"I am God."
If you were alive in 1993, you heard that line. A lot. Alec Baldwin delivered it with a level of smug, surgical precision that made your skin crawl. He wasn't just playing a doctor; he was playing a man who believed he held the literal keys to life and death.
The movie is Malice. And honestly, it’s one of the weirdest, most "90s" things to ever come out of Hollywood. You’ve got Nicole Kidman before she was Nicole Kidman, Alec Baldwin at his peak "scenery-chewing" phase, and Bill Pullman playing the world's most trusting (or maybe just slowest) college dean.
The Plot That Literally Goes Everywhere
Most people remember Malice as a medical thriller. They’re halfway right. It starts out like a domestic drama. Andy (Pullman) and Tracy (Kidman) are fixing up a massive Victorian house in a sleepy Massachusetts college town. They want kids. They have plumbing issues. They're basically a Norman Rockwell painting with a leaky faucet.
Then, Andy runs into an old high school acquaintance, Jed Hill (Baldwin). Jed is a hotshot trauma surgeon who just moved to town. Because Andy is apparently the nicest guy on earth, he invites this arrogant stranger to rent their third floor.
Huge mistake.
Suddenly, the movie shifts gears. There’s a serial killer on the loose attacking students. Then there’s a medical emergency where Tracy ends up on Jed’s operating table. He makes a "judgment call" and removes her healthy ovaries, essentially making her sterile. A massive malpractice lawsuit follows.
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But wait. There’s more.
The middle of the film takes a hard left turn into "grifter noir" territory. You find out that almost nothing you saw in the first hour was real. It wasn't just a medical mistake; it was a $20 million con.
Why the God Complex Speech Still Hits
You can't talk about the Alec Baldwin and Nicole Kidman movie without mentioning the deposition scene. It’s legendary.
Jed Hill is being questioned about his arrogance. The opposing lawyer asks if he has a "God complex." Baldwin leans in, looks the man in the eye, and basically tells him that when someone enters an OR and prays to God, they aren't praying to some guy in the clouds. They’re praying to the man with the scalpel.
"You ask me if I have a God complex. Let me tell you something: I am God."
It’s peak Aaron Sorkin. Yes, the guy who wrote The West Wing and The Social Network co-wrote this script. You can hear it in the rhythm. The dialogue is snappy, self-important, and incredibly fun to watch. Sorkin actually returned to do rewrites specifically to get Baldwin to sign on. It worked.
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The Nicole Kidman Factor
Nicole Kidman was in an interesting spot in 1993. She was still mostly known as "Tom Cruise’s wife" to the general public, despite her killer performance in Dead Calm.
In Malice, she plays Tracy with a sort of hidden sharpness. At first, she’s the victim. The grieving wife. But when the mask slips? She’s terrifying. She manages to go from a fragile kindergarten teacher to a cold-blooded femme fatale in a way that feels genuinely earned.
It’s a "who the heck did I marry?" movie. One of the best of that specific 90s subgenre.
The Stuff That Makes No Sense (But We Love Anyway)
If you look at Malice too closely, the logic falls apart like a wet paper towel.
- Why does a world-class surgeon live in a rented room in a dean's house?
- Why is there an entire subplot about a serial killer (played by a very young Gwyneth Paltrow as one of the victims) that has almost zero impact on the main con?
- How did they manage to get George C. Scott and Anne Bancroft for one-scene cameos?
Bancroft, by the way, is incredible. She plays Tracy’s alcoholic mother and delivers a massive amount of exposition while chugging scotch and smoking. It’s a masterclass in how to steal a movie in five minutes.
The serial killer subplot is the weirdest part. It’s basically just there to get a DNA sample from Andy to prove he’s not the killer, which somehow ties into the insurance scam. It's convoluted. It’s messy. It’s brilliant.
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Is It Worth a Rewatch?
Totally. Especially if you like 90s thrillers like The Hand That Rocks the Cradle or Pacific Heights. It doesn't have the "prestige" of The Fugitive, but it’s got way more personality.
The film grossed about $61 million on a $20 million budget. People went to see it because they wanted to see the big stars, but they stayed for the "what just happened?" twists.
What to Look For:
- The Cinematography: It was shot by Gordon Willis, the guy who did The Godfather. That’s why a "trashy" thriller looks so gorgeous and moody.
- The Grammar Lesson: There’s a scene where Baldwin’s character corrects someone’s grammar while being a total jerk on a beach. It’s quintessential Sorkin.
- The Supporting Cast: Keep an eye out for Bebe Neuwirth as the skeptical detective and Tobin Bell (before he was Jigsaw in Saw) as a creepy janitor.
Practical Insights for Movie Buffs
If you're looking to dive back into this era of film, don't just stop at Malice.
- Watch for the Sorkinisms: Notice how characters walk and talk at the same time. This was the blueprint for his later career.
- Compare the Performances: Watch Kidman in this, then watch her in To Die For (1995). You can see her evolving into the powerhouse she became.
- Check the Blu-ray: If you want to see it in high quality, the Kino Lorber release is the way to go. It cleans up the image significantly, though it’s light on the behind-the-scenes extras.
Malice isn't a "perfect" movie. It’s a "busy" movie. It’s a film that tries to be five different things at once and somehow, through the sheer charisma of Baldwin and Kidman, it actually works. Just don't expect the medical science to be accurate. Or the legal procedures. Or... much of anything else.
Just enjoy the ride.
Next Steps for Your Movie Night:
Check out Dead Calm (1989) if you want to see Nicole Kidman in her breakout thriller role, or jump into Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) to see Alec Baldwin deliver another all-time great monologue right before he filmed Malice.