I mean, I doubted this movie at first from the beginning in Broadway. But as it progressed, I was laughing so hard on certain scenes like when Dr. Menville is reporting the murder of Madelyn and she suddenly gets up and starts walking toward him. It was too funny and the effects were so phenomenal. I mean literally. But then again, it won an Oscar for its effects. I mean, the fight scene where the 2 start fighting with shovels and Helen breaks off the metal end of Mad's and she throws it right through her. "Yes! I mean No! Oh Damn!" That scene was just side-splitting. Overall it was a good black comedy and I'd recommend it to anybody. And Robert Zemeckis, I never knew he did such a great movie because he's a head producer for Dark Castle Entertainment and he's done some pretty bad movies from there like Ghost Ship and Thir13en Ghosts. But wow, he has really made an excellent movie.
Add a Review
-
HorrorFan11249028 August 2005
-
Smells_Like_Cheese19 November 2003Classic 90's time, this is one of those movies that I kind of remember seeing on TV five million times as a kid. I always loved watching it, it had the most incredible effects and I thought it was so funny. I was such a deranged 7 year old I guess. But still to this day, I really enjoy watching Death Becomes Her. It has a very clever story, amazing effects and three great actors: Bruce Willis, Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn. Who said dark comedies can't be good? Death Becomes her shows the true competitive side of women that scares most of the human race, how far we will go to be the hottest, the smartest, the kindest, etc. But also the whole essence of eternal youth, beauty and living forever, and Death Becomes Her handles the subject very well.
Actress Madeline Ashton and writer Helen Sharp are longtime rivals. Helen's life falls apart when glamorous Madeline steals Helen's fiancé, plastic surgeon Ernest Menville, and marries him. Seven years later, Helen is now an obese, depressed woman, and is arrested and placed in a mental institution. Obsessed with getting revenge against Madeline, she struggles in the institution with healing. Madeline's career on Broadway ends, and 14 years later she is still struggling with her fading looks and bygone acting career. Ernest, now an alcoholic and miserable in his marriage, has been reduced to working as a high-end mortician. When Madeline and Helen meet again at Helen's book-signing party, Helen appears miraculously rejuvenated, thin, and youthful. Madeline is first dumbfounded then jealous. As part of Helen's plan, she plays both Madeline and Ernest, telling them each she has never blamed them for her ruined love life. Madeline resorts to the aid of the mysterious Lisle Von Rhoman, who claims she has discovered the secret of eternal youth. Madeline purchases the potion, drinks it, and is delighted to see her body visibly losing the signs of aging as she watches in a mirror, leaving her thin, firm, and young. Helen, meanwhile, seduces Ernest and reveals to him a detailed and foolproof plot to kill Madeline. Ernest kills Madeline, Madeline is still alive Madeline kills Helen Helen is still alive death has become them.
The film is flawed no doubt, it should have developed the characters a bit more, we never really understood why Madeline and Helen were friends in the first place as it seems like they've always hated each other, they could have just explored the friendship a little further. As well as why we should care what is happening to these pretty horrible characters. But still this is one of those films that for some reason keeps me watching it every time it pops up on TV. I think it was a lot of fun and had some good laughs, especially the fight between Madeline and Helen, they discover that there's really no point to inflicting physical pain but keep going at it with each other. This is a recommendation to those who have a strange sense of humor, it's something only a few will get.
7/10. -
blissey_s17 January 2022And the award for the snarkiest woman in history goes to: Meryl Streep! This movie proves that Meryl knows how to play a snarky woman better than almost anyone else. In fact, 80% of this movie is Meryl and Goldie Hawn verbally abusing and emasculating their co-star Bruce Willis. Not a bad plot, honestly.
The other 20% of the film are special effects that stretch and disfigure human bodies in just about every configuration imaginable, the caveat being that the bodies are of people that are still alive and speaking. It sounds grotesque, and at times I was wincing, but overall it was pretty cool to see what they could accomplish.
I'd say that Meryl bitching is delightful at first, but verges on grating by the end. And once you've seen a couple variations of a disfigured body even that can get sort of redundant.
This is a campy horror flick, so I suppose the point was to make it as over-the-top as they could, and I think they managed to do that and then some. Going into this I thought, "oh, this is a standard story about two women fighting over a man! I've seen this type of thing before!". But really, the first thirty-some minutes feel like a complete separate movie from the remainder of it.
