Starring in the black-comedy, "To Die For," Nicole Kidman shows that she no longer has to play Gilligan to husband Tom Cruise's Skipper in such past movies as "Far and Away" and "Days of Thunder."
Going it out on her own in Gus Van Sant's newest flick, Kidman shines as Suzanne Stone, a perky and ambitious weather girl in a sleepy New Hampshire town, who will do "anything" to make it big.
"To Die For," the perfect medium for the talents of the kewpie-eyed vixen of this summer's "Batman Forever," is Van Sant's much heralded thriller/farce. A much needed comeback from his last picture, "Even Cowgirls get the Blues," "To Die For" headlines Kidman in her best role yet.
The screenplay written by Dartmouth's own, Buck Henry '52, based on local resident Joyce Maynard's novel by the same name, features Kidman as the pom-pom persona who orchestrates the death of her husband, played by Matt Dillon.
A smash sensation at the recent Cannes Film Festival, "To Die For" sculpts a modern and inventive slice of Americana as seen through the warped eyes of Stone and the other characters.
With Henry's most versatile script as a blueprint, Van Sant directs this smarmy flick with a panache of comedy and verve.
Chronicling the marriage of Kidman's Stone to Dillon's Larry Maretto, the son of Italian restaurant owners with shady business dealings (read: mafia), the film later shows the disintegration of the story-book wedding.
Stone, a Hollywood wannabe strives to live the glamorous life based on real life personalities. She names her dog Walter Cronkite and weds in a veil similar to that of television personality Maria Shriver's.
Stone vows to herself that nothing will deter her from chasing those pipe dreams of becoming a bona fide television star, not even white-bread hubby, Larry.
"Suzanne used to say you aren't really anybody in America if you're not on TV. 'Cause what's the point of doing anything worthwhile if nobody's watching," as said by Lydia, one of the prozac-troubled teens in the film, who is duped by the gamely Stone.
As Stone and Maretto begin to live the American dream, the idyllic house in the suburbs with the white picket fence and the dog, one thing continues to elude them -- the long quoted 2.7 children.
Larry begins to coax Stone into settling down and having children, but then the story develops and viewers see that Stone is salaciously coaxing Jimmy, another subject of Stone's break-through documentary, so that she can be free of Larry's restrictions.
Jimmy, played by memorable baby-face actor Joaquin Phoenix, is a drugged-out zombie terribly smitten with the psychotic Stone.
Kidman is already receiving wide acclaim for her role as Stone and there are now whispers of an Academy Award nomination.
"To Die For" is a great move for the porcelain featured cutey, which should enjoy a long life ahead of it, both on the screen and off.
In a movie that easily overcomes the usual one-dimensional drama, Kidman pulls out all the punches and shines in this darkly comedic role.
