Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Nicole Kidman started her acting career in Australia before appearing in movies in the United States. I have seen and enjoyed most of her movies. She received a lot of critical acclaim for her performance in 1995's To Die For.

Suzanne Stone dreamed of being on television her entire life. She decided to pursue a relationship with Larry Maretto that led to marriage. She was very determined to make her dream come true and she talked her way into a job at the local cable access channel. She eventually managed to do the nightly weather reports on the station. Larry’s sister Janice didn’t like Suzanne and felt that her brother had changed after the marriage. Larry went along with what Suzanne wanted, like the condo and the new car. Suzanne got an idea to do a documentary featuring students from the local high school. Only three, Lydia, James, and Russell participated. Larry wanted to start a family with Suzanne and he finally started to push the issue with her, even saying she should quit her job. After that, Suzanne started plotting how to get rid of Larry. She used the documentary as a way to get close to the kids, especially James, so she could manipulate them into killing Larry for her.

To Die For was based on the book of the same name written by Joyce Maynard. She loosely based her book on a real incident involving a young teacher, Pamela Smart from New Hampshire. Smart was convicted in 1991 of plotting with four students to kill her husband. I do remember some things from the real case, though I don’t remember why Smart wanted her husband dead. Since Smart was a teacher, it was clear how she met the students she plotted with. For the movie, Suzanne did have a different job that wouldn’t normally mean she would be in contact with teenagers. She came up with the idea to do some kind of documentary on students at the local high school, which explained how she met James, Russell, and Lydia. I haven’t read the book, so I don’t know what might have been changed or left out for the movie.

To Die For was a dark and rather twisted movie, so it isn’t a movie that everyone will like. I loved it and have seen it several times since I first rented the movie. I finally got the DVD in 2005. The movie is usually described as a black comedy. I do agree that the movie is black even though I don’t really think it was that funny. There were moments of humor added throughout the movie. Most of the humor came from the darker, twisted elements of the movie. Different characters talked about Suzanne and some of the talks included some funny thoughts about her. Suzanne’s obsession with being famous caused her to say some incredibly silly and even funny things in a very serious, earnest manner that made me laugh. The movie did also include some violent and disturbing elements. Those things played a big part in the movie being rated R. There was swearing used throughout the movie. This isn’t a movie for children of any age to see.

To Die For wasn’t told in a completely straightforward manner. Throughout the movie, scenes of people discussing what happened were inserted. It was like the different people involved were being interviewed after the events had happened. It was a little strange at first but I quickly got use to it. That method worked for sharing the thoughts of the characters about what had happened. Voice overs weren’t used during the action. The opening credits did show newspaper clippings that gave a hint about what would be happening in the movie. Once the characters started to share the opinions, the story was told in chronological order. It was shown that Suzanne had always wanted to be on television and be famous. That desire drove everything Suzanne did, and ultimately pushed her to plotting to kill Larry when he made it clear that he wasn’t as supportive of her career as he had been in the past.

The history of Suzanne and Larry’s relationship was shared without much time being spent on their dating. Even before the wedding, Larry was changing to make Suzanne happy. I never believed that she was really committed to the marriage. She picked the honeymoon destination because of a convention going on there and she snuck around while Larry was fishing or sleeping to make connections. Suzanne never did anything that Larry wanted even though he did everything she wanted. I think the only reason she got married was because she thought it would somehow improve her career in some way. She looked up to Jayne Paulie and Diane Sawyer, both of whom were married, so I'm thinking she decided she had to be married to have a better chance of becoming like them. She didn’t have any interest in the things that Larry wanted, like children. She just told Larry one day that she was using her maiden name as her professional name instead of his last name, never discussing it with him. She didn’t start to plot to kill Larry until he made it clear that he didn’t want her pursuing her career at the expense of children. He let her know that he wanted her to give up her dream and start having children. When Larry was talking, Suzanne actually zoned out. After that, she started to pay more attention to the teenagers, especially James, playing up on the fact that he had a crush on her. There were sexual situations at times throughout the movie though there was only a small amount of nudity. Suzanne used sex to control and manipulate men. She seemed to view sex as just a tool to use to get her way and be in control of situations. It was made clear that Suzanne and James started to have sex. That was disturbing since James was in high school and Suzanne was an adult.