It quickly becomes apparent that what you thought this was going in isn't what this is at all. Actually, it's completely different and unexpected and the sheer weirdness of this flick earns it some points.
I was hoping for an alternate ending in which Ernest exposes the society of immortals to the public and a mass media witch hunt ensues, but the actual ending isn't that bad and works well too. -
Ok, call me crazy but wasn't this the first film that anyone had ever seen Bruce Willis play a character that didn't involve him blasting bad guys into the air with a machine gun? Don't get me wrong, I loved "Die Hard" and am a big fan of Bruce but it was just so refreshing to see him play a character that was so different to his previous (and, indeed, later) roles. His performance of the downtrodden, weedy "Ernest" is masterful as he strikes a perfect balance between the comedy and darkness of the film. If you like black comedies (like me), you'll love this! Whoever thought of casting such a genius combination of these three great actors in this film should be applauded. Hawn and Streep are excellently cast as the two feisty women competing over Ernest, desperately hanging on to their long-gone youth and stopping at NOTHING to get what they want - the bitch fight between the two gals is a scene NOT to be missed!
All in all, "Death Becomes Her" is a deliciously dark comedy with a brilliant cast, great direction and some pretty convincing special effects - considering it was made way back in 1992! -
claudio_carvalho3 September 2015In 1978, in Broadway, the decadent and narcissist actress Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep) is performing Songbird, based on Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth. Then she receives her rival Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn), who is an aspiring writer, and her fiancé Ernest Menville (Bruce Willis), who is a plastic surgeon, in her dressing-room. Soon Menville calls off his commitment with Helen and marries Madeline. Seven years later, Helen is obese in a psychiatric hospital and obsessed in seeking revenge on Madeline. In 1992, the marriage of Madeline and Menville is finished and he is no longer a surgeon but an alcoholic caretaker.
Out of the blue, they are invited to a party where Helen will release her novel Forever Young and Madeline goes to a beauty shop. The owner gives a business card of the specialist in rejuvenation Lisle Von Rhuman (Isabella Rossellini) to her. When the envious Madeline sees Helen thin in a perfect shape, she decides to seek out Lisle and buys a potion to become young again. Further, she advises that Madeline must take care of her body. Meanwhile Helen seduces Menville and they plot a scheme to kill Madeline. When Madeline comes home, she has an argument Menville and he pushes her from the staircase. She breaks her neck but becomes a living dead. When Helen arrives at Menville's house expecting that Madeline is dead, she is murdered by Madeline. But she also becomes a living dead and they conclude they need Menville to help them to maintain their bodies. But Menville wants to leave them.
"Death Becomes Her" is an American black comedy with excellent special effects even after twenty-three years after the release and great cast. The trash storyline is strange and original and the black humor may not be pleasant for everyone. But there are funny and witty quotes and situations and this film has not aged. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "A Morte Lhe Cai Bem" ("Death Fits Well to Her") -
Tweetienator27 June 2021Fun little flick - for sure Death Becomes Her is not made for everyone, but well, if that mix of macabre horror fantasy comedy and whatever hits you, you will be well entertained. On top, we get a fine cast. Recommended, if you like such movies as The Witches of Eastwick, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Dark Shadows and the like.
-
juliereed5010 November 2007I never saw "Death Becomes Her" when it first come out because of a review I had read somewhere. The review was dismissive and made a lot of sense, so I decided to give it a miss. What a terrible mistake! This is a movie I would love to see on a big screen. The script is so brilliantly clever. Disguised as a silly comedy there is a world of serious themes executed by a knowing cast. Meryl Streep in particular, playing convincingly an actress without talent. I remember the bad review criticized the writers for setting the story in a rainy, stormy Los Angeles when California was going through a drought. Imagine if a comedy about magic potions should worry about the accuracy of the weather. In fact the Los Angeles of "Death Becomes Her" feels more like Los Angelers than most realistic movies and it does it with nerve and wit. "In 12 years in Los Angeles have you ever seen a neighbor?" screams Meryl to his mousy Bruce. An absolute delight. Other hidden treasures are a cameo from Sidney Pollack and a very funny and very sexy "76 years old" Isabella Rossellini. A new cult classic and a total must.
