Death Becomes Her (1992)

 

Death Becomes Her is a wry commentary on aging in Hollywood, particularly as it pertains to women. Overall, the film seems pretty misogynistic to me since it suggests that women will go to any length, no matter how risky or dangerous, to remain attractive (while men are more reasonable or rational about the consequences of aging). That doesn’t mean that it didn’t deserve its Oscar win for Best Visual Effects. Aside from a few laughs, mostly at the expense of the two primary characters, it’s the visuals that stick with you after viewing the film. Goldie Hawn plays Helen Sharp, an aspiring writer whose fiancé gets stolen by her long-time rival, Madeline Ashton (played by Meryl Streep). Madeline, an egotistical actress (is there any other kind in the movies?), doesn’t really find Dr. Ernest Menville (Bruce Willis) attractive physically; she just knows that having a plastic surgeon like him will help her stay younger looking. Their marriage isn’t a happy one. After losing Ernest to Madeline, Helen gains a lot of weight and becomes very vengeful. Seven years later, when they arrive at a party celebrating Helen’s new book, Madeline and Ernest find her transformed into a beautiful, youthful woman, quite a difference from the somewhat dowdy woman she was in the past. Madeline, now desperate to look younger herself, goes to a strange mansion and obtains an expensive magical potion from a woman named Lisle (Isabella Rossellini) who claims to be 71 years old, but who appears to be in her late 20s or early 30s. Of course, Lisle doesn’t really share all of the relevant details until after Madeline has downed the potion; one of the side effects is that you become, in essence, a zombie once you die. You only get about ten years to look youthful before you’re expected to disappear from public view. Hawn’s Helen tries to steal Willis’s Ernest back from Madeline, but to be honest, I kept wondering why these women are interested in him. He’s not particularly attractive, but his talent for making corpses look alive must be sufficient. The real appeal of Death Becomes Her is the masterfully done special effects. The transformation of Madeline to a younger version of herself is shot in a mirror, and it’s amazing. However, when Madeline falls down a flight of stairs, her body gets twisted and she has to walk backwards because her head is now on backwards. During a fight, Madeline blasts a hole in Helen’s stomach. (That’s when we learn that she, too, has taken Lisle’s potion—if we hadn’t already figured it out, that is.) Seeing through Hawn’s stomach is revelatory; that effect alone must have taken some time to accomplish. The film also has a few funny moments at the expense of the stars. For example, Helen calls Madeline a “bad actress” at one point, a nod to Streep’s reputation even then for possessing a singular talent for acting. And Madeline warns Ernest about what happens to “soft, bald, overweight Republicans in prison,” so knowing that Willis, who was already balding at the time, is a Republican only makes the joke funnier. Of course, as I stated earlier, the film treats men and women quite differently in terms of aging. Women are more obsessed with youthfulness and more inclined to do whatever they can to look younger, but when Ernest is offered the same potion as the two women, he refuses because he doesn’t want to live forever even if it would mean that he looks young. I realize that this film has become a cult favorite since its release, and some of the performances veer quite readily into camp, but it’s tough to watch this movie and not sense that it treats its female characters very badly overall.

Oscar Win: Best Visual Effects