Malice (1993)

A tale about a happily married couple who would like to have children. Tracy teaches art, Andy's a college dean. Things are never the same after she is taken to a hospital and operated upon by Jed, a "know all" doctor.Roger Ebert called the film "one of the busiest movies I've ever seen, a film jampacked with characters and incidents and blind alleys and red herrings." Many critics mention the red herrings and this has led to the film being critically downplayed, getting mixed reviews. In fact, this was a large part of what I enjoyed -- finding out every so often that things I thought were important really made no difference.The best thing about films like this is that they make you (or at least me) want to watch them again to see what was missed. Surely knowing some outcomes will make the second viewing all the more interesting.

1993's malice is a very well-made thriller/mystery film starring Nicole Kidman Alec Baldwin and Bill Pullman. This movie has excellent chemistry between the actors, great dialogue along with a great plot that is entangled with many twists and turns. Nicole Kidman did a fantastic job in this movie as Tracy, her character was so wonderfully written, and she really executed the character well. As for Alec Baldwin and his acting, as always, his acting in Malice was superb, very entertaining and a truly flawless performance as Dr. Hill. Bill Pullman did pretty good in his role, not quite as well played as Nicole and Alec, but Still played pretty well. The plot really impressed me, I found myself being shocked, and constantly surprised by thing after thing. If you want an entertaining thriller starring A-list actors with an awesome plot, then check out Malice (1993). 7/10

Andy Safian (Bill Pullman) is the Associate Dean at a local college. A serial rapist attacks a student and the new hot-shot brash doctor Jed Hill (Alec Baldwin) saves her life. Andy realizes that Jed is a popular former high school classmate. Andy's wife Tracy (Nicole Kidman) is a children school teacher and his former student. Andy rents out their third floor to Jed but he's a bad tenant. Andy finds the dead body of student Paula Bell (Gwyneth Paltrow) and detective Dana Harris (Bebe Neuwirth) sees him as a suspect despite being his friend. Tracy suffers a rupture of an ovarian cyst. A drunk Jed operates and mistakenly takes out both ovaries as well as causing a miscarriage. Tracy blames Andy for allowing it to happen as she sues Jed.The movie is overloaded with red herring, blind twist and subplots where a serial killer actually dead ends to nothing but a random guy. At some point, I wonder what this movie is really about. It has so much plot that it sinks under its own weight. It may hurt Aaron Sorkin physically but he needed to simplify the story. Alec Baldwin is chewing up the dialog and is a full-on arrogant douche. In a simple story about Jed, that would be a powerful scene. However it becomes just another big writing scene in a movie full of wild writing.

This movie was one of the first I saw on big screen as a teenager. It was a pretty strong experience. Nicole Kidman plays a woman with angelic appearance but the heart and the nature of a demon. It is a film about sin and manipulation. Bill Pullman is once again playing the typical good guy and with his looks he just can't get avoid getting type-casted as such. Alec Baldwin is his counterpart, the maverick surgeon who has a god complex and is secretly sleeping with his friend Pullman's wife.The movie opens as a rather straightforward drama about a married couple, Andy (Pullman) and Tracy (Kidman), who are happy together but childless. Both are well liked and respected in their community but nobody knows what lies beneath. Andy bumps into his high school friend, the surgeon Jed (Baldwin), who is short on money. Andy offers him to live in his house and rent the room at the third floor. One night, Tracy experiences strong pains in her abdomen and is taken to the hospital where an intoxicated Jed performs an emergency surgery on her. The worried Andy is told by his friend Jed that he found a fetus inside his wife, but that it was aborted due to a cyst that lay on her ovary. Andy is initially glad to hear of his wife being pregnant but then decides to consent to the removal of her other ovary as well. However, his wife is angry over him consenting to such a thing since it means she can never have children and leaves him. Tracy also sues Jed after finding out he had been drinking prior to the surgery. But soon thereafter, Andy learns that he is sterile and therefore could not have impregnated his wife. He starts searching for the true father of the unborn child and soon a disturbing truth is revealed, along with a lot more that lies under it all.The story is well crafted and very suspenseful. The revelation of the child's father's identity and the motives behind Kidman's lawsuit and the divorce from her husband are truly surprising and pretty disturbing as well. All three main actors do a fine job and even though I have a feeling Pullman didn't get enough publicity for his role here (he is missing from the poster), his role is the most satisfactory as well as challenging. The wronged husband seeking revenge is a typical motif in such Gothic film-noirs but seldom has there been made a film with such a strong and suspenseful story. I give it a 7 and a half.