-
An enjoyable dark comedy mocking Hollywood's obsession with youth and their adamant belief in "lasting" vanity achieved through plastic surgery. The three leads are all superb and have a believable love/hate on-screen rapport. The visual effects (both digital and practical) still hold up very well to this day; Robert Zemeckis films never falter in this department. Side note: Bruce Willis is such a cutie in this film; he acts quite well in an against type role playing a high-strung, alcoholic plastic surgeon/mortuary cosmetologist. Death Becomes Her is a wickedly awesome viewing experience. Highly recommended if you like satirical dark comedies and '90s films.
-
The cast is perfect. The acting deserved golden globes all round. Every line is delivered perfectly and every expression is just right. Goldie, Meryl and yes Bruce are all perfect. Meryl's best comedy ever. Goldie is so funny - one of the first fat suit uses. In fact it is Bruce's best comedic role - he is unrecognizable. The dark comedy is so unique and right on the plastic surgery and commentary on the obsession with youthful looks is so spot on. And it is really funny too. Special effects are still astounding even by today's standards. Isabella Rosellini is also very effective in her small role. Every time I have seen this movie over all these years it's still funny and still delightful. A must see and a classic.
-
gavin69423 April 2016When a woman learns of an immortality treatment, she sees it as a way to outdo her long-time rival.
This film was intended to be a sequel to the "Tales From the Script" television show, and although the TFTC name is not attached, you still get a strong sense of the humor we have come to expect. David Koepp and Martin Donovan (who last worked together on "Apartment Zero") had intended to write a few short films, like an anthology, but this story just grew... and Robert Zemeckis added his own brand of humor, with the dark side of Hollywood bubbling to the surface.
Along with Zemeckis comes some of his associates. That includes Dean Cundey, the cinematographer who started on low budget horror, then made John Carpenter's work look great, before moving on to the high-profile films of Zemeckis. And also producer Steve Starkey, who came up from the "Star Wars" films. Zemeckis is sort of the lesser-celebrated member of a triumvirate with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, but perhaps he should in many ways be more celebrated... his range and aesthetic are impressive.
There is no denying Robert Zemeckis is really a master of genre. He takes what could be a niche and makes it mainstream. "Back to the Future" is loved by all, not just science fiction nerds. And "Death Becomes Her" could have been horror, but with Zemeckis at the helm it was more mainstream, and is now classified as "fantasy / comedy" -- not even horror at all, despite the themes!
Although Meryl Streep was great (as always), she has said that it "was like being at the dentist" having to work in such a way to accommodate the special effects. She vowed never to work in such a film again, and for the most part I think she has stayed true to this vow. Which brings up an interesting divide between the actors of Streep's level (constant Oscar nominees) and those who appear in genre films again and again. Maybe Oscar acting is not better, but merely employs a different skill set?
Speaking of Oscars, "Death Becomes Her" won the Academy Award for Visual Effects. That is so well-deserved. Anyone who watches this film should be impressed by what they were able to do. Why is it that today (2016) we spend millions of dollars to make things look like animation, but already in 1992 they had perfected a way of making it look like heads were falling off and holes were being blown through people? We are regressing!
Scream Factory comes through with a Collector's Edition blu-ray. Although the features on the disc are a bit scant for a collector's edition, they were able to put together a series of interviews to make a retrospective. Streep and Goldie Hawn did not participate (not surprisingly), but Zemeckis did, which is really quite a coup. And David Koepp! And legendary cinematographer Dean Cundey, who had come with Zemeckis from "Back to Future"! Fans of the film who want to know a bit more about what went into this picture are strongly encouraged to pick it up. -
Math Wiz17 June 1999"Death Becomes Her" is one of my all-time favorite movies. It is very funny, has a good story, and also has a touch of magic in it. If anyone were to ask me how it was, I would tell them that it is most definitely a "must-see movie." I also enjoyed it because it isn't your typical, boring movie. It is not what I think of as a run-of-the-mill type movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I hope you will decide to see it too.
