To Die For
To Die For is a 1995 satirical black comedy film directed by Gus Van Sant. It stars Nicole Kidman, Joaquin Phoenix and Matt Dillon, with Illeana Douglas, Wayne Knight, Casey Affleck, Holland Taylor, Kurtwood Smith, Dan Hedaya, and Alison Folland in supporting roles. The plot follows Suzanne Stone, an ambitious New Hampshire woman with dreams of becoming a celebrity, who will stop at nothing until she achieves fame on TV. The film's narrative combines a traditional drama with darkly comic direct-to-camera monologues by Kidman's character, and mockumentary interviews, some tragic, with other characters in the film.
Plot
In the fictional town of Little Hope, New Hampshire, Suzanne Stone is a glamorous and ambitious young woman who has always been obsessed with being on television and aspires to become a world-famous broadcast journalist. She begins a passionate romance with Larry Maretto, an Italian American, of whom her parents disapprove, and the two quickly marry. Despite the differences between their families, the two seemingly settle into married life happily, and Larry promises to support her career ambitions. She uses his family's restaurant business to keep herself financially stable and takes a job as an assistant at WWEN, a local cable station, in hopes of climbing the network ladder. Through relentless persistence, she is eventually promoted to doing the station's evening weather report.
More details
author | Buck Henry Joyce Maynard |
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contentLocation | New Hampshire |
director | Gus Van Sant |
editor | Curtiss Clayton |
genre | comedy drama |
keywords | arrest bail break in burglary california climb cocaine connect crime scene delinquent entrapment even figure skating help hitman italian-american mafia juvenile delinquency life in prison married life movie studio murder obsess one night probation skate studio executive weather report wire wiretap young woman |
musicBy | Danny Elfman |
producer | Laura Ziskin |
productionCompany | Columbia Pictures Laura Ziskin Productions Rank Film Distributors |
publisher | BBFC Castle Rock Entertainment Sony Pictures Releasing Turner Entertainment |
recordedAt | Ontario |
theme | black comedy high school mafia mockumentary satirical |