First impressions, in
one word? You really want to know?
Four letters, begins
with C …
Cold. Cold. C-O-L-D.
Cold. Yeah.
– Illeana Douglas, as
Janice Maretto.
If
you want to see a convincing and chillingly accurate on-screen portrayal of a
Malignant Narcissist and Sociopath, then look no further than To Die For
(1995).
There’s
an exchange that sums up the problem at the core of the central character,
Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman).
Her
boss, Ed Grant (Wayne Knight), at the small WWEN local cable station, says:
“Well,
Suzanne, I sure pity the person who says no to you.”
Ed
is joking when he says it.
Suzanne
looks directly at him, her face blank, emotionless, no humor in her voice, as
she responds:
“No
one ever does.”
She
snickers after saying it, but it’s not out of humor; she’s smug.
That’s
the problem.
No
one has ever said no to Suzanne.
Suzanne
gets whatever Suzanne wants.
Suzanne
will do anything and everything to get her own way.
The
end justifies the means.
It’s
Suzanne’s way – or else!
She
craved attention all her life.
It
started with a spoiled child.
Posing
for cameras.
Made
to feel like she’s better and more special than everyone else.
Entitled.
Enabled.
Over-indulged.
Now
Suzanne is a grown woman.
A
fully-developed demon, with the attitude that the rules and laws don’t apply to
her.
That
she can do and say whatever she pleases.
People
around her are to be used, destroyed and discarded, at her will.
Suzanne’s
sister, Faye (Susan Traylor), is quietly resentful.
Often
just there in the room, watching Suzanne with scorn and bitter understanding.
Suzanne
lands a job at the cable station, where she handles basic tasks.
Her
boss eventually gives in and lets her have the on-screen spot as the weather
reporter.
It’s
a go-nowhere job, but Suzanne sees it as a spring-board to TV stardom.
She
uses the station’s equipment to create her own documentary, Teens Speak Out,
focusing on the lives of three high-school teenagers:
Jimmy
Emmett (Joaquin Phoenix), Russell Hines (Casey Affleck), and Lydia Mertz
(Alison Folland).
Trouble
starts when Suzanne’s husband, Larry Maretto (Matt Dillon) says no to her.
How
dare he?
What
was he thinking?
Larry
is an average guy who wants a quiet, normal life.
He’s
doing well with the restaurant business he runs with his father.
He
wants Suzanne to quit her job at the cable station and help him at the
restaurant.
But
Suzanne has ideas of her own.
Helping
with her husband’s restaurant business and living a simple life would mean the
spotlight isn’t on Suzanne.
She
wouldn’t be the center of attention.
It
flies against Suzanne’s selfish, narcissistic IT’S ALL ABOUT ME mindset.
And
she can’t and won’t have that.
As
Larry is sharing his business ideas with Suzanne, she detaches.
We
see Larry through her eyes, as she gets tunnel vision.
Almost
as if she is viewing her husband through the scope on a gun.
Suzanne
has him in her sights, and not in a good way.
Larry
is doomed from that moment.
By
saying no to Suzanne, by not letting her just have her way, Larry has signed
his own death warrant.
It
gets him murdered.
Too
cunning to bloody her own hands, Suzanne decides to use the three teenagers in
her documentary.
Gullible
and naïve, they make easy targets for the predatory and manipulative Suzanne.
They
unwittingly become her Flying Monkeys.
She
makes Lydia believe they are best friends, taking her on shopping trips to the
mall.
Then
she seduces Jimmy.
Using
sex and the promise of a life together, an exercise in Breadcrumbing and
Future Faking, to keep him on her side.
She
fills Jimmy’s head with lies, claiming that Larry is physically abusive towards
her, pretending to be the victim, as she turns on the theatrical tears as
easily as a faucet.
The
sympathy ploy.
When
Jimmy gets nervous about committing murder, she triangulates him with his
friend, Russell.
Jealousy
and the fear of losing Suzanne finally sways Jimmy.
What follows is murder by proxy, through
third-party involvement.
Jimmy,
with the help of two accomplices, pulls the trigger, but Suzanne is the puppet
master, pulling all their strings.
