A Perfect Murder
Three people. One triangle. A wealthy and powerful husband. The intelligent, beautiful young woman he married. Her soulful and attractive lover. A dangerous combination, to be sure. Perhaps a deadly one...

Millionaire industrialist Steven Taylor (MICHAEL DOUGLAS) is a man who has everything but what he craves most -- the love and fidelity of his wife. A hugely successful entity in the high-stakes New York financial world, Taylor proudly considers Emily Bradford Taylor (GWYNETH PALTROW) his most treasured acquisition. However, beneath Taylor's controlled veneer, he loves his wife, even needs her -- though he could never tell her just how much.

But Emily wants--and needs-- more than just her role as a dazzling accessory in her husband's world. Brilliant and sophisticated in her own right, Emily, who works as a multi-lingual translator and aide to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, has been involved with David Shaw (VIGGO MORTENSEN), a talented but struggling downtown artist who provides the emotional fulfillment for Emily that Steven cannot and will not muster.

For months, Emily and David's affair, carried out in secret, passionate trysts in his Brooklyn loft, has been leading to what David hopes will be the demise of Emily's marriage and the beginning of their new life together.

It's only a matter of time before Steven Taylor learns the truth behind his wife's increasingly distant behavior toward him. And when he does, the knowledge sets in motion a scheme as complex as a lethal board game. The goal? That most impossible and terrible of aspirations -- a perfect murder -- with Emily as the target. Jealousy may be one motive. Her considerable trust fund may be another.

But in the final scheme of things, a perfect murder may be as impossible to achieve as a perfect love... and once foul play is in the air, the cat-and- mouse game that ensues reveals the sharpened claws of some unexpected predators.

Warner Bros.' "A Perfect Murder" is an elegant psychological suspense thriller from the creative team behind "The Fugitive," including director ANDREW DAVIS and producers ARNOLD KOPELSON, ANNE KOPELSON and PETER MACGREGOR-SCOTT, as well as producer CHRIS MANKIEWICZ, who is new to the team. "The Fugitive"'s Academy Award-nominated film editors DENNIS VIRKLER and DOV HOENIG; Oscar-winning sound editor BRUCE STAMBLER; and Oscar-winning composer JAMES NEWTON HOWARD also re-join the team. "A Perfect Murder" has a screenplay by PATRICK SMITH KELLY. STEPHEN BROWN is the executive producer.

Heading the cast are Michael Douglas as Steven Taylor, Gwyneth Paltrow as Emily Bradford Taylor and Viggo Mortensen as David Shaw.

A Kopelson Entertainment Production, "A Perfect Murder" is inspired by Frederick Knott's classic play "Dial M For Murder," which was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1954. Utilizing the earlier work as a springboard, "A Perfect Murder" updates, expands and considerably alters the plot, characters and settings, while retaining its stylish approach to the suspense-thriller genre.

The talented supporting cast of "A Perfect Murder" includes DAVID SUCHET as Mohamed Karaman, a smart and empathetic New York detective; and SARITA CHOUDHURY as Raquel, Emily's colleague, friend and confidante at the United Nations. Also appearing are MICHAEL P. MORAN as Detective Bobby Fain, who intentionally plays "bad" cop to Karaman's "good" cop; NOVELLA NELSON as Ambassador Wills, Emily's supervisor at the United Nations; and legendary actress CONSTANCE TOWERS as Sandra Bradford, Emily's patrician mother.

Davis and the producers have assembled a world-class team of behind- the-camera artists for "A Perfect Murder," including director of photography DARIUSZ WOLSZKI ("Crimson Tide," "The Crow"), noted production designer PHILIP ROSENBERG (an Academy Award-winner for "All That Jazz"), costume designer ELLEN MIROJNICK (who has deeply influenced contemporary style in such films as "Fatal Attraction," "Wall Street" and "Basic Instinct," all of which starred Michael Douglas).


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© 1998 Warner Bros.