Death Becomes Her

Death Becomes Her is a 1992 black comedy fantasy film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Goldie Hawn, Meryl Streep and Bruce Willis. It won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

Plot

Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep) and Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn) are longtime romantic rivals. However, dowdy Helen's life falls apart when glamorous Madeline steals the affection of Helen's fiancé, Dr. Ernest Menville (Bruce Willis), after the two meet at the opening of Madeline's latest Broadway flop. (Madeline is starring in Songbird!, a musical adaptation of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth.) Seven years go by; Madeline struggles with her aging body and failing career. Ernest, once a brilliant cosmetic surgeon, is now Madeline's husband, a high end mortician, and an alcoholic. Helen, meanwhile, has become obese and is later institutionalized after becoming psychologically obsessed with her rival Madeline.

An additional seven years later, both women are reunited when Madeline receives an invitation to a book signing party for Helen's new book "Forever Young". Not to be outdone by Helen's success, Madeline seeks out a dangerous cosmetic treatment at her private spa, only to be denied. However, the spa's proprietor refers Madeline to the exclusive services of Lisle von Rhoman (Isabella Rossellini) before Madeline departs.

Madeline grudgingly attends the book signing with Ernest, where the odd details of Ernest’s success as a mortician are revealed (he uses spray paint on the deceased instead of makeup). As Helen begins to play Ernest and Madeline against one another, it’s discovered that Helen has become a beautiful, knockout redhead with a body and looks superior to back when she and Ernest were engaged. Madeline is instantly enraged upon seeing that her rival has surpassed her in beauty.

After the party, Madeline flees to the arms of her young lover Dakota (Adam Storke) only to be rejected; Dakota can no longer handle the embarrassment of their age difference. Distraught, she takes to the streets of Los Angeles. While driving erratically, Madeline sees her own reflection and screams in surprise, narrowly avoiding an accident before she stops the car. Desperate for any chance of improving her looks, Madeline seeks out the mysterious Lisle von Rhoman that night. She arrives at Lisle's mansion and is overwhelmed by the splendor of her surroundings, as well as Lisle's retinue of young, muscular servants. After piquing Madeline's interest, Lisle - who appears no older than 23 - reveals that she is actually 71 years old, and has discovered the secret to eternal youth. Lisle offers Madeline a potion which Lisle promises will not only stop the aging process but reverse it as well, restoring Madeline's youth and beauty. The only condition is that, after 10 years, Madeline must disappear from the public eye forever, to help protect Lisle's secret. After seeing a demonstration of the potion's power, Madeline is convinced and quickly buys the potion for an undisclosed but incredibly high price.

Meanwhile, Helen appears at Ernest and Madeline's home and, upon seeing that Madeline is gone, quickly seduces Ernest. She then reveals that she has concocted an incredibly detailed and foolproof plot to kill Madeline (by sedating her and then making her death look like a drunk-driving accident). Ernest is horrified at first, but Helen quickly convinces him that Madeline has ruined his life and, with Madeline eliminated, Ernest and Helen can pick up their lives where they left off decades ago. Ernest agrees to the conspiracy and Helen smugly departs.

Back at Lisle's mansion, Madeline drinks the potion and is instantly restored to her youth and beauty, to her great joy. She drives back home, only to be confronted by an angry Ernest. Confident with her rediscovered beauty that she no longer needs Ernest, Madeline haughtily insults him. This pushes Ernest over the edge and, during a vicious argument, Ernest loses control and pushes Madeline down their grand staircase. He watches helplessly as she tumbles down the stairs, breaking her neck amongst other injuries, and landing motionless at the bottom. In a panic, Ernest calls Helen for help, but he soon discovers that Madeline, despite having her head on backwards, is very much alive.

After getting her head on straight, Madeline is rushed to the emergency room of a hospital, where the doctor recognizes that her physical body has died, even though she is still walking and talking. In shock and fright at her living-dead condition, the doctor has a heart attack and dies. While Ernest runs off to get help, Madeline faints, is pronounced dead, and is sent to the morgue, from which Ernest eventually rescues her.

