A Perfect Murder (1998)

A marriage built on secrets can become a deadly game, especially when both players are hiding something. Andrew Davis' sleek thriller "A Perfect Murder," loosely based on Frederick Knott's play "Dial M for Murder," which Alfred Hitchcock filmed in 1954, stars Michael Douglas as Steven Taylor, a powerful Wall Street financier who appears to be a devoted husband. He isn't. His beautiful, wealthy young wife, Emily (Gwyneth Paltrow), a United Nations translator, seems faithful. She isn't. She's having an affair with David Shaw (Viggo Mortensen), a charming, struggling artist with a shady past. When Steven, secretly facing financial ruin and eager to get his hands on Emily's fortune, offers David a small fortune to kill her, it looks like the perfect murder. It isn't. Almost nothing is what it seems, and fans of the Hitchcock classic will be in for plenty of surprises. So will Steven, who must improvise brilliantly at every unexpected twist. But can he stay one step ahead of Emily, and of a sharp police detective (David Suchet)?