Sliver (1993) Paramount/Suspense-Thriller RT: 108 minutes (Unrated Version) Rated NC-17 (strong sexual content and graphic nudity, language, violence, drug use) Director: Phillip Noyce Screenplay: Joe Eszterhas Music: Howard Shore Cinematography: Vilmos Zsigmond Release date: May 21, 1993 (US) Cast: Sharon Stone, William Baldwin, Tom Berenger, Martin Landau, Polly Walker, Colleen Camp, Amanda Foreman, Nicholas Pryor, C.C.H. Pounder, Nina Foch, Keene Kurtis, Anne Betancourt, Tony Peck, Allison Mackie, Jim Beaver, Jose Rey, Victor Brandt, Ryan Cutrona, Robert Milano, Steve Eastin, Matthew Faison, Robin Groves, Marne Patterson. Box Office: $36.3M (US)/$123.9M (World)
Rating: *
Allow me to satisfy your curiosity. There is no noticeable difference between the theatrical and unrated cuts of Sliver, a soggy thriller from director Phillip Noyce (Dead Calm) and writer Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct). There might have been a random shot here and there, but I honestly didn’t see anything that went beyond a hard R. It hardly matters anyway because Sliver is a stinker by any rating.
Sliver gained notoriety not for its steamy content, but the drama that surrounded it before it hit theaters in May ’93. As I previously indicated, it ran into problems with the MPAA. They wanted to slap it with the dreaded NC-17 which would have killed its box office prospects. Noyce claims he had to make 110 cuts in order to get the desired R rating. Sounds exaggerated to me. Either way, there’s no shortage of sex and nudity. That’s not all that happened prior to release. Paramount made Noyce and Eszterhas come up with a whole new ending after test audiences didn’t like the original one. If you know what to look for, you can kind of see how it doesn’t quite jibe with the rest of the picture.
The makers expected Sliver to be a smash hit along the lines of Basic Instinct. It had some of the same ingredients, namely Eszterhas and Sharon Stone, both hot off the success of the vastly superior and stylish Basic Instinct. If only they could have gotten Paul Verhoeven too. Oh well, you work with what you have even if it doesn’t amount to much, right? That’s precisely the case here. Sliver isn’t much at all. In fact, it amounts to exactly nothing.
Stone stars as Carly Norris, a successful book editor and recent divorcee who’s just moved into an exclusive sliver building in New York City. A sliver building, for those not in the know, is a tall, narrow skyscraper built on a small slender lot. Right away, she’s told she looks a lot like her apartment’s previous occupant, a young woman who fell to her death from the balcony. Actually, she was pushed off by a hooded killer, but nobody knows that other than the killer and one other person.
Carly catches the attention of two of her neighbors, mysterious rich guy Zeke (Baldwin, Flatliners) and detective fiction writer Jack (Berenger, Platoon). Let’s talk about them for a moment. They both raise red flags. Zeke is smooth and handsome in an oily way. He’s like an overgrown frat boy who majored in date rape at university. Naturally, he has secrets. First, he owns the building. He’s not just rich, he’s filthy rich. Second, he’s a voyeur. He has hidden cameras in every apartment. He spends his free time secretly watching his neighbors, especially Carly. He knows the truth about the previous tenant’s death. Jack, all arrogance and testosterone, is an old school alpha male, He smokes, drinks and flirts by beating his chest (figuratively speaking, of course). He truly believes he’s irresistible to women and can’t understand why Carly isn’t into him. He’s like somebody from one of his other movies, Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977).
It’s as easy to identify the killer as it is pinpointing where Sliver goes wrong. It goes wrongs in lots of places, but I’m thinking of one absolutely crucial area. As a thriller, it falls flat on its face. The suspense level is zero. The identity of the killer is never in doubt. It’s clear from the moment you meet this character and clearer with every subsequent encounter. Noyce, of course, tries to throw viewers off by pointing at other possible suspects including [SPOILER ALERT!] a maintenance worker who stares at Carly a couple of times. NEWS FLASH! It’s never the creepy-looking dude with no dialogue. That’s beside the point. You won’t have any problem correctly guessing the killer. He may as well be wearing a sign that reads “PSYCHO”.
Sliver has style to spare, but little in the way of substance. In fact, it has none at all. Noyce doesn’t even do a good job trying to hide it either. Now you’d think the killer storyline would be front and center, but it’s not. It’s treated as a subplot for the most part. The focus appears to be Carly trying to find herself after escaping a stifling (NOT abusive) marriage. Noyce spends a lot of time on this, showing Carly hanging out with Zeke, being harassed by Jack and talking things over with horny best friend/co-worker Judy (Camp, Clue). He occasionally breaks the monotony by dropping another dead body. He has to keep the audience awake somehow.
Sliver is lame for the most part. There are times, however, when it becomes ludicrous. For example, just how dumb is Carly? She can see Jack poses a threat. At one point, she finds him sitting in her apartment when she gets home from work. Why doesn’t she report it to the police? This is why they have restraining orders. My favorite bit is her date with Zeke at a fancy restaurant. He likes to engage in risky behavior and encourages her to do the same. In a 9 ½ Weeks-like scenario, he convinces her to remove her panties and pass them to her. The dirty old man at the next table watches intently while his wife doesn’t appear to care. It’s more silly than sexy.
Sliver is badly written with poorly developed characters and an unfocused storyline. Noyce cares more about how his movie looks than whether it’s any good. The acting is pretty bad. Stone acts like she’s there just to collect a paycheck. She puts no life into her character. Baldwin is little more than a pretty face. He and Stone have no chemistry whatsoever. Berenger hams it up mightily. The supporting cast doesn’t help much. It includes name actors like Martin Landau (Ed Wood), Polly Walker (Patriot Games), Nicholas Pryor (Risky Business), Nina Foch (An American in Paris), CCH Pounder (Benny & Joon) and Keene Curtis (Heaven Can Wait). Sadly, they’re not given much to do. They show up for a scene or two and that’s it.
The funny thing is I don’t hate Sliver. It’s bad, but in way you can roll your eyes and laugh. Real people don’t talk they way they do in this movie. The dialogue is awful, hilariously so at times. Here are a few choice nuggets:
Judy (obviously not up on pop culture): “Hey, isn’t Pearl Jam some sort of oriental sex thing?”
Jack (when he sees Carly’s telescope, a gift from Zeke): “You’re a peeper! A peeper, peeper!”
The topper has to be this exchange, a brilliant meeting of the minds:
Carly: “You’ve been spending too much time with your vibrator.”
Judy: “I certainly have – I’ve been getting a plastic yeast infection!”
Clearly, Eszterhas is no Hemingway.
The sex isn’t all that hot. The scene where Stone’s character masturbates in a bathtub will surely NOT get anybody hot and horny. There’s no point to any of it. The only reason Sliver even exists is because of the success of Basic Instinct. It wants to be the next one, but doesn’t even come close. It’s just dumb. It deserves an eviction notice.
