
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 2, 1993                   TAG: 9310020116
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

'MALICE' IS A VICTIM OF WEAK CHARACTERS

The filmmakers behind "Malice" can't be blamed for lack of industry. This entry into the suspense sweepstakes is chock-full of turnarounds, red herrings and trumped-up plot devices.

The result is more belabored than involving, but at least the movie tries to give suspense enthusiasts their money's worth.

There's a particularly sadistic serial killer and rapist running around the college campus. There's an egomaniacal new doctor (Alec Baldwin) at the local hospital. There's the associate dean of students (Bill Pullman) who remembers the hot-shot doc from high school, and who becomes himself a suspect in the rape case. There's the dean's saintly wife (Nicole Kidman) with Pre-Raphaelite curls who volunteers at a day-care five days a week and suffers from a mysterious ailment that defies diagnosis. And then the story gets started.

Director Harold Becker has another steamy thriller to his credit with a fair number of head-scratching plot devices - "Sea of Love." But there he had pungent dialogue from Richard Price and a stunning world-weary performance from Al Pacino.

Here, the performances are workmanlike but never enough to give the characters true dimension, and the dialogue from Aaron Sorkin and Frank Scott barely advances the plot without reaching for veracity. Becker's direction is straightforward but all too heavy-handed. When he drops a clue it drops with a thud.

\ Malice: **

A Castle Rock film showing at Tanglewood mall. Rated R for violence, nudity, sexual content. 107 minutes.

\ Chris Gladden, a former staff writer at this newspaper, reviewed movies for almost 19 years. He's dropped back into college for the second or third time and is plying the antiquarian book trade in Salem.

by CNB