-
bethlambert11712 March 2006There is so much greatness in this unexpected Hollywood comedy that the cheap shots are really cheap and, quite frankly, unbearable. Buried somewhere between the special effects (extraordinary by the way) is one the wittiest satires to come out of Hollywood in many, many moons. Meryl Streep is sensational and Bruce Willis is, I swear, unrecognizable in the best possible way. The movie hits the highest moments when, for instance, Meryl asks Isabella Rossellini how much the magic potion costs and Isabella replays: "Oh the sordid topic of coin" sublime, exquisite, funny but with enormous regard for its audience. But when Bruce calls Goldie Hawn to explain the "incident" at home he goes through a TV style monologue that seems to belong to a sit-com and not to the elegant vulgarity of this three sad, magnificent wannabees. The dialog, for the most part, is the best in any American serious comedy since Billy Wilder. The structure of the script is flawless and inventive. The costumes are atrocious and certain scenes seem directed by a 3rd assistant. I don't know how to explain it. However, I have it, I own it and sometimes I put it on with my finger in the fast forward. What's good is so good that makes the whole thing really worth it.
-
neil-47618 September 2012Madeline (Meryl Streep) and Helen (Goldie Hawn) play two old "friends" - ostensibly friends, they are actually viciously envious of, and aggressively competitive towards each other, as demonstrated by Madeline marrying Helen's plastic surgeon fiancé Ernest (Bruce Willis), the trauma of which sends Helen to mental hospital for 7 years. By this time Madeline's career is more or less over and Ernest is alcoholic, their marriage a misery-soaked sham. Depressed over the depredations of age, Madeline obtains an elixir of youth and immortality (unknown to her, Helen has already taken this). This coincides with a plot by Helen and Ernest to kill her, a plot which would have been successful were she not now immortal. In retaliation, Madeline blasts a hole in Helen with a shotgun. Both women discover that the advice they were given - to take care of their bodies - was particularly apposite given that the bodies retain all the damage done to them while the woman themselves remain alive.
This very black comedy, directed by Robert Zemeckis, has a wonderful premise, an excellent story, two lead actresses having a ball, Bruce Willis cast and performing against type, and some terrific special effects, mostly concerning the dreadful damage caused to the bodies of the two women - this film illustrated just how good a tool, CGI could be when used well.
Most of all, this film is fun! -
The biggest problem I have with Death Becomes Her is that we spend the entire runtime with some of the most unpleasant and unlikable characters imaginable. I suppose the doctor is shown with some redeeming qualities, but they only shine through because he's got such miserable women with him. I can't fault the acting, in fact I think the trio are pretty great at playing the characters they are asked to portray. Bruce Willis in particular is able to show off his excellent comedic timing in a role that isn't like his typical fare. Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn are good at portraying these hyper-competitive women who value their looks over everything. The characters are established well, as there is plenty of build-up in the movie, so I just need to be clear all that irritates me is that they are people I don't want to spend time with even when just watching them on my TV.
I do appreciate some background work to start off a film and give backstory to the characters. My problem with that in Death Becomes Her is that there really aren't any laughs until the big inciting incident takes place. For a comedy to take more than 30 minutes to even make me chuckle once, they're doing something wrong. There are a few good jokes throughout the film, when it finally gets rolling. I think I appreciated that so much of the comedy is about awful things happening to these despicable people. There's also a lot of great special effects work involved in the movie. At times it can look a bit like the visual effects they used for the Toons in Roger Rabbit, but otherwise it is quite effective. Death Becomes Her is obviously a well-made film, and I can see how other viewers might love it. I just needed more laughs and a protagonist that I could root for when the going got tough. -
SidFudd5 February 2000Robert Zemeckis is not my favorite director, "Contact" notwithstanding. There's nothing wrong with his movies; they're just fluffy. "Back to the Future" had an exhilarating two-billion-thread plot, but a disappointing moral climax-Marty's reengineered past creates an alternate present where his family is wealthy and the thing he covets most, a 4x4, is in the garage. (Such was our national mood--blame Reagan.) And "Forrest Gump", a decent and poignant melodrama, tried to be a satire too but instead of knowing commentary it delivered cliches (John Lennon on the Dick Cavett show answers questions using only lyrics from "Imagine"; an anti-war protester at a Washington rally makes his case before the crowd with the argument "Viet F...in' Nam!").
