Sliver (film)

Synopsis

Carly Norris (Sharon Stone), a sex-starved divorcee, moves into an exclusive New York residential building, not long after the previous tenant, Naomi Singer, falls to her death from her balcony. She immediately crosses paths with other tenants including the handsome Zeke (William Baldwin).

Carly and Zeke soon start meeting quite often; Carly eventually agrees to go to the gym with Zeke, who begins to turn her on by grabbing her hips while exercising. After hanging out for a while, they end up having sex and begin a sexual relationship. Carly is also being romantically pursued by Jack (Tom Berenger), a novelist who is another resident of her building.

Two of Carly's neighbors (Keene Curtis, Polly Walker) die under suspicious circumstances. As she discovers more about Zeke and Jack, she begins to distrust both and also uncovers shocking secrets about other people who live around her. Carly eventually finds out that Jack killed Naomi because of his jealousy of Zeke. It is revealed that Zeke knew that Jack was the killer, but chose to ignore it because it would expose his other secret: he has surveillance cameras allowing him to spy on every apartment, including hers.

Although she is both curious about and disturbed by the cameras, she sees footage of Zeke having sex with Naomi, as well as the murder of Naomi by Jack. Carly eventually destroys Zeke's surveillance room and his video monitors, telling him to "get a life" before leaving him and the building.

Original ending

In the film's original ending Sharon Stone and the killer fly over a volcano when the killer suddenly confesses his crimes. He then veers the aircraft into the volcano as the end credits roll and leaves the audience to decide whether they survive.

Preview audiences disliked the idea of the heroine turning immoral. All the film from the cameramen who actually crashed into a volcano in Hawaii and narrowly escaped death was removed.

MPAA ratings issues

According to a Showtime special about the film prior to the late-night premiere showing of the original NC-17 version, the debate over the NC-17 vs R rating was linked solely to the display of male frontal nudity. However, when Paramount released the unrated version to video there was no male frontal nudity included, though the sex scenes were considerably more graphic.

Home video releases

When originally released on VHS, the film was released in both an R-rated and an unrated version (the original NC-17 version). In March 2006, to coincide with the theatrical release of Basic Instinct 2, which starred Stone, Sliver was released on DVD, this time unrated only. There are no special features and although the film was presented theatrically in the 2.35 aspect ratio, the DVD features a matted, 2.10 aspect ratio transfer. The release also contained what some reviewers have noted as an unusual amount of dirt and scratches for a film print that is only a little over a dozen years old, though the casual viewer is unlikely to detect anything errant. In May 2006 an R-rated for-rent-only version was released to rental outlets. In 2013, the film was released on Blu-ray Disc, using the same matted 2.10 aspect ratio version of the R-rated theatrical cut.

Reception

The film was heavily panned by critics and scores only 12% on Rotten Tomatoes; the main criticisms were that the film provided little in the way of compelling thriller elements, that it diluted some of the plotlines of the novel, and that the actors were not on form. Many also singled out the editing and ending, calling the latter hasty and unconvincing.

Box office

The movie debuted at No. 1 at the box office making $12.1 million in 2,093 theatres. By the second week the box office taking dropped to No. 6. Sliver eventually grossed $36.3 million domestically and $80 million around the world to a total of $116.3 million worldwide.