Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 22, 1993 TAG: 9305220108
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Even the best -- "North by Northwest," "The Big Sleep," "Body Heat" -- have logical lapses. In the end, you overlook them because you enjoy the ride.
But despite an enticing premise and an attractive setting, "Sliver" has such huge, looming holes all the way through that it doesn't stand a chance. And the conclusion is so false and hollow that it's a virtual joke. A thriller shouldn't end with a punch line.
The film begins well. Recently divorced Carly Norris (Sharon Stone) is ready for a new start. Her professional life as an editor for a New York publisher is fine. Her personal life is a wreck. She needs a change, and when her application is accepted to a small, exclusive "sliver" apartment building, she thinks that she has found it.
tenants who have met untimely ends?
The audience also knows that someone is watching Carly and the everyone else who lives in the building. A sophisticated audio/video monitoring system is at work. But who is using it and what's its purpose?
Is it Zeke Hawkins (William Baldwin), a seedy sort who spends a lot of time hanging around the elevators? Or could it be Jack Landsford (Tom Berenger), a past-his-prime novelist who seems to have secrets to hide? Or someone else?
To potential viewers who aren't familiar with Ira Levin's original novel, it wouldn't be fair to reveal any more. As long as screenwriter Joe Eszterhas sticks close to his source material, the story moves well enough, though it's too neatly ordered to be particularly suspenseful. And, oddly, it's not that erotic, either.
Despite the film's well-publicized problems with the MPAA board to avoid an NC-17 rating, the sex scenes pale in comparison to Sharon Stone's most recent exposure in "Basic Instinct." Director Phillip Noyce doesn't seem too comfortable with that part of the story, and there is a notable lack of screen "chemistry" between Stone and Baldwin.
As the lead, she's actually quite good. In fact, she's so believable as a strong, mature, self-reliant woman that the villain isn't very threatening. Because of that, "Sliver" doesn't work on a deeper emotional level. The audience never shares Carly's natural fear when she moves into this new unknown environment. We know that she can take care of herself. That's a step forward for contemporary screen heroines, but it doesn't help this movie.
Besides, those flaws are nothing compared to the ridiculous conclusion. Again, it has been widely reported that the film's original ending (not the novel's) fell flat with test audiences. Several more were written and filmed, and the one that the producers settled on has a last-resort feeling.
Within the context of the story, the big finish makes no sense, and it leaves dozens of loose ends and unanswered questions. But that's to be expected when stories are told by committee. The result is an ungainly, equivocating compromise that satisfies no one. A Paramount release playing at the Valley View Mall 6. 100 min. Rated R for sexual content, nudity, strong language, violence.
SLIVER ** A Paramount release playing at the Valley View Mall. 100 min. Rated R for sexual content, nudity, strong language, violence.
by CNB