Nicole Kidman was wonderful as Suzanne and I can’t imagine anyone else in the part even though I read that Meg Ryan was originally cast. I believe this was the first movie that Nicole Kidman received a lot of critical acclaim for. She was nominated for awards and even won a Golden Globe for this performance. People’s ideas about her abilities as an actress started to change with this role. Kidman hasn’t played any other parts that were anything like Suzanne. She said some things that made it seem like she was an idiot, but she was smarter than that. People tended to underestimate her when they first met her because of her appearance, which was very important to her. Her hair and fingernails were always perfect. She could be very manipulative and was willing to do whatever it took to reach her goals. I thought that Kidman was very believable as Suzanne.

Larry was dazzled by Suzanne when he first met her and set out to win her over. He did everything she wanted in an attempt to get her and make her happy. He knew a career was important to her, though he didn’t seem to understand just how important it was since he did eventually tell her that he thought she should quit. Matt Dillion was good and believable in the part. He was also good as very different types of characters in A Kiss Before Dying and Herbie: Fully Loaded. Janice never did like Suzanne and was less than thrilled when her brother decided to marry her. Janice was very critical of Suzanne and tended to think the worst of her. Illeana Douglas handled the part well. Dan Hedaya, probably best known for playing Carla’s ex-husband Eddie on Cheers, had a few scenes as Larry and Janice’s father. He also provided a voice in Robots and had a part in The Addams Family. Kurtwood Smith, Red on That 70's Show, and Holland Taylor had a few short scenes as Suzanne’s parents. Smith played a small part in Oscar with Sylvester Stallone. Wayne Knight also had a few scenes as Ed Grant, Suzanne’s boss at the cable station. Ed was another in a long line of men who just couldn’t say no to Suzanne, though there was never any physical relationship between them.

James, Russell, and Lydia were the teenagers that signed up to take part in Suzanne’s documentary. They were all considered trouble and no one paid them any attention before Suzanne started manipulating them. She spent the most time with James, probably because she figured he would the easiest to manipulate since he had a huge crush on her. James was rather obvious about his feelings. Joaquin Phoenix was very believable in the part. He was younger then, but still very good as James. He has been receiving a lot of acclaim and nominations for his wonderful performance as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. Casey Affleck was fine as Russell. His part wasn’t as large as some of the others. He went on to play in Ocean's 11 and Ocean's Twelve. Allison Folland was fine as Lydia.

Main Cast

Casey Affleck - Russell
Matt Dillion - Larry Maretto
Illeana Douglas - Janice Maretto
Allison Folland - Lydia
Dan Hedaya - Joe Maretto
Nicole Kidman - Suzanne Stone Maretto
Wayne Knight - Ed Grant
Joaquin Phoenix - James
Kurtwood Smith - Earl Stone
Holland Taylor - Carol Stone

Gus Van Sant - Director

To Die For is available on VHS and DVD. I do own the DVD. It has both the widescreen and full screen versions of the movie. It is one of the DVDs that has widescreen on one side and full screen on the other. I really don't like those because I usually end up putting the wrong side in. The only extra on the DVD was the theatrical trailer. The little insert in the DVD case did contain a little bit of information about the movie and how it was a fictionalized version of a true story.

I really enjoy To Die For and think it is a very entertaining movie. It is a bit different and twisted, so it isn’t for everyone. Fans of Nicole Kidman should definitely give the movie a chance.

Nicole Kidman Reviews
Moulin Rouge ~ Moulin Rouge Soundtrack ~ The Others ~ Malice ~ Dead Calm ~ Birthday Girl ~ Cold Mountain ~ The Stepford Wives ~ The Interpreter ~ Bewitched ~

Joaquin Phoenix Reviews
Brother Bear ~ The Village ~ Walk the Line ~


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age