On the other hand, Zemeckis directed this, one of the great black comedies of the '90s. "Death Becomes Her" is a delicious, well-observed satire about makeup, makeup and more makeup. In Hollywood, if you're old you're run out of town on a rail and Meryl Streep's character is horrified that her body is going south. Streep has great comic timing (this role and her role in "Postcards from the Edge" are too-infrequent examples of it) and she makes a believable ogre of Madeline Ashton, a Streisand-esque demon. As the film begins in 1978 Madeline is onstage in a Broadway musical version of "Sweet Bird of Youth", hilariously retooled as an unironic paean to her girlish looks (she sings the unforgettable "I See Me" to her own reflection). Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn) and her fiancee Ernest Menville (Bruce Willis) are in the audience, and after the show Madeline greets old friend Helen backstage, and promptly steals Ernest away from her for marriage. Flash forward seven years; Helen is overweight, living alone with dozens of cats and endlessly rewatching movie star Madeline being murdered in a scene from one of her films. She is evicted and arrested but in jail she hits on an elegant solution for eliminating Madeline from her mind: eliminating her.
Flash forward to 1992 Los Angeles; has-been Madeline is caking on makeup and scheduling multiple face-lifts to fend off the inevitable. Ernest, formerly a plastic surgeon with a promising career, is now a mortician who dresses and retouches the best-looking corpses in the business. (His secret: spraypaint.) No sooner has Madeline rediscovered a drop-dead gorgeous Helen--looking impossibly young and voluptuous at her own 50th birthday party--then she panics and becomes desperate for a quick fix for her fading looks. She ends up in a mysterious Hollywood mansion with a sorceress (Isabella Rossellini) who gives her a magic potion granting eternal youth. Meanwhile Helen seduces Ernest and enlists his help in murdering Madeline. But comes a twist (literally) and suddenly Madeline gets a looks at immortality, and her own rear end, following a nasty fall down a staircase.
All the actors shine here. Goldie Hawn is hilarious. Bruce Willis, an underrated comic actor, is goofier than he's been since "Moonlighting". Sydney Pollack does a virtuoso one-take cameo as a doctor who loses it after examining a dead-but-still-breathing Madeline. There are a lot of twists and surprises, not the least of which is that the FX get some of the biggest laughs. With technology these days being so good FX often slip invisibly into the background, this movie flaunts its CG-manipulated human bodies as something to goggle at.
Zemeckis' usual trademarks are here, including elaborate tracking shots in expositional scenes and the use of mirrors to combine on- and off-screen space (in this movie about vanity there is a surplus of mirrors, one in practically every scene). The movie was written by Martin Donovan and David Koepp (they cowrote "Apartment Zero"; Koepp wrote "Jurassic Park" and its sequel). The mordant, sour-as-kumquats score is by Alan Silvestri ("Back to the Future", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"). The special effects were produced by Industrial Light and Magic. -
mark.waltz17 July 2013Who'd think after "The French Lt.'s Woman", "Sophie's Choice" and "Out of Africa" that Meryl Streep could be funny? The "Queen of 80's accents" decided to change her image a bit and did some comedies like "She-Devil" and "Postcards From the Edge", throwing in this rambunctious farce for good measure. She is one of the most vane actresses on Broadway and in Hollywood, starring in a horrendous musical version of "Sweet Bird of Youth", comically called "Songbird!". (You know an explanation point had to be in there somewhere...) The musical is so bad that after walking out of the Broadway show into the mid-town Manhattan rain, the playbill with Streep's photo on it ends up in the middle of the street. Up there with "The Producer's" "Springtime For Hitler" and "The Tall Guy's" "Elephant Man" spoof, "Songbird!" takes spoofing of bad musical theater to a deliciously low level of tackiness.
From the outrageous musical opening that lampoons bad Broadway musicals (of which there were plenty of in the 1970's and early 80's) to the murder mystery parody she stars in for which overweight rival Goldie Hawn rewinds her murder scene over and over again just to smile in glee at the thought of the woman who stole her fiancée (Bruce Willis, made up to look like Martin Mull) being murdered. Hawn, once a thin frump, blew up to the size of a hippopotamus, living off of cake frosting and vowing revenge. Streep has grown older, goes to the opening of an envelope for publicity purposes, and is stunned at one such event when she runs into the now beautifully svelte Hawn whom she is sure will seek revenge to get Willis (whom she hates!) back. Murder is plotted, deaths occur, and before you know it, thanks to a mysterious potion, Streep is looking 20 years younger. But with this beauty coming at a price, Streep, Hawn and Willis find their fates tied together in a way they never thought could be.