Back at their home, Ernest begins to use his experience as a mortician to restore the natural good looks of his wife. Things become complicated, however, when Helen reappears at their home. Helen has no idea that Madeline survived the fall down the stairs, and confronts Ernest about continuing their plot to eliminate Madeline. Unfortunately, a furious Madeline overhears everything from upstairs. Madeline in turn then confronts Ernest and Helen, and shoots Helen dead with a single shotgun blast to the stomach.

However, despite having a large gaping hole blown into her abdomen, Helen does not die. It is then revealed that Helen, like Madeline, had also drunk the potion supplied by Lisle. The two now undead rivals battle it out in a futile attempt to kill one another, while Ernest surrenders to his fears and decides to leave the two women forever.

Eventually reconciling their differences, Madeline and Helen turn to Ernest to repair their much-damaged appearances. Ernest agrees on the condition that afterwards, he is allowed to leave and be free of both women permanently. Unfortunately, Ernest’s repairs are only temporary. Madeline and Helen quickly realize that they will need Ernest forever to perform routine maintenance to their bodies. They then conspire to make Ernest drink the potion as well.

After knocking him unconscious, Helen and Madeline bring Ernest to Lisle on the eve of a party for all her clients. Lisle tries unsuccessfully to convince Ernest to drink the potion, but instead he tries to escape. Trapped within Lisle’s labyrinthine mansion, Ernest discovers that a number of celebrities who are popularly believed to be dead, including Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Jim Morrison, Andy Warhol, James Dean, and Elvis Presley (who can't stop making public appearances), have also taken Lisle’s potion. After a failed attempt by Helen and Madeline to convince Ernest to drink the potion, Ernest falls from the roof of the mansion into Lisle’s pool, only barely escaping with his life. With Ernest gone, Helen and Madeline realize, much to their chagrin, that they are now forced to look out for each other... forever.

Thirty-seven years later, Helen and Madeline - both in wretched states of physical disrepair - attend the funeral of Dr. Ernest Menville. There it is revealed that Ernest has led a fulfilling and successful life, having achieved more with his mortal life than Madeline and Helen are likely to find with their self-centered immortality.

After disturbing the ceremony with their sardonic laughter, Helen and Madeline leave the funeral, only to slip on their own can of flesh-colored spray paint, which one of them has dropped. Falling down yet another flight of stairs, the two women literally break and fall to pieces.

Cast

• Meryl Streep
• Bruce Willis
• Goldie Hawn
• Isabella Rossellini
• Ian Ogilvy
• Adam Storke
• Nancy Fish
• Alaina Reed Hall
• Michelle Johnson
• Mary Ellen Trainor
• William Frankfather
• John Ingle
• Clement von Franckenstein
• Petrea Burchard
• Jim Jansen

Special effects

Like most of director Robert Zemeckis' films, Death Becomes Her was a technically complex movie to make, and the production had its fair share of mishaps. For example, in a scene where Helen Sharp and Madeline Ashton are battling with shovels, Meryl Streep accidentally scarred Goldie Hawn's face. Streep admitted that she disliked working on a project that focused so heavily on special effects, saying:

Trivia

• Kevin Kline was originally set to play Ernest Melville; when he demanded to be paid the same salary as Hawn and Streep, however, he was dropped and the part was recast with Bruce Willis.^[2]
• Catherine Bell made her movie debut in this film as Isabella Rossellini's body double, for which she was given a rare credit.
• Tracey Ullman appeared in the trailers as a bartender who is also Ernest's girlfriend. After filming what director Robert Zemeckis referred to as a "saccharine ending" (in which Ernest and Ullman's character escape to Europe), Zemeckis decided to opt for a darker ending, and Ullman's character was one of seven or eight actors with speaking roles that was cut.
• Helen takes the potion on October 26, 1985. This is the same day as the "present" date used in Back to the Future (also directed by Robert Zemeckis).
• The film also includes a possibly intentional reference to Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch: After Ernest rescues Madeline from the hospital, he attempts to convince Helen of Madeline's liveliness by saying "She's not dead, she's resting", a line bearing much similarity to one in the sketch.
• The film has been noted for its deliberately Hitchcockian elements, such as its use of a blonde protagonist and the dark visuals. Composer Alan Silvestri's score is also similar to Bernard Herrmann's work for Hitchcock.^{[citation needed]}

References

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