Sliver (1993) Reviews

• At least it keeps you guessing....

  gridoon2001-03-03

  "Sliver" was not nearly as bad as most reviewers have suggested, in my opinion. It may be true that Joe Eszterhas rehashes his basic formula one more time here - "Is the person with whom the hero/heroine gets sexually involved a murdered or an innocent victim, framed by someone else?" - but it's a formula that works, that grabs your attention instinctively. The plot is flimsy, yet inherently interesting. Maybe this thriller would've been tighter if the gratuitously protracted (and not very erotic) sex scenes had been trimmed down in length, but Baldwin is magnetic in his role and Sharon Stone, great to look at as always, also gives a decent performance; they both overshadow Tom Berenger who doesn't make even the slightest impression. (**)

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• Going against the consensus, but I like this film!

  seamanm1999-01-21

  Whether it's Sharon Stone, or the obvious truth about my voyeuristic tendencies, I like this movie. Sharon has seldom been more alluring and Baldwin's character, with his eerily magnificent toys, lives his life observing others. A movie for the CNN generation I'd contend.

• A surprisingly good movie...

  sdiegotw2011-09-01

  I waited 18 years to see this movie because I had always heard how terrible it is. When it first came out, I seem to recall thinking it highly implausible that someone could have the kind of video and audio equipment you see in this movie. But the equipment and its use in the film is entirely plausible, even in 1993. I found no problems with the plot. It's an interesting thriller with something that's hard to find--a unique story that hasn't been told a thousand times already. The acting is good. The characters and their actions are completely believable. I was never left thinking that a real person might not have done the things that the people in the movie did. Having seen the movie, I really don't understand why so many people criticize it so harshly. In terms of telling a compelling, entertaining story, I would say it is far better than movies like Hereafter and on par with a movie like the Adjustment Bureau (just two recent movies I could think to compare it to). If you haven't seen it, give it a chance.

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• Gives invasion of privacy a whole new meaning!

  GOWBTW2006-07-11

  I don't why many people put this movie down so bad. Anything with Sharon Stone is good. This movie is just as kinky as "Basic Instinct", only more high tech. Working for a publishing company is a hard job to take, even if you went through a rough marriage and trying to start over, finding yourself shouldn't be so hard. Not with Carly Norris(Sharon Stone). She moves into a new high in New York called Sliver Heights, she gets a room which the deceased lived. and their she meets the owner Zeke Hawkins(William Baldwin) owns Sliver Heights, and he thinks he God. This man is not only the owner, he's the biggest voyeur of that complex. A voyeur(Peeping Tom) like him make others look like amateurs. I liked ever scene of this movie, the love scenes, the shower scenes, the conversation scenes, and he actually records them which I think is downright obscene. Sharon never looked any hotter in that movie, and he character is really hard core all the way. The author Jack Landford(Tom Berenger) seemed to be a decent character, however his shady past makes him the target for police. When he was killed, the murders stopped, but the voyeurism was way more sinister than the crimes earlier. So Zeke was given a major attitude adjustment there, and I think it's time for a new owner. This movie was really hardcore, imagine for what the unrated version would be like! Rating 3 out of 5 stars.

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• Shallow pulpy romance/suspense/mystery

  mstomaso2006-11-03

  Decent acting doesn't salvage this poorly scripted, over-sexed, story of a 30-something woman (Stone) who seems to make all of the worse possible choices in places to live and boyfriends. "Sliver" is the beautiful but apparently haunted (or at least dangerous) apartment building she moves into on the rebound from a lengthy failed relationship. Vulnerable, Stone is almost immediately courted by her new neighbors - Berenger and Baldwin. Inexplicably, she doesn't even consider moving when she learns that several unresolved murders, suicides or accidental deaths have occurred in the building, including the former occupant of her own room who looked just like her. Both of her suitors are creepy and seem about as trustworthy as politicians, and it appears likely that at least one of them has committed some terrible crimes. This film must have made a better grade b mystery/suspense novel than a movie. Not having read the book, I can only guess based on my experience with the pulp mystery genre that the film follows its plot closely. All of the main characters seem to be either sex addicts, perverts or impotent men, and this provides an opening for too many boring and unnecessary sex scenes. I suppose these were meant to fill in the gaps left by the vacuous plot and the uninspired script. In terms of mystery, Sliver's central plot succeeds, as it does (somewhat but not completely) keep you guessing right up to the end. However, the plot would have made a much better 30 minute or hour-long episode of a TV detective show (minus the sex). Sliver is overloaded with baggage and filler - too many sex scenes, a little too much character development (especially considering how shallow, irrational and absurd most of the characters are) and not enough psychological realism. Overall, I found the film slightly entertaining, but a little difficult to get all the way through.

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