Brilliant special effects and outrageous performances make this comedy one of the best modern farces. The cast is obviously having a blast, and the spoof of Hollywood vanity by Hollywood itself, is an ironic delight. To see the beautifully zany Hawn not only in an obvious fat suit but her face made up to look enormous as well is one of the best visual sights of recent times. Isabella Rossellini has a wonderful smaller role as the guru/devil woman who makes references to allegedly dead stars who simply vanished off the face of the earth thanks to her potion. A few of them appear in a party sequence which makes you wonder how many of these narcissistic people may have suffered similar fates to what happened to Streep and Hawn. Director Sydney Pollack has a hysterical cameo as Streep's doctor after she falls down the stairs. ("Oopsy!") "General Hospital's" John Ingle (the final Edward Quartermain) makes another brief splash as the minister in the final scene, describing one of the characters with such outrageous dramatics that Hawn and Streep couldn't help but take notice.
As directed by Robert Zemickis, every detail is perfect, even if the theme is extremely mean-spirited, and totally unafraid of its cruelty. This is one of those films that you can't believe the creative mind could come up with, so half the laughs are more out of shock, and that adds even more amusement to the proceedings. Some of the sound effects (one involving a fall down the stairs) will make your spine shiver. At times, the film seems to enjoy slamming the Hollywood ego, but there are other times when it also seems to be full of ego itself. In retrospect, it makes the balance between sanity and insanity over aging an obsession that grows into an evil fungus inside these character's hearts that is as self-destructive as drugs and alcohol. Spoofing various situations that real people only get hints of through all those outrageously pretentious award shows really makes you think what a sad life some celebrities must lead when they can't separate their own public image and real personality. Throw in an exit line at the very end that is right up there with Joe E. Brown's response to Jack Lemmon at the end of "Some Like It Hot". -
paul_haakonsen23 July 2017I remember watching this movie back in the mid 1990's, give or take, and do recall it as being an entertaining movie. So I took the time to sit down and watch it again in 2017.
And let me just start out by saying that having aged 25 years has done nothing to the movie, because it is every bit as entertaining and enjoyable now as it was back then. So one might speculate whether or not the potion that thwarts aging and restores youth have been given to the movie as well...
The story is about the rivalry between two friends; Helen Sharp (played by Goldie Hawn) and Madeline Ashton (played by Meryl Streep). Helen is engaged to be married to Ernest Menville (played by Bruce Willis) when Madeline swoops in an steal him away. Ernest and Madeline become married, but the years of marriage wedges an emotional separation between them, and during these years Helen is down on her luck and harbors a strong resentment towards Madeline all these years. 12 years later, Helen walks back into the lives of Ernest and Madeline, and things are taking a very unexpected turn...
It is a combination of storyline, acting performances and special effects that keep this movie fresh and up to date. Yes, even while the movie is from 1992, the special effects are quite good and still do manage to stand up to the effects of today.
The music score for the movie was quite good, as it should be of course at the hands of Alan Silvestri.
Director Robert Zemeckis managed to turn writers Martin Donovan and David Koepp's story into a very enjoyable movie on the screen.
If you haven't already seen "Death Becomes Her", then I can strongly recommend that you find the time to do so, should you happen to get the chance, because this is a rather nice movie. -
marcosaguado24 November 2013"Death Becomes Her" is over 20 years old but I bet it took a potion to remain splendorous for ever. Everything ages, even special effects but the elegance and wit of most of the dialog remains fresh and brisk. "I wasn't the sort of girl who could say the word sexual without blushing" tells Goldie to poor, emasculated Bruce - What happens to Bruce's face is just brilliant. He can't believe it. He is excited and terrified at the same time. A new DVD blue ray edition is overdue, with lots of extra features, please. Why haven't we seen more work like this? I'm a great fan of Martin Donovan and David Koepp, the writers, and this was their second and last collaboration. Koepp went on to write Jurassic Park and Mission Impossible and directed the delightful Ghost Town and Premiun Rush. Martin Donovan does extraordinary work with actors at Playhouse West and the Director's Playhouse of Los Angeles. I sat at three of his sessions and I left inspired and breathless. I asked him about "Death Becomes Her" and our exchange will be posted in his Message Boards here on IMDb. It made me want to see the film again, immediately.
