Michael Douglas plays Steven Taylor, a high stakes money man of sorts who is very rich, and very powerful. Gwyneth Paltrow plays his wife Emily, who is also very rich but also very lonely and tired of her marriage. She is having an affair with an artist named David Shaw (Viggo Mortensen) and early on in the movie, the three meet. This is when things start to turn interesting. I don't want to ruin any surprises, but from the commercials you see that Steven finds out about the affair, and he also finds out things about David that leads him to believe that he can get David to kill Emily for a boat load of cash. Steven sets out to try and concoct the perfect murder. One in which he gets rid of his wife, and manages to implicate David, while keeping himself clean. But things go wrong, a man dies, and the cat and mouse game begins.

I realize that isn't much of a story to go on, but it's hard saying what happened without ruining all the surprises. The movie really goes into detail showing how meticulous Steven is in his planning. Keep an eye on the envelopes and the cell phones. Think about the key. It really was a very well made suspense thriller. It had me on the edge of my seat. Douglas and Paltrow have always been terrific actors, and they play their parts well. Douglas as the quiet yet powerful and controlling husband, and Paltrow as the world-wise yet home-naive wife. But the standout in my mind, was Mortensen. He is one of those guys you see in all sorts of movies, but you don't know who he is. Here he steps out of the shadows and into the big time, and I think carries himself very well. His character is a mixture of lover, con man, and extortionist. He has a very quiet yet powerful demeanor that works very well.

Overall the movie was very good, and kept me guessing most of the time. The attention to detail was amazing, and other than a small time in the middle when it seemed to slow down, A Perfect Murder is a great movie to see.