Australian director Phillip Noyce, then between assignments to direct two Jack Ryan films starring Harrison Ford, somehow agreed to come aboard. Eszterhas’ script is utterly ridiculous (he would go on to pen the notorious Showgirls) and the film half baked. Panned by critics and grossing a paltry $36.3 million at the U.S. box office (though the film did somewhat better in Europe, tallying $80 million), Sliver was nominated for seven Razzie awards.
Fresh out of a bad marriage, and in her mid-thirties, New York City book editor Carly Norris (Stone) rents a luxurious apartment on the twentieth floor of a building on East 38th Street. It’s not until after moving in that she learns that her apartment’s previous tenant, Naomi Singer (Allison Mackie), died in a fall from the balcony. It doesn’t take her long to meet a trio of slightly unusual neighbors. Vida (Polly Walker), the model across the hall, has a taste for cocaine and harbors a few too many secrets. Jack Landsford (Tom Berenger) is a very successful author who uses every trick he can think of to try and get a date with Carly. Zeke Hawkins (William Baldwin) seems like an average, run-of-the-mill guy at first, but it doesn’t take Carly very long to figure out he’s hiding something. She doesn’t know it yet, but Zeke is observing the goings-on in the apartment building from his many-monitored headquarters in the penthouse.
At first, Zeke plays the part of helpful neighbor. When Carly moves in, he carries a box for her and gives her directions to the nearest supermarket. He even takes her to the gym, where he wows her with an enthusiastic set of reps on the Butt Blaster. Before you know it, Carly is shedding her clothes like a woman on fire. The effect isn’t so much erotic as it is seamy. Since she seems so needy, and we know he watches everything from his apartment; it just seems lonely and creepy. Carly even tells a co-worker, “after seven years of marriage, I haven’t got a life.” This becomes all the more apparent when Carly learns of Zeke’s voyeurism and becomes increasingly obsessed with the daily lives of her neighbors—an abused child, a man with a tumor—just regular people trying to navigate their way through life.
Zeke gets off on knowing everything that’s going on in the building and admits he likes to use that information to play God on occasion. Eventually, Carly is frightened by her reaction and realizes how dangerous voyeurism can be, only after she’s spent hours watching everyone and experiencing an obvious high.
It doesn’t really matter who killed Naomi Singer or the other tenants who die along the way, because nothing in Sliver feels connected, do it’s difficult to care. For those who enjoy Sliver and I know the movie does have its fans, having it available on Blu-ray will be a treat, others may want to avoid it.
This version is R-Rated and doesn’t included the Unrated version that was released on DVD several years ago.
When the DVD was released, there was some controversy about the aspect ratio, which has unfortunately carried over to the Blu-ray. Shot in anamorphic Panavision, that would normally mean a projected aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and should be presented on home video with an AR of at least 2.35:1. However, for unknown reasons, it’s presented here at 2:10:1. While the cropping of the sides doesn’t create any major issues, it’s worth noting. Colors are fairly bold and detail is good. No complaints.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track sounds fine, offering solid bass extension, nice dynamic range and a reasonable surround experience. Dialogue comes through clearly in the center channel and there are no obvious anomalies.
English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles are available.
There are no special features available.
