Diabolique

March. 22,1996      R
Rating:
5.4
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Trailer Synopsis Cast

The wife and mistress of a cruel school master collaborate in a carefully planned and executed scheme to murder him. The plan goes well until the body, which has been strategically dumped, disappears. The psychological strain starts to weigh on the two women when a retired police investigator begins looking into the man's disappearance on a whim.

Sharon Stone as  Nicole Horner
Isabelle Adjani as  Mia Baran
Chazz Palminteri as  Guy Baran
Kathy Bates as  Det. Shirley Vogel
Spalding Gray as  Simon Veatch
Shirley Knight as  Edie Danziger
Allen Garfield as  Leo Katzman
Adam Hann-Byrd as  Erik Pretzer
Donal Logue as  Video Photographer #1
Diana Bellamy as  Ms. Vawze

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Reviews

Stometer
1996/03/22

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

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Platicsco
1996/03/23

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

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AshUnow
1996/03/24

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

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Kirandeep Yoder
1996/03/25

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

... more
Claudio Carvalho
1996/03/26

Guy Baran (Chazz Palminteri) is the dean of an old school inherited by his wife, the teacher Mia Baran (Isabelle Adjani) that has heart disease. Guy is an abusive husband and has a love affair with his mistress Nicole Horner (Sharon Stone), who is a school teacher in the same school. One day, Nicole and Mia plot a scheme to murder Guy and Mia spikes his whiskey and he faints. Then Nicole and Mia drown him in the bathtub and dump his body in the swimming school. Then Nicole dumps her keys in the swimming pool expecting that the school janitor finds him when he drains the pool. However there is no body in the pool and Nicole and Mia believe that someone knows the truth. When the snoopy retired Detective Shirley Vogel (Kathy Bates) investigates the disappearance, Mia freaks out and is near to destroy their alibi. What might have happened to the body of Guy Baran?"Diabolique" is a poor and unnecessary American remake of a 1955 French classic directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. The director Jeremiah S. Chechik succeeds not only in destroying the story and the atmosphere of the original film with clichés and a boring slow pace, but also in wasting a great cast with names such as Sharon Stone, Isabelle Adjani, Chazz Palminteri and Kathy Bates. Isabelle Adjani, for example, looks like a moron and not a fragile wife. The conclusion is a mess. My vote is three.Title (Brazil): "Diabolique"

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tedg
1996/03/27

The original here is one of the best thrillers, energetic in a way that distracts us from the revelation of the con.This is a lesser movie, but adds at least three clever ideas. If you are interested in narrative structure, you'll be interested in remakes of films and how they change. (I think these are changes to the original.)First, in true folding style, they added a film within the film. The film within is a recruiting film, but that hardly matters.Second, they changed the dynamic of the detective by making him a her. This allows for the third change but along the way the possibilities exist for the three types of women: the virgin, the whore and the shrew. It isn't played up well enough to matter, but its clear that someone's intuition was tuned.Third, there is a final twist that I think is quite different than the original's. It bonds the three women, already hinted in a lesbian tendency between the first two. But amazingly, the film didn't work well for me, probably because of pacing problems at various levels. Not that any level was off by the interplay of levels wasn't syncopated according to what engages. Its an intuitive process, I think, but quite rigid in its rules.Isabelle Adjani was cast perfectly, and introduced very skillfully. Beginnings are hard.This in its original incarnation was the first double con movie, I think. Adding a third was inevitable, I suppose.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

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veganpeace
1996/03/28

This is a pretty good movie, definitely worth the time to watch. The plot twists and turns and the suspense is very good throughout the movie, right to the very end. I would recommend the movie. Sharon Stone does well and so does Kathy Bates. If you like either one of them that makes it worth seeing, but the plot twists are really the best part. Just when you think you know what is going on, the situation changes in a way you would not have anticipated. Notice how Sharon Stone is the only person wearing bright colors in the movie. I disagree with the people who didn't like it. So I thought I would let you know that I really did enjoy it and register my disagreement. I hope you like it too.

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Sherazade
1996/03/29

That stunning genetic lottery winner known as Isabelle Adjani (in one of her best contemporary roles) stars as the push over trophy wife of a posh private school headmaster (played by that ever perfectly sinister Chazz Palmintery) and Sharon Stone plays a vixen of a teacher (and perhaps one-time lover of the headmaster) within the school who inspires Adjani's character to conspire to have her husband bumped off. Kathy Bates in the detective hot on their tails ones the allegedly crime has been committed and from here on, it is a game of Whodunit and where-is-the-body?! Brilliant performances by all the afore mentioned actors, if only the script were as solid as they are and were in this film.

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