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Perfect Murder, AThis is a perfectly watchable adaptation of Knott's stage play Dial M for Murder (previously filmed in 3D by Hitchcock back in 1953), with the action transposed to modern-day New York. Director Davis tries hard to surmount the play's rather creaky plot mechanics by introducing a few fresh elements - such as the fact that the killer (Mortensen) hired by a cash-strapped executive (Douglas) to murder his wealthy wife (Paltrow) is a scheming fortune-hunter who has already insinuated himself into her bed. Ultimately, however, these revisions are little more than minor diversions which simply lead back to the same impossibly neat and ridiculously contrived 'key under the doormat' finale. Much was made of the age difference between Douglas and Paltrow when the film first appeared, but after all one could have said the same of Ray Milland and Grace Kelly in the earlier version. |
