Thursday, October 28, 2021

Death Becomes Her (1992)

 
Death Becomes Her - 1992

Coming up next is 1992's "Death Becomes Her", a story that sees two women, who are rivals for one man, chase eternal youth and immortality.

The film's cast includes Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis, Isabella Rossellini, Ian Ogilvy, Adam Storke, Sydney Pollack, Susan Kellerman, and Mimi Kennedy.




Madeline Ashton is a has-been actress who is still clinging to stardom with everything she has.

Her best friend (frenemy) Helen comes to Madeline's show and brings her fiancé, Dr. Ernest Menville, a renowned plastic surgeon.  Ernest is totally smitten with Madeline, much to Helen's disgust.


Wedding bells soon ring for Madeline and Ernest, leaving poor Helen alone in the shadows.


Helen, once an aspiring writer, turns into an overweight, cat-loving psycho who is hellbent on revenge.

Seven years later, Madeline (who must now fish for compliments from her staff) receives an invitation to a book launch.  The author of the book is none other than her old friend Helen.

We find out that Madeline and Ernest can't stand each other.  "Could you just not breathe?" she asks him on their way to the party.


They are in for the shock of their life when they see Helen.  Thinking she's still the overweight cat lady, what they see before them defies all logic.  She's a beautiful, vibrant lady who commands the attention of the entire room.

The old friends embrace.  However, a look from Helen shows that nothing is forgiven or forgotten.

Later, we see just how obsessive Helen is with the idea of revenge.  She's got a seriously creepy corner in her bedroom.




Feeling seriously out of sorts because of Helen's beautiful appearance, Madeline pays a visit to Lisle von Rhoman, whom she has been told can help her obtain the age defying treatment she's searching for.

Lisle claims to be seventy-one years of age, and she looks as young as she does because of a certain potion that she's taken and now makes available to a very select group.



This potion is unlike anything that Madeline has ever seen before, and she's very wary of taking it.  Lisle tells Madeline that the potion stops time in its tracks and forces it into retreat.

Lisle gives Madeline a sample.  Once she sees how the potion works, Madeline wastes no time in breaking out the checkbook.

Once she's taken the full potion, Madeline is thrilled when she sees that it gives the desired effect.  She looks years younger.

Meanwhile, Helen visits Ernest and the two of them begin to plot Madeline's death.




Once she's back home, Madeline and Ernest get into an argument.  It's severe enough that he tries to choke her, and he eventually pushes her down the stairs.  Madeline lands in a twisted wreck at the base of the staircase.


However, she is not dead.  She's very much alive (though her head is backwards because of a broken neck).  Ernest is completely freaked out!

Ernest drives Madeline to the hospital.  When they are separated, Madeline is taken to the morgue, as she has no pulse and isn't breathing.  Ernest breaks her out and takes her back home, where he puts her back together himself.

Eventually, Helen comes over to find out what's going on.  Madeline overhears Helen and Ernest talking about plotting her death.


Madeline is furious with Helen and blows a hole through her with one of Ernest's shotguns.

When Ernest tells Madeline that Helen is dead, Madeline joyously exclaims, "These are the moments that make life worth living!"



It turns out that Helen isn't dead, either.  And it's also discovered that she took the same potion as Madeline.  The two battle it out with shovels in a futile effort to prove dominance.

A little while later, Madeline and Helen take Ernest to Lisle's in an effort to get him to take the potion so that he can be immortal like them and can help with their upkeep.  He refuses, and the girls realize that they'll have to take care of each other for the rest of eternity.  "Til death do us part.  Well, you girls are dead, and I'm parting," Ernest says in farewell.


Thirty-seven years later, Madeline and Helen sit together in the back of a church at Ernest's funeral.



Outside, we see that time has not been kind to them, and they haven't been doing a good job keeping themselves up.  After an argument, the two tumble down the stairs and their bodies split into pieces after coming to a stop.

Cast rundown:

Meryl Streep - Death Becomes Her
   Meryl Streep.................................Madeline Ashton

Goldie Hawn - Death Becomes Her
   Goldie Hawn.................................Helen Sharp

Bruce Willis - Death Becomes Her
   Bruce Willis...................................Dr. Ernest Menville

Isabella Rossellini - Death Becomes Her
   Isabella Rossellini..........................Lisle von Rhoman

Ian Ogilvy - Death Becomes Her
   Ian Ogilvy.....................................Chagall

Adam Storke - Death Becomes Her
   Adam Storke.................................Dakota

Sydney Pollack - Death Becomes Her
   Sydney Pollack...............................ER Doctor

Susan Kellermann - Death Becomes Her
   Susan Kellermann...........................Second Doctor

Mimi Kennedy - Death Becomes Her
   Mimi Kennedy................................Woman #2

And that's it for Death Becomes Her.  This film was very advanced in its special effects.  It won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.  Meryl Streep wasn't thrilled about the process of filming a film with such effects.  She likened it to going to the dentist, and vowed never to do another.

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