Death Becomes Her is an entertaining, twisted black comedy | News, Sports, Jobs

PHOTO PROVIDED: Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn star in the 1992 black comedy Death Becomes Her.

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've been able to write a Throwback Thursday column. Life can get pretty hectic and it's a bit surprising how easy it is to just not sit down and watch a movie.

Luckily, a wonderful friend, Dana, was able to recommend a film that inspired me to write a new column – Death Becomes Her (1992).

“Death Becomes Her” stars two well-known actresses in the lead roles: Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn, as well as “Die Hard” actor Bruce Willis.

The film is considered a black comedy and follows enemies Madeline Ashton (Streep) and Helen Sharp (Hawn), who give their feud epic proportions.

We begin the film with Madeline, a struggling actress in the 1970s, opening for a terribly off-Broadway musical to which she invites Helen and her fiancé Dr. Ernest Menville (Willis).

This gives Madeline the perfect opportunity to take Ernest away, leaving Helen depressed and vengeful.

Of course, Helen never forgives or forgets this insult as she watches Madeline's career and Menville's rise from world-famous plastic surgeon to undertaker.

Fourteen years pass during this time – and we see Helen begin to hatch a plan to take revenge on Madeline and win Ernest back.

And so begins a pretty crazy and a little scary and magical film in which two divas compete against each other.

We watch as Madeline fails to take precautions to preserve her beauty, which will have some interesting side effects. And we learn that she and Helen may not be so different after all.

Meanwhile, Ernest is clearly a rather characterless fool who is just along for the ride on this very strange ride.

Death Becomes Her has a lot of really great comedic moments, and Streep, Hunt, and Willis complement each other well.

Streep in particular made me laugh out loud more than once with her one-liners. I don't often see her in comedic roles and I'm always happy when she gets the chance to do them. But I'm also happy when she's a cheeky character or belts out ABBA (shameless “Mama Mia!” advert).

As for Hunt, I really enjoyed watching her character. At first, Helen seems like a normal, shy friend whose life was taken by the more devious Madeline. But as the film progresses, you realize that there's a reason they're friends – they're both equally crazy.

And let's be honest, everyone needs a crazy best friend to get through life. However, not all crazy dynamics have to be as toxic as these two ladies.

I must not forget to praise Willis, of course. I am used to seeing him in serious roles, like in Die Hard or Armageddon. It was really refreshing to see him in the role of the often meek and extremely nervous character that really defines Ernest. This man is by no means the victim of the film, considering he deliberately left his fiancée for her friend – there is no real villain in this film anyway. However, karma catches up with him in the most hilarious way.

I also can't help but mention the film's special effects. Even though it came out in the early 1990s when CGI and other technological advancements in film were still in their infancy, the visuals really held up. Fun fact! It was actually the first film to use computer-generated skin textures for some of its scenes, developed by the company Industrial Light and Magic. (Or maybe not, if that concept scares you a little, I don't judge you.)

The practical and digital effects used in this film were also used by the same company shortly after in Jurassic Park, so I guess we can thank Death Becomes Her for some extremely cool dinosaurs.

Overall, Death Becomes Her was a highly entertaining and fun film with a great cast, cool effects, and some hilarious dialogue and acting. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good black comedy (or even just Meryl Streep).

And another fun fact (I've had enough of those), it's actually being performed on Broadway this year. Death Becomes Her opens in November.

So obviously I'm not the only one who really enjoyed the movie. Maybe you will too!

“Death Becomes Her” is rated PG-13 and can be rented on Amazon Prime.

And thanks, Dana, for the movie suggestion! Who knows, maybe more of your recommendations will find their way into my throwback columns.

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Laura Jameson is editor-in-chief of The Express.