Malice (1993)
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A newlywed couple's lives are upended when they rent their home to a surgeon who becomes entangled in a web of medical malpractice and conspiracy.
The story
In a Massachusetts college town, newlyweds Andy and Tracy Safian rent the third floor of their Victorian home to a cavalier surgeon named Jed Hill. While Andy is an associate dean at a women's college, Jed is a newly arrived surgeon at the local hospital. Their lives become complicated when Tracy is hospitalized for severe abdominal pain and Jed performs a surgery that results in the abortion of her fetus and her subsequent infertility. Blaming Andy for his consent to the procedure, Tracy leaves him and sues Jed for malpractice, setting off a series of events involving a serial rapist and a complex web of deception.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In a Massachusetts college town, newlyweds Andy and Tracy Safian rent their home to a surgeon, Jed Hill. After Jed performs a surgery on Tracy that causes her infertility, she sues him for malpractice. During the deposition, Jed claims to have a 'God complex.' Andy discovers a serial rapist at his college, while Tracy's lawyer, Dennis Riley, hints at a conspiracy involving Tracy's mother. Andy discovers that Tracy and Jed conspired to inject Tracy with pergonal to cause ovarian cysts, intending to sue for a large settlement. Tracy eventually shoots Jed dead during a quarrel over the money. She then attempts to suffocate the neighbor's boy but finds a dummy. Tracy is arrested for attempted murder after a sting operation. It is revealed that the boy is blind and Tracy was a lifelong con artist.
- First release year
- 1993
- Runtime (minutes)
- 107
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Harold Becker
- Writers
- Aaron Sorkin · screenplay; Scott Frank · screenplay; Aaron Sorkin · story; Jonas McCord · story
- Cast and characters
- Alec Baldwin · Andy Safian; Nicole Kidman · Tracy Safian; Bill Pullman · Jed Hill; Bebe Neuwirth · null; Peter Gallagher · null; Josef Sommer · null; Anne Bancroft · Tracy's mother; George C. Scott · null
- Genres
- neo-noir; drama; psychological thriller
- Themes
- medical malpractice; con artistry; greed; psychopathy
- Tone and mood
- suspenseful; confusing; neo-noir
- Premise and plot tags
- medical malpractice; con artist; serial killer; home invasion
- Source material / true-story basis
- A pitch by Jonas McCord based on a rumor about a woman and a surgeon who conspired to defraud an insurance company.
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a box office success and a hit in the video rental market.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 54% · review count: 28; Metacritic · score: 52 · scale: 100 · review count: 17
- Production trivia
- The film was originally in development under the working title of Damages.; The title Damages was dropped to avoid confusion with the 1992 film Damage.; In 2024, Far Out magazine named Jed one of the '10 most accurate movie psychopaths according to the FBI'.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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