A Perfect Murder
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: June 5, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
50
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
11
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Denby
Andrew Davis, the director of "The Fugitive," one of the best thrillers of recent years, has added pace and heat and explicit sexuality to the material without whipping up phony excitement. Read full review
80
SlateDavid Edelstein
It has been sexed up, opened out, and finished off with a disappointing bang-bang climax, but it's still good fun. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
I think it works like a nasty little machine to keep us involved and disturbed; my attention never strayed, and one of the elements I liked was the way Paltrow's character isn't sentimentalized. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The story has enough nasty twists and tantalizing clues for its ingenious mechanics to remain engaging. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
I've seen far worse thrillers than A Perfect Murder, but the movie is ultimately more competent than pleasurable. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
By the head-scratching dénouement, the "perfect" in the title seems particularly misplaced. How about Dial M for Muddle. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineSandra Contreras
If the roller-coaster plot twists lose you, there's always the satisfaction of Douglas's take on a script rife with amusing double entendres. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A Perfect Murder begins better than it ends, and the pleasures it offers turn out to be more of a transitory nature. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
There's nothing about this thriller to prevent it from soon becoming enmeshed in the memory with others in which Michael Douglas wears a starched collar and grits his teeth. Read full review
50
VarietyLeonard Klady
The dilemma in this Perfect Murder is its singular failure at creating a rooting interest for a character or situation. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
The unsatisfying thriller A Perfect Murder is a triumph of style over substance, with style in this case winning only by default. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleHollis Chacona
Tasteful, chilly, and polite, it is foul play at its traditional best: Anglo-Saxon, urban, and upper class. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
A Perfect Murder is more like a handful of anemic ice cubes floating in a lukewarm puddle. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
This is simply efficient, routine storytelling with a high gloss but an undernourished sense of character. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive," "Steal Big Steal Little") has made a technically competent thriller that's not only thrill-less, but dull. Read full review
40
Washington PostRita Kempley
The trouble is, we don't really much care about this philandering billionaire glamour puss, who seems perfectly capable of taking care of herself. We don't care about her husband or lover either. Read full review
40
Film ThreatAnthony Miele
This film once again proves that Hollywood has apparently run out of original ideas and is forced to remake another classic film and, like most Hollywood remakes -- big surprise -- it SUCKS. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
A Perfect Murder has inexplicably managed to eliminate almost everything that was worthwhile about "Dial M for Murder," leaving behind the nearly-unwatchable wreckage of a would-be '90s thriller. Read full review
38
Rolling StonePeter Travers
What the film lacks is suspense, surprise (the new ending is a dud) and passion. Read full review
30
Dallas ObserverJean Oppenheimer
The picture's biggest problem is that no one is sympathetic. Read full review
25
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
I HATE to whine, but if Michael Douglas is half as tired of playing yuppie scum as I am of watching him do it, then he must be napping on a regular basis by now. Read full review
20
NewsweekDavid Ansen
All the surprises strenuously cooked up by screenwriter Patrick Smith Kelly and director Andrew ("The Fugitive") Davis can't overcome the movie's inability to make us care about any of its paper-thin characters. Read full review
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