June 8, 1998 -- "A Perfect Murder" has many of the elements of a Shakespearean story: betrayal, jealousy, lust for power and murder most foul.

Like the old Shakespearean plays, the story takes place amid the pinnacles of society, what passes for royalty in this country, the rich and powerful, the movers and shakers in the worlds of finance, politics and the arts.

The setup is familiar, a powerful man, Steven Taylor (Michael Douglas) learns that his lovely young wife, Emily (Gwyneth Paltrow of "Great Expectations") is having an affair with a young artist, David Shaw (Viggo Mortensen of "Albino Alligator"). Jealous, he begins to plan the perfect murder.

It turns out, however, that Shaw is not who he appears to be, and Steven Taylor's motives are not what they appear to be at first, either. The story quickly becomes a lot more complicated, and interesting as new facets are revealed in each of the characters. The plot keeps twisting and twisting some more.

The story is loosely based on Frederick Knott's play and screenplay, "Dial M for Murder," reworked by Patrick Smith Kelly. It is an intricate, but smooth-running plot. Douglas is especially good as the calculating Taylor. It is fun to watch him become more frantic as his plans go awry. Mortensen is also very effective as the artist with some tricks up his sleeve.

While the characters, aside from Paltrow's character, don't warrant much sympathy, they certainly are interesting. If you don't mind the starkly negative portrayal of human nature in the movie, it is a deliciously dark tale of tangled deceptions. It rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.