On
the night Larry is killed, Suzanne is on TV giving the weather report.
She
concludes with a special dedication to her husband.
We’re
given a look behind Suzanne’s superficial mask of charm.
We
see the sadistic, malicious glee burning in her eyes, as she declares her love
for Larry, on their first wedding anniversary, knowing what is happening to
him.
After
the murder, when the trio have served their purpose, Suzanne coldly discards
them.
To
Die For
was directed by Gus Van Sant, and released in the United States on October 6,
1995.
The
screenplay was written by Buck Henry, who plays the role of a cynical school
teacher.
The
script is an adaption of the source novel, by Joyce Maynard, who appears in a
cameo role, as Suzanne’s lawyer.
The
novel is Joyce Maynard’s fictionalized retelling of the true Pamela Smart case.
The
movie is highly stylized and entertaining.
Most
of the time, we’re watching a mockumentary, straight-to-camera monologues, in a
series of edited interviews, from witnesses to the sordid and tragic events.
The
story is both dark in its subject and darkly funny.
The
moment where the hapless Jimmy, gazing blank-eyed into camera, can only grunt
as Suzanne prompts him to respond, is hilarious.
In
the end, there’s no sympathy for Suzanne, and it’s impossible not to empathize
with Janice Maretto (Illeana Douglas), sharing her feeling of schadenfreude, as
she dances over the ice maiden’s icy grave, and Donovan sings Season Of The
Witch over the end credits.
Nicole
Kidman threw herself into the role of Suzanne Stone and gives one of the best
performances of her career.
She
doesn’t miss a step as the amoral, spoiled, high-maintenance, petulant,
treacherous wannabe.
A
callous sociopath.
This
is Suzanne Stone’s world and it’s all about her, evident in the scene when the
family are gathered in the house with the police.
Suzanne
notices the TV cameras and news reporters outside.
She
checks her hair, as she glides out of the house to bask in the glare of the
spotlight.
She’s
the center of attention, being photographed, on TV … exactly the way she likes
it.
Whenever
a camera lens is focused on Suzanne, she puts on her best shiny mask.
It’s
reminiscent of the end of Sunset Boulevard (1950), where the insane
Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) says:
“Alright,
Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.”
As
William Shakespeare wrote: All that glitters is not gold.
The
supporting cast includes:
Dan
Hedaya and Maria Tucci, as Larry’s parents.
Kurtwood
Smith and Holland Taylor, as Suzanne’s parents.
George
Segal, as a TV executive.
Gerry
Quigley, as the cable station camera operator.
David
Cronenberg, as a hit man.
Tim
Hopper and Michael Rispoli, as the police detectives who uncover the truth.
The
music is by Danny Elfman.
To
Die For
is sharply edited, with a brilliant script and excellent performances.
It
is also an intelligent portrayal of the dangers of celebrity culture, toxic
self-absorption, and malignant narcissism.
For
further research on the Pamela Smart case:
Teach
Me to Kill: The Shocking True Story of the Pamela Smart Murder Case, by Stephen Sawicki.
Deadly
Lessons,
by Ken Englade.
Till
Death Do Us Part: Love, Marriage, and the Mind of the Killer Spouse, by Dr. Robi Ludwig
and Matt Birkbeck.
Evil
Women: Deadlier Than the Male, by John Marlowe.
Skylights
and Screen Doors,
by Dean J. Smart.
Murder
in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story (1991), a TV movie,
directed by Joyce Chopra, starring Helen Hunt and Chad Allen.
Crime
of Passion: The Pamela Smart Story (1996), episode from the documentary series
American Justice.
To
Die For
(2012), episode from the Reel Crime/Real Story documentary series on
Investigation Discovery.
Captivated:
The Trials of Pamela Smart (2014), an HBO documentary, directed by Jeremiah Zagar.
From
Student Seduction to Murder (2016), episode from the USA Network series Corrupt
Crimes.
Pamela
Smart: An American Murder Mystery (2018), a three-part documentary on
Investigation Discovery.
Killer Intellect (2021), episode from
the Deadly Women series, on Investigation Discovery.
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