-
moonspinner5522 November 2001After a sharp, smartly and amusingly satirical first act, "Death Becomes Her" takes a dive and never recovers (and the hastily-refilmed ending certainly doesn't help; it's too transparently rushed). After two female rivals have each drunk a potion that will keep them young forever, they are killed and come back as the living dead...and continue to primp and fuss like pageant contestants. Bruce Willis plays a genial doctor who gets caught in the middle, and while Bruce is surprisingly adept at playing the milquetoast, it's a completely thankless part (he just stands there reacting, his mouth open in surprise). The picture does look good--too good. It's overproduced and yet doesn't flow with a smooth continuity (the way slick, expensive movies often do). Instead, the film is jumbled and frenetic, and doesn't seem to have a point. However, the first 45 minutes are a hoot, and in these early scenes Meryl Streep does some high comedy worth seeing. A mixed-bag. **1/2 from ****
-
leonardpetch20 October 2003I love this movie and have watched it more than any other film I own. What makes it for me is the subtle face acting of the two leads whose comic timing is perfect. Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn have never been so good (plus this is the only film in which Bruce Willis doesn't do his trademark smirk even once).
Every role is played to perfection and the script is a comedy work of art.
I won't bother defending it to those people who need their jokes hammered home to them by comedy actors whose only way of getting a laugh is to gurn and fart. Each to their own. -
elo-equipamentos8 August 2018The power trio leading roles were almost perfect, Meryl Streep was my favorite actress since Deer Hunter, gorgeous and sexy, Goldie in a step behind is beauty and funny as Private Benjamin, Willis as Ernest becomes a clow in their hands in a fine acting, the picture was a criticism of the endless seeking for eternal youth that disturb all women who getting older, this is starting point this clever and original black comedy, which apealls too much by special effects that spoilled the whole thing, should be more unaffected by so manny effects, end up seems strained and then flopped down to me reaching at trash's level!!
Resume: First watch: 1995 / How many: 4 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.5 -
Two women compete with each other, seeing who can stay the youngest looking. Both go to a beautiful witch who has a youth potion, but they get more than they bargained for. Not all that funny to me.
-
melwyn11 February 2004I must have seen this film about 15 or so times now. I love the vain, shallow characters of Madeline and Helen who are the ultimate example of what might happen if you took the advice of our "obsessed-with-perfection" media to its illogical conclusion. Meryl and Goldie play their parts with unrestrained enthusiasm, pushing them to the limit to emphasise that these two who believe they are truly beautiful are, after all, just caricatures of perfection.
Like Icarus, Mad and Hell take no advice and pursue the unattainable regardless of the cost. That they see every mountainous obstacle as a mere minor inconvenience helps reinforce the humour of the film. Bruce Willis is marvellous as Ernest, the unhappy mouse caught in the middle of their game; the voice of reason amid lunacy.
The writing is witty and sometimes painfully sharp, emphasising in almost every scene that beauty does not equal happiness, and the closer you come to attaining an obsessively pursued physical perfection, the further you get from real happiness and fulfillment. Stylistically our attention is focused on this concept over and over again, with mirrors and reflections used very creatively throughout the film.
We don't see a lot of clever satire these days, which is a pity. This is a fabulous film. -
richspenc12 March 2017Do people really want to live forever? This idea for shows and movies have been used numerous times going back to Twilight zone episodes "Escape clause" and "Long live Walter Jamison". In both those episodes, the main character finds out that they eventually get tired of living when they know it will be eternal. That doesn't happen in "Death becomes her" with the two leads Madelyn (Meryl Streep) and Helen (Goldie Hawn), but the concern of getting tired of living if alive forever is brought up by Earnest (Bruce Willis) when the eternal potion is offered to him. He doesn't look at eternal life as a miracle, even though he yells that line after discovering Madelyn's secret. We get a creepy twist; your body, if you don't take the proper care of, will start to rot after taking the potion even when they're moving and talking just like they're alive. Basically, they're still alive while the body is technically now a dead corpse, and will continue to rot and decay just like any dead corpse. Therefore, the end scene with Madelyn and Helen is not easy to look at for sensitive squeamish eyes. But you'll only rot after taking the potion if you do something to your body that would've normally killed you before taking it. That explains why Isabel (the rich potion dealer) still looks great many years later, but Madelyn and Helen don't (due to Madelyn breaking her neck after getting pushed down the stairs and Helen getting shot).
