To Die For (1995)
Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 54
Fresh: 47 | Rotten: 7
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Critic Reviews: 14
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 33,594
My Rating
Movie Info
The price of fame is murder -- or at least it is in the mind of one woman in New Hampshire. Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) has spent most of her life wanting to be famous; she's attractive, speaks well, and imagines herself to be intelligent ("imagines" is the key word here), so she has set her sights on becoming a TV anchorwoman. However, opportunities for female broadcasters are hard to come by in Little Hope, New Hampshire, and she's convinced that her husband, the once handsome but now flabby
Sep 29, 1995 Wide
Aug 7, 2001
Columbia Pictures
Cast
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Nicole Kidman
Suzanne Stone Maretto -
Matt Dillon
Larry Maretto -
Joaquin Phoenix
Jimmy -
Casey Affleck
Russell -
Illeana Douglas
Janice -
Alison Folland
Lydia Mertz -
Conrad Coates
Weaselly Guy -
Eve Crawford
Reporter -
Kyra Harper
Mary Emmett -
Dan Hedaya
Joe Maretto -
Tim Hopper
Mike Warden -
Wayne Knight
Ed Grant -
Nicholas Pasco
Detective -
Gerry Quigley
George -
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Kurtwood Smith
Earl Stone -
Holland Taylor
Carol Stone -
Susan Traylor
Faye -
Maria Tucci
Angela Maretto -
Philip Williams
Babe Hines -
David Cronenberg
Man at Lake -
Buck Henry
Mr. H. Finlaysson (teac... -
Simon Richards
Chester -
Ian Heath
Student -
Michael Rispoli
Ben DeLuca -
Ron Gabriel
Sal -
Tom Quinn
Skating Promoter -
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To Die For Trailer & Photos
All Critics (54) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (47) | Rotten (7) | DVD (7)
As Jimmy, the teen sap who falls hard for Suzanne, Joaquin Phoenix is dead-eyed yet touchingly vulnerable -- a mush-mouthed angel.
If, like me, you find things to admire in all of Gus Van Sant's early films, you may be especially gratified by what he's done with a satirical anti-TV script by Buck Henry.
A smart and wicked delight
It's highly recommended.
Top CriticIf you've hitherto failed to respond to the laid-back oddball appeal of Van Sant's movies, fear not: this is a sharp, consistently funny blend of black comedy and satire on the deleterious effects of television.
An irresistible black comedy and a wicked delight.
A grotesque black comedy.
Like Roseanne, Gus Van Sant refuses to compromise his trademark smarty-pants assault on storybook America.
A mean-spirited satire, told in mock-tabloid style, this film features the best performance of Nicole Kidman to date (better than The Hours for which she won an Oscar), as an amoral small-town girl obsessed with becoming a TV star.
Gus Van Sant directed this sharp black comedy about the obsession with television and celebrity culture.
Wicked, Wonderful and Wonderously performed
Exquisite media satire, as good as "Network" in its way.
razor sharp
Audience Reviews for To Die For
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Lydia Mertz: [about Jimmy] He says that he needs to see you and that he's dying of love.
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- Suzanne Stone Maretto: [to Lydia about Russell and Jimmy] It's their word against mine. Who are they? Bunch of 16-year-old losers who grew up in trailers whose parents sit around drinking and screwing their cousins! [laughs] I'm a professional person, for Christ's sake. I come from a good home. Who do you think a jury would believe?
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- Suzanne Stone Maretto: I think if you wanted a babysitter, you should marry Mary Poppins
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Foreign Titles
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Joaquin Phoenix is wonderfully creepy, and Gus Van Sant's twisted look at fame, recognition and television still has relevance today.