NICOLE KIDMAN as Suzanne Stone in TO DIE FOR

NICOLE KIDMAN

NICOLE KIDMAN as Suzanne Stone in TO DIE FOR

Something happens to actors early on in their careers. Especially today when it’s gotten so tough for actors to breakthrough and get one part to really sink their teeth into. They have to do something unique and signature early on if they want to make a lasting impression and get a chance to do it again. Amy Adams thought she did it, and everyone else did too, with CATCH ME IF YOU CAN – but it didn’t – the one that did it for her was JUNEBUG where she knocked it out of the park. Michael Shannon did it recently with REVOLUTIONARY ROAD. Young Actors have got to go ‘Gang-busters’ early on. ‘Gangbusters’ was the nickname given to Nicole Kidman’s Suzanne Stone in TO DIE FOR. Lucky for Nicole the qualities of her character called for desperation and hunger for fame and intense ambition – it was a perfect match. Nicole has never been so tight, her range never as wide and so appealing. Even though you may have despised her character you loved watching.

By the pool, "How about one of these Suzanne?", Matt Dillion smacking a young kids butt – how about a kid..? In her shades – hiding form the sun because she heard sunlight is bad for people on TV - “No Thanks”. So funny.

Determined to be taken seriously, she’ll kick out anyone in her way. She talks as if she’s already a famous TV broadcaster. She quotes People or US magazine articles that she’s remembered and believes them as fact. TO DIE FOR is the kind of movie, like NETWORK, that meticulously attacks it’s characters and Nicole Kidman’s genius Suzanne is someone who is not only stupid, vain, and ego-maniacal but also vulnerably human and sexy. She represents, on a bigger scale, feelings that our culture has in greater numbers now – finding a fast cheap way to become the next big sensation. She simply lacks the brain power and intelligence in concealing her dastardly deeds.

Nicole Kidman’s work here is fine and beyond anything that we’d expect from her earlier mediocre work. She talks only about being 'the next big thing' and enrolls everyone around her to do the same. Her cloths, Her make-up, her manner, her dance moves, the walk, the way in which she poses in front of the classroom ( as if millions of eye were on her at all times) all brought to precise pitch in this rendering. Her Suzanne is utterly absorbed in being famous and on TV – it’s such an eerie and complex realization by Kidman. Spooky good. She plays Suzanne as the kind of woman who pities us – because we don’t share the same ambition as her. She may be a sociopath, she may be a monster, but her impulses are so heartfelt we get caught up in a way that is sneaky and leaves the moral straightening out for later. Very smart direction from Gus Van Sant and a witty – stylish script by Buck Henry. A lesser actor would have played this very one note but 'hungry' Nicole puts lots of unseen layers into her love of Suzanne. Her Close-ups, right to the audience secrets are my favorite parts of the film. Nicole is so funny and charming and inspired. Kidman lets you see the efforts to charm that are transparent, yet succeed all the time. She is electric and utterly mesmerizing in this film. Kidman like Suzanne Stone indeed belongs center stage – the leading lady in our lives. It’s an ironic thing acting sometimes. Brilliant.

“I just wanna say that it’s nice to live in a country - where live, liberty and all that other stuff…still mean something”. And the ending with Illeana Douglas figure skating over the spot where Suzanne lays to rest forever is one of my favorite tags on a film ever. Just hysterical. Great film. Extra-fantastic Nicole Kidman.