On P List of Movie Reviews

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A Perfect Murder (1998)

Rate: 3
Viewed: 3/06

3/06: Having already seen Dial M for Murder, A Perfect Murder is a repeat of everything that happened.

So...where's the suspense? I was going to be lenient only if Michael Douglas would give a good performance. But boy, was I wrong. I should've gone further by seeing who directed the remake. It turns out to be Andrew Davis who only does Chicago actioners. His fault is showing too many stars in one picture while failing to strengthen the story and keep intelligence in check. As a result, there's not enough tension to engage me throughout.

What made the Hitchcock picture successful is the attention to details while keeping suspense at bay as the characters work around them. But this one feels forced, having run out of steam early and thus collapsing mightily at the end. One surprising aspect is leaving the detectives out on purpose when they should be surveilling the husband.

All in all, A Perfect Murder is a poor remake of Dial M for Murder.

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