DEATH BECOMES HER

(July 1992, U.S.)

In between three BACK TO THE FUTURE films and FORREST GUMP (1994), one can hardly blame director Robert Zemeckis for wanting to do something a little silly and less heavy. His dark slapstick screwball comedy fantasy film focuses on a childish pair of female rivals (played with great fun by Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn) who drink a magic potion that promises eternal youth, with a defenseless unsuspecting man caught in the middle of it all. However, after they're both killed in their fight for the love of their said man, a neurotic mortician played by Bruce Willis, the potion revives them as the "undead" and they're forced to maintain their deteriorating bodies forever so as not to arous public suspicion.

Like any Zemeckis film in recent years before, DEATH BECOMES HER is filled with special effects that not only help to tell the story, but also look so damn ridiculous, you can't help but laugh and have some fun along the way. The first sequence to take note of is the outrageous (and frankly, quite disgusting) transformation of Goldie Hawn's body into a fat-assed example of sheer obesity. You can't believe you're looking at the same person! The "undead" effects speak for themselves, of course, but like I said before, it's all done with the great fun of knowing what it might be like to achieve youth forever, and what would happen if it all went terribly wrong. And by the way, Isabella Rossellini's character is an incredible piece of ass to look at! I also couldn't resist the so-called "resurrection" of Jim Morrison (I love THE DOORS!).

DEATH BECOMES HER is not exactly a film that I would accuse of having any real substance or character depth. It's a silly movie, yes, but it's a silly movie that at least has real actors and humor as outrageous (dare I say even a little intelligence) as it's silly plot; a silly movie that I would rather spend time watching than some modern, pathetic, unitelligent waste-of-brain-cells like a sequel to THE HANGOVER or some shit like that! But, hey, that's just me!

Favorite line or dialogue:

Lisle von Roman: "Now a warning."
Madeline Ashton (having already drunk the potion): "NOW a warning??"