... the original being "Dial M for Murder" from 1954. Lots has changed in the ensuing 44 years, and those changes to society are reflected in the remade film. Here the wife is cheating, not with a guy who is an upright citizen if you overlook he is bedding a friend's wife, but with an artist who has a criminal past of conning rich ladies. Gwyneth Paltrow is the young wife, Emily, with inherited wealth, Michael Douglas plays Steven, the older husband whose financial interests are crumbling and figures out his wife is cheating and with who. He threatens the artist with exposure - to his wife and the police - if he does not agree to kill his wife for money so that Steven can inherit her money and save his business.

So everybody is guilty to a degree. There are not "good" characters and "bad" characters as in Dial M. Society has become too cynical for that to work. Keys still play a big part in the plot as do phone calls, but instead of the brilliant inspector Hubbard figuring everything out, here it is the wife that unravels the plan. The detective in this modern film is largely useless. In the original film the wife is a damsel in distress, unable to determine what exactly has happened and the forces that are arrayed against her. But Paltrow as Emily is an empowered would have been victim.

Don´t miss this thriller. It's one of the best of Michael Douglas and Gwynieth Paltrow. Viggo Mortensen played his role as a villain lover very well. It was well directed by the master Andrew Davis. Please create another good movie. The story is very hot from the begin to the end and the music by James Newton Howard was as usual perfect. I will add this one to my best of dvd collection. I highly recommend it and check out "Falling Down" with Michael Douglas. 7.5/10.

A Perfect Murder is a remake of the famous Alfred Hitchcock classic Dial M For Murder with Michael Douglas, Gwynneth Paltrow, Viggo Mortenson, and David Suchet cast in the roles that Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Bob Cummings, and John Williams played in the original. From a nice set piece English crime story, it's now in late 20th century America where Douglas is doing another version of Gordon Gekko.

Though Douglas might have made his own money like Gekko in this film he marries a lot more of it in Paltrow and his own financial empire is crashing around him. He needs unfettered control of her cash flow and this is the way to do it. And poor Paltrow admits during the course of the film she didn't sign a pre-nuptial agreement. Foolish woman.

The biggest change is in the Cummings role. Viggo Mortenson is not a strong shoulder to cry on like Bob Cummings was for Grace Kelly. No he's part of Douglas's scheme though how I won't reveal.

What I liked about Dial M For Murder was that it was not a whodunit. It was will the police put it together and free Grace Kelly. And instead of one gruesome murder we get a few of them here.

No complaints about any of the players, but I'd stick with Hitch.