Early on, in a Broadway theater, people are streaming out mid show badmouthing the show big time. I sort of see why, the show was like a combo of a bad imitation of classic showgirl dancing, disco sounding music thrown in for some reason, and Madelyn singing in a flat unenthusiastic voice. I didn't see any real dancing talent and according to one of the badmouthers walking out, the story was a cheap ripoff from something better. I would've walked out with them. After the show (with Earnest being the one applauding), Helen introduces fiancé Earnest to Mad to see if he'll pass the Madelyn test. He does NOT, to say the least. Earnest immediately leaves Helen and marries Mad, leaving Helen clutching her fists so tight that there's blood. I kinda liked that. I also sort of liked the part where Helen gained like 100 pounds (very convincing fat suit, like the fat suit Gweneth Paltrow wore in "Shallow Hal"). Helen basically gave up on life spending her time stuffing herself with tons of junk food including eating entire cans of frosting on their own, rewatching scenes in Mad's movies where she's getting killed and wishing it were real. She's then put in an asylum. Next scene years later, we learn that right after leaving the asylum, Helen took the potion. There should've been a scene showing Helen taking the potion showing us seeing the special effects of her suddenly losing all that weight and looking much younger again. Present time (1992), Mad is tired of hubby Earnest (now noticeably older and worn down looking) drinking, indulging in self pity, and never being able to please her anymore (he's become flaccid). That's why Mad cheats on Earnest with some young guy. Then she catches the young guy with a young girl, and Mad freaks out driving all crazy dodging cars. I saw that situation as a "what goes around, comes around" deal, since Mad previously stole a man away from someone herself, and was now cheating on one man to be with another. Then Mad meets a sort of effeminate French man at her health spa after getting jealous of the young beauty who's working on her. He gives Mad a card for a "very select group". We then get the great potion scene at the fancy secluded palace of Isabell, the young beauty (looking very sexy with what she wears) who's really elderly but has taken the potion. I saw the sign of Isabel really being older than she looked with her revealing having served Greta Garbo. The reference to her having known Garbo may've gone over some people's heads. I just knew it from Isabella's "I vant to be alone" comment, since I've seen and own Garbo's "Grand hotel". About the cost of the potion, there's a sight on this movie where people were debating the cost of the potion since we don't get a good look at the check Mad wrote to Isabell. One million dollars was people's best guess, that's why mainly celebrities were the ones at the Palace (we see Elvis in a scene there, and that was also a good play on the whole "is Elvis really dead?" theme (and the "I saw Elvis in a mall" theme)). After Mad takes the potion, we see the first of many special effects when we see Mad's body suddenly getting younger. It's next where the first gruesome effects take place where Mad and Helen have horrible incidents, getting pushed down the stairs and getting shot with a double barrel shot gun, but are still alive and have very graphic visual "injuries" from it. A lot of the films remainder is centered around that. And that's why in my opinion that part of the film was not as good. Then is the scene of Mad and Helen trying to get Earnest to take the potion and Earnest's visit with Isabell (who again looks very sexy coming out of that pool). Too many scenes in the last part of the movie of Mad and Helen starting to decay, and them relying on Earnest to patch them up. The scene in the hospital with the doctor creeped me out too when he had a heart attack after seeing that Mad was dead but also still alive, too much for him to handle, I guess. -
Pjtaylor-96-13804414 July 2018'Death Becomes Her (1992)' is unfocused and messy, unsure what it wants to be at every step of the way. This means that there's essentially nothing to grab on to, least of all the incredibly unlikable characters. The movie can never quite decide who it wants to follow, and, thus, we have don't have anything to care about, not even all the special effects spectacle - which actually just erupts from essentially nowhere in the flick's latter half. The effects are fairly impressive if you consider the time of release, but they're made such a big deal of, and are honestly such an important pillar of any potential enjoyment, that their inevitable ageing is all the more evident and detrimental - which is actually quite ironic, though possibly beneficial, given the piece's themes. 4/10