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.

