- Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Sep 29, 1995 Wide
- Studio
- Columbia Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
As Jimmy, the teen sap who falls hard for Suzanne, Joaquin Phoenix is dead-eyed yet touchingly vulnerable -- a mush-mouthed angel.
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
If, like me, you find things to admire in all of Gus Van Sant's early films, you may be especially gratified by what he's done with a satirical anti-TV script by Buck Henry.
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David Ansen, Newsweek
A smart and wicked delight
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, CNN.com
It's highly recommended.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
If you've hitherto failed to respond to the laid-back oddball appeal of Van Sant's movies, fear not: this is a sharp, consistently funny blend of black comedy and satire on the deleterious effects of television.
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Cast
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Nicole Kidman
as Suzanne Stone Maretto
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Matt Dillon
as Larry Maretto
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Joaquin Phoenix
as Jimmy
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Casey Affleck
as Russell
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Illeana Douglas
as Janice
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Alison Folland
as Lydia Mertz
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Conrad Coates
as Weaselly Guy
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Eve Crawford
as Reporter
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Kyra Harper
as Mary Emmett
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Dan Hedaya
as Joe Maretto
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Tim Hopper
as Mike Warden
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Wayne Knight
as Ed Grant
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Nicholas Pasco
as Detective
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Gerry Quigley
as George
- George Segal
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Kurtwood Smith
as Earl Stone
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Holland Taylor
as Carol Stone
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Susan Traylor
as Faye
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Maria Tucci
as Angela Maretto
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Philip Williams
as Babe Hines
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David Cronenberg
as Man at Lake
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Buck Henry
as Mr. H. Finlaysson (teacher)
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Simon Richards
as Chester
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Ian Heath
as Student
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Michael Rispoli
as Ben DeLuca
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Ron Gabriel
as Sal
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Tom Quinn
as Skating Promoter
- Joaguin Phoenix
- Chris Phillips
- Rain Phoenix
