 | The Dark Side |
Cue Suzanne!
Though she's far from the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) certainly is the most determined, cunning, cold, calculating and aggressive wannabee ever. She has lived her whole life to be a television news reporter.
Enter the darkly handsome Larry Maretto (Matt Dillon), a restaurateur in his Italian family's business, who sets his sights on the beautiful but shallow Suzanne. After their marriage, Suzanne immerses herself in the serious business of gaining recognition in TV by going to work as a clerk at the cable access station in her hometown, the tiny Little Hope, NH.
The self-absorbed manipulator bowls over her boss Ed (Wayne Knight, Seinfeld's Newman) and becomes the self-important weather girl for the small station, but she knows her real break will come only if she does something significant.
She then interviews students in Mr. Finlaysson's (Buck Henry) class about what teenagers are thinking for a series she is producing. Meanwhile, she's decided that her husband Larry will ultimately be an impediment to her success. He'd prefer she stay home and raise children but he doesn't prohibit her cable station duties and is proud to watch her reports on TV at the restaurant every night.
But once Suzanne has made up her mind about something, the cogs turn quickly. Suzanne seduces the pensive young student Jimmy (Joaquin Phoenix), befriends and promises great things in the future for the frumpy and lonely young Lidia (Alison Folland), and lures their friend Russell (Casey Affleck) into a dastardly plot to annihilate Larry.
The story is told with many cut-aways to the perfectly coiffed and attired Suzanne in the television studio telling her side of the story with counterpoint comments from Larry's loving sister Janice (Illeana Douglas) who has always been suspicious of Suzanne's motives and selfishness.
Does Suzanne succeed in her plot? Does she become a mega news celebrity? Awwww, come on! I can't tell you that! :)
Directed by Gus Van Sant. Adaptation to screen by Buck Henry. Music by Danny Elfman.
Rated R for strong sexual content, and for language.
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