Gus Van Sant's fourth film is a disappointment. The odd director who brought us the masterful "Drugstore Cowboy" and the ground-breaking "My Own Private Idaho" has gone mainstream, or at least, mainstream for Van Sant. "To Die For" is strange enough to put off the normal viewer but much too weak to excite his following. This is watered-down weirdness.

The problem seems to be a lack of vision. Van Sant can't seem to allow himself the freedom to go full throttle. And this film needs full throttle. It's an over-the-top story of a selfish small town weather girl who eventually becomes involved with some pretty dim teenagers. Eventually, she seduces them and uses them for her own gains. Pretty heady stuff. And with television as a backdrop, theres surely plenty of room for cynicism and deviceiveness. Van Sant even has a script by Buck Henry ("The Graduate" among others) to use as a jumping off point. Henry's screenplay, by the way, is based on a book by Joyce Maynard but we are never told if this is based on true incidents or not. It seems like something straight off of Geraldo. Anyway, Henry's script may be part of the problem. It just doesn't detail motivation enough. It doesn't delve into the true psyche of the characters. Like television, it is only half the story with a lot of gloss. For example, the main character, Suzanne Stone Maretto (Nicole Kidman), gets married in the film's beginning. We never understand why she would do this. Worse yet, her later motivation for evil-doing is never believable. It's a little simplistic. Kidman plays the part adequately, but the script never tells us why she really does the things she does so Kidman has to pull all of this together with her performance. And it just doesn't happen no matter how hard she tries.

Kidman is way too subdued. One imagines that this is what Van Sant wants. Maretto should be plotting but not diabolical. Kidman never goes over-the-top. Still, we want to see her blow-up like a spouting whale but, alas, it never happens. She is cold and calculating but not passionate about her wrong-doing. It may be realistic but it is also not entertaining. We want spite and vinegar. In it's place we get ice and champagne. As an actress, Kidman does break out of a mold here. Her fans will surely be surprised to see her in a vehicle of this nature. The scenes where she seduces a young innocent (Joaquin Phoenix, brother of the late River) are probably pretty startling to normal viewers. And Kidman does quite well in this scenes. But for those of us who don't find this territory all that shocking, it's pretty lame. It isn't truly diabolical. Kidman and Van Sant don't go anywhere near taboo. They don't take us over the top.

Van Sant has some things that work. The film is visually interesting with bold, bright colors abounding. It looks like a package of spilled Skittles. He also shoots some of the scenes interestingly. The set-up where Lydia (Illeana Douglas) is being interviewed on the hood of a car is particularly interesting. And finally, Van Sant also uses some interesting devices. One of the best is a segueing device of audible applause, which is very appropriate to the film's subject matter. Unfortunately, Van Sant is too reserved here as well. We need to hear applause every time Kidman does something supposedly shocking. Van Sant seem to use it only when he can justify the applause. Back to reality.

Back on the down side, the film also has the over-used device of acting like a documentary. We get lots of interview sequences where characters talk to the camera explaining the story as if they were being interviewed for a documentary about the film's story. This would be allowable if Van Sant would go all-out with it and really work to make it seem like a documentary or something. If he would do something to make it seem interesting. Instead, it just sort of lays there and looks like a device we've seen many times before. Maybe a mock-umentary would work. Anything would be better than what we get here.

Van Sant does do better when he has the principle's parental units (Kurtwood Smith, Holland Taylor, Dan Hedaya) on a talk show set. Here he is allowed to use odd shots of real subject as well as their images on TV screens, juxtaposing reality and fantasy. Here, he moves the camera beautifully and stealthily. Here, his mainstream approach works. But, then, it seems out of synch with the documentary device. all of this stuff is only tied together with our own imaginations. While this sounds like a compliment, it isn't. Van Sant simply leaves us hanging most of the time.

On the subject of the parents, one can open a discussion of the actors in the film. Van Sant really works marvels with Phoenix and Douglas. Their performances are delightfully subdued. Douglas is particularly adept at bringing small touches in her character to life without any words. We see her motivation in her eyes. Phoenix, meanwhile, is brilliant at playing an underachieving near-idiot. He is so good, we believe that he is Jimmy. We can't imagine him in another role because we think this is his true self we are seeing on screen. Phoenix also has the advantage/disadvantage of being rather ugly. With a hair-lip and a pimply facade topped by greasy long hair, Phoenix becomes a real person. Even more amazing, Van Sant somehow manages to make him sexy. In bed with Kidman, the director focuses on his rippling abdomen to help seduce us to his attraction. Phoenix also goes all out in a dance sequence that makes him seem capable of true abandonment and careless sexuality. These two bounce off of Kidman quite nicely.

But no one else in the film works nearly as well. Matt Dillon acts as a supporting player here. He is little more than scenery for most of the film. He has to play a sop and the only advantage to this is that it is nice to see him seemingly eager to take a back seat to all the action. Worse yet are the parents. With talent like Smith, Taylor and Hedaya at his disposal, Van Sant doesn't use any of them for more than background exposition. We want more from them. Taylor is particularly adept at playing a vibrant personality. Explaining her influential relationship with her daughter, Kidman, might be quite interesting, but it is never done. Instead, the character of Dillon's sister is used as a focal point. The actress who plays Gina looks like a young Valerie Curtain and she is used quite effectively here. Van Sant adds nice touches like making her lesbian relationship apparent but not noticeable. It simply is. Van Sant even ends the film on Gina. But it's really all for naught because the character is too close to the story. She has her own reasons for her feelings which really don't correlate to the story as well as they should. Worse yet, as our tour-guide, we can't really totally identify with her.

Another problem with the film is Danny Elfman's score. The former rocker (Oingo Boingo) turned composer who is closely associated with Tim Burton's work is well-known for his magical riffs. Here, his trademark sound plays like a cheap knock-off of the score for "She-Devil." It never really totally accentuates the film. There are times where it works, sure, but generally, up against Van Sant's lame direction, it becomes too noticeable. It sticks out like a sunflower in a vacant lot.

"To Die For" isn't a horrible film. It's merely average. It's simply a step down for Van Sant and Henry. The scripter has had better success in the past with more outrageous material. Here, he seems to censor himself. Van Sant follows suit. It's sad and disappointing. Mainstream audiences may see this film as weird and it may turn them off. Meanwhile, the initiated won't nd it weird enough and they will be unimpressed. After the utter and complete failure of his third film, "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues," one can understand why Van Sant must be unsure of his sensibilities. But it is still hard to forgive him for "To Die For." He must decide here and now whether he wants to be a director or a filmmaker. Let's hope he is able to overcome his insecurities.

Note: Also with Wayne Knight. Henry has a small role also.

Van Sant previously used Dillon in "Drugstore Cowboy." Phoenix's brother, River, was also in Van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho."

Director of Photography is Eric Alan Edwards. Title sequence by Pablo Ferro.

Set in the town of Little Hope, New Hampshire, which is surely fictional.

Joaquin's first role was in Ron Howard's 1989 film "Parenthood," where he played Gary and was credited as Leaf Phoenix. He had changed his name to match his siblings more "naturalistic" names (River, Summer, Rainbow, Liberty). On October 31, 1993, 3 days after his 19th birthday, Joanquin dialed 911 in a futile effort to save his brother River, who had collapsed outside The Viper Room.

Review written in 1995

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