A Perfect Murder is a 1998 American thriller film directed by Andrew Davis and starring Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow and Viggo Mortensen. It is a modern remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 film, Dial M for Murder, though the characters' names are all changed, and over half the plot is completely rewritten and altered. Loosely based on the play by Frederick Knott, the screenplay was written by Patrick Smith Kelly. Steven Taylor is a Wall Street hedge fund manager whose investments and speculations allow him to live an extravagant upper class lifestyle with his much younger wife, Emily .... Unfortunately for Taylor, his investments are unraveling, so he will need his wife's personal fortune to maintain that status and lifestyle. Emily seems a faithful wife, but, in reality, she is having an affair with a painter, David Shaw , and is considering leaving her husband. Emily thinks she is safe, but Steven knows everything about the affair. He has also been able to uncover David’s past as an ex-convict whose real name is Winston Lagrange and who has a habit of playing con games on rich women.
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| Release date: | June 5, 1998 |
| Directed by: | Andrew Davis |
| Rated: |  |
| Runtime: | 108 Minutes |
| Producer: | Arnold Kopelson, Anne Kopelson, Peter Macgregor-Scott, Christopher Mankiewicz |
| Editor: | Dennis Virkler, Dov Hoenig |
| Music by: | James Newton Howard |
| Cinematography: | Dariusz Wolski |
| Screenplay by: | Patrick Smith Kelly |
| Estimated budget: | $50,000,000 |
| Adapted from: | Dial M for Murder |
| Genre: | Thriller |