Wicked *** (1998, Julia Stiles, Chelsea Field, Louise Myrback, Michael Parks) – Classic Movie Review 12,653

‘Evil Never Looked So Good.’

Director Michael Steinberg’s gripping 1998 film Wicked stars Julia Stiles as a disturbed, manipulative teenage girl called Ellie Christianson, who is top of the police’s list of suspects when her mother (Chelsea Field) is killed.

Wicked is a satisfying black comic psycho thriller, with excellent starring performances from Julia Stiles, William R Moses as her dad and Michael Parks as Detective Boland, the detective on the murder case. Detective Boland names Ellie as the prime suspect after he investigates her mother’s tragic ‘accident’ which is subsequently ruled to be murder.

The cast are Julia Stiles as Ellie Christianson, Michael Parks as Detective Boland, William R Moses as Ben Christianson, Chelsea Field as Karen Christianson, Vanessa Zima as Inger Christianson, Louise Myrback as Lena Anderson, Patrick Muldoon as Lawson Smith, Linda Hart as Mrs Potter, and Casey Rion as Leon.

Writer: Eric Weiss.

Budget: $4,000,000 (estimated).

Julia Stiles plays a 14-year-old though she was 16 when the film was made. She won the role at 15 after she faxed a letter to Steinberg giving him a take on the character that he liked.

Wicked debuted successfully to much acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1998. But a dispute over the film’s score by Cliff Martinez and the final cut kept it on the shelf for 18 months before Columbia TriStar released it on video and DVD in August 2001.

Wicked is directed by Michael Steinberg, runs 88 minutes, is made by Automatic Pictures, Frankestein Entertainment and Flipped Out Productions, is released by Columbia TriStar and Horizon Entertainment, is written by Eric Weiss, is shot by Bernd Heinl, is produced by Frank Beddor, and is scored by Cliff Martinez.

Michael Parks (born Harry Samuel Parks) (April 24, 1940 – May 9, 2017).

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,653

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