A Perfect Murder 1998, Double Jeopardy 1999, Out of Time 2003, Unfaithful 2002, and Gone Girl 2014
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We begin the evening with the film A Perfect Murder. Starring Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Viggo Mortensen, this exciting thriller is a direct remake of the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock classic titled Dial M For Murder. The film revolves around Millionaire industrialist Steven Taylor played by Douglas, who has everything he craves for in life such as money and the woman he loves. Being a successful New York businessman, he considers his wife his greatest treasure. His wife played by Paltrow, feels the need to have more than simply being the wife of a powerful accessory figure such as her husband. She secretly has an affair with a struggling artist who fulfills her emotional needs. When her infidelity is discovered by her husband, he confronts the man whose seeing his wife and presents him with the ultimate bargain: Half a million to commit the perfect murder against his wife and inherit her trust fund in the bargain. A Perfect Murder is a fantastic warm up because it introduces the theme of infidelity, lies, deception, and conspiracy to murder and place the blame on the other person. The second film in the lineup Double Jeopardy continues this trend. Starring Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones, Judd plays a woman framed for the murder of her husband while suspecting that he's still alive. Having been tried for the murder of her husband, she discovers the law titled Double Jeopardy which doesn't allow her to be tried for the same crime twice, enticing her to seek out and kill her husband for revenge. Double Jeopardy continues much of the themes presented in A Perfect Murder, while also giving it a Fugitive cat and mouse chase feel to it. The third movie in the lineup is the thriller Out of Time starring Denzel Washington and Eva Mendes. The film centers around a Florida police chief who secretly has an affair with a woman he's investigating. The affair leads to a vicious double homicide that allows him to fall victim to suspicion of murder. He must work to divert the tracks being led to his doorstep while fighting to uncover the truth of what's really happening. The fourth film deals with marriage infidelity and murder cover up in Richard Gere's Unfaithful. In this film, a suburban couple from New York has their marriage turned upside down when the wife engages in an adulterous fling with a young man. The husband soon finds out through a private investigator and takes matters into his own hands. Diane Lane got a well deserved Oscar nomination for her role in this film. The final film of the evening is the one that ultimately ties all the films together and takes the intensity and creepiness to the next level. In David Fincher's Gone Girl, a Ben Affleck plays a husband whose trying to solve the disappearance of his wife's murder as it becomes an intense media fascination. As more facts come out concerning the case, the spotlight soon turns on the husband as it becomes suspected that he may be involved. Rosamund Pike like Diane Lane in Unfaithful, received a well deserved Oscar nomination for her outstanding performance in this movie.
The messages that each film delivers is A Perfect Murder saying no crime is foolproof and you will ultimately reap what you sow. Double Jeopardy says that you can't be tried for the same crime twice. Out of Time says that money ultimately does strange things to people's personalities. Unfaithful says to be happy for this moment because that moment is your life. Gone Girl says that you don't truly know someone even if you're super close to them.
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