A Perfect Murder

REVIEW
A slick, uneven, updated version of Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder, itself a lesser film from the Master of Suspense. While director Davis and writer Patrick Smith Kelly do add a few twists of their own, they aren't enough to make this new version stand on its own. Douglas plays a smarmy business exec who, upon hearing he's nearly broke, decides to murder his wife (Paltrow) for her vast family fortune. He hires her obnoxious, duplicitous lover (Mortensen) to do the job. There's no subtext or resonance here -- this is strictly by-the-numbers. It is watchable, however, especially for its upper-crusty interior design. Suchet turns in a fine performance as the detective on the case.