Primal Fear (1996)

Last month I started a segment on this blog called Sheldon's Choice which was a list comprised by a fellow film Connoisseur and our first film was Internal Affairs and now we are back with our second film. The film that I chose for today is one that kept seeing in parts whether it be having the ending spoiled for me or only seeing the beginning. The film I am talking about is 1996's Primal Fear which stars Richard Gere (Internal Affairs) as hot shot defense attorney Martin Vail who may have bitten off more than he could chew when he chooses a high profile case. You see a former altar boy is accused of murdering a Priest, but the truth is going to take a lot of digging to get to. The film also stars Edward Norton (American History X) as Aaron, Laura Linney (Mystic River) as Janet Venable, John Mahoney (Say Anything...) as Shaughnessy, Alfre Woodard (Star Trek: First Contact) as Shoat,  Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) as Molly, Terry O'Quinn (Young Guns) as Yancy, Andre Braugher (Frequency) as Goodman, Steven Bauer (Scarface) as Pinero, Tony Plana (One Eight Seven) as Martinez, Stanley Anderson (Armageddon) as Rushman, Maura Tierney (ER) as Naomi, Jon Seda (Chicago P.D.) as Alex, and the film was directed by Gregory Hoblit (Hill Street Blues).

If you never have seen this film before then you need to mark this one and put it on your list because it was excellent. The film not only features a masterful performance once again by Richard Gere, but it features a masterful performance from Edward Norton who at this time was proving to be a top notch talent in Hollywood. Richard Gere was masterful in playing the cocky big time lawyer who takes no for an answer, but is a master manipulator when it comes to the courtroom. Edward Norton is the true master in this film because he has all of us believing that he's this innocent, dumb witted, stuttering altar boy who couldn't possibly commit these murders, but his other personality certainly can and that is how he fools absolutely everyone. I loved the cinematography of the film even though they were showing the rougher parts of Chicago, there were still some great shots. The story is solid and the courtroom battles are worth watching. The only thing I wish they could have elaborated on more of was the character of Alex who was the second person on the tape as well as maybe addressing the girl, but I also get why they left it out. Time restraints can be a filmmakers worst nightmare, but then again I never read the book so I don't know if it's addressed there. As I said before, this is one film that you want to put on your list because Linney delivers a great performance in the film as the prosecuting attorney who just wants to light her damn cigarette. So with that being said, I am going to give the film an A for a final grade.