Malice
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: October 1, 1993 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
EmpireMatt Mueller
Unworthy of comparisons to Hitchcock, but as a thriller it's not a complete failure either. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Malice is one of the busiest movies I've ever seen, a film jampacked with characters and incidents and blind alleys and red herrings. Offhand, this is the only movie I can recall in which an entire subplot about a serial killer is thrown in simply for atmosphere. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesPeter Rainer
In an effort to keep the thrills coming the screenwriters scatter about too many loose ends; they don’t provide the precise cat-and-mouse plotting that used to be the hallmark of the well-made thriller but is now virtually nonexistent. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Perhaps director Harold Becker thought flashy acting could distract us from the gaping plot holes. Becker gets so intent on confusing us, he forgets to give us characters to care about, the way he did in Sea of Love with Al Pacino. Malice is way out of that classy league. It’s got suspense but no staying power. Read full review
50
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
A melodramatic thriller which did surprisingly well in the US given its implausible straight-to-video scenario. Undistinguished. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Slick but forgettable. [01 Oct 1993, p.C]
50
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
A tricky thriller, Malice begins well but betrays its coolly calculating premise and degenerates into a silly horror story. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The only thing that makes this ludicrous botch even borderline watchable is Alec Baldwin’s enjoyably supercilious performance as a leering stud surgeon who thinks nothing of belting back shots of bourbon before going in to perform an operation. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
More than acting, the real culprit in Malice is the script by Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men) and Scott Frank (Dead Again) which favors florid dramatics over plausible theatrics. Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
This latest project, a murder mystery scripted by Aaron (A Few Good Men) Sorkin and Scott (Dead Again) Frank, is bilge water.
More From This Movie

52 Critic Reviews

7.5 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 71 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL