Young publishing executive Carly (Stone) takes an apartment in an exclusive "sliver" building in New York, only to learn that the previous tenant, who bore a great resemblance to Carly, died in a mysterious fall from the apartment balcony. When other tenants of the building begin to die likewise mysteriously, Carly begins to suspect that a killer may be inhabiting the building and that it may be either Zeke (Baldwin), the voyeuristic building owner with whom she's become involved romantically, or Jack (Berenger), a mystery writer with a suspicious quality.
After her success with Basic Instinct, Sharon Stone opted for familiar territory with this campfest that purports to be a sexualized thriller about voyeurism but in reality is more of an excuse to get Stone and costar William Baldwin out of their clothes. Rear Window it ain't. Stone plays it drab and quiet as a successful career woman on the rebound from a bad marriage who moves into a mysterious Manhattan high-rise. Once there, she discovers that she has a few admirers: a hunky and enigmatic neighbor (Baldwin), a popular writer of crime novels (Tom Berenger), and someone who seems to enjoy watching her every move on the building-wide surveillance system. And is one of them the serial killer who's stalking the comely female tenants? Scripted by the erstwhile Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct and Jagged Edge), Sliver follows the standard Eszterhas plot line of a protagonist suspecting that his or her lover may or may not be a vicious killer, the tension mounting as clue upon clue is discovered. Unlike both Instinct or Edge, though, Sliver delivers little suspense, thanks in part to a reshot ending that changed the original identity of the killer in the Ira Levin novel and confounded students of rational thought. However, if you're looking for an unintentionally funny thriller with loads of extraneous nudity, Sliver is an enjoyably huge hunk of cheese. --Mark Englehart
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
You like to watch--but don't watch this:
As Carly Norris said: "You like to watch, watch this!" But seriously, don't watch this, unless you are fascinated by train wrecks, and enjoy seeing a movie spin totally out of control. Joe Eszterhas has recently been born again, after a bout with throat cancer he has given up tobacco, booze, writing trashy but successful scripts, and instead he's taken up the cross. I wish him luck. So far, he has yet to sell any scripts, but he has written a few books. Looking over his oeuvre, there are some successes... more info
Voyeurism - seen or be seen?:
Which is more fun? Depends on you. Hard to decide? Check out both sides of the story. Always carry a camera.
Stone... Hot. This movie... not.:
Back in the day Sharon Stone was the hottest thing in Hollywood. She is still very pretty and hot in this movie but... this movie is a turd. Billy Baldwin is a horrible actor and this movie seems to want to show Baldwins naked butt and hide Stones completely. I like Tom Berenger but he doesn't do much with the crapfest that is this script. This movie stinks. Stone is hot but you don't see her being hot enough or at all. Did I mention this movie stinks?
What does Unrated Edition mean?:
I have the "Unrated Edition" but I can't figure out what that is supposed to mean. There are no special features, no content that would merit a rating more restrictive than R. I don't get it.
I understand the ending is different from the book and apparently some of the famous plot holes would not be if the book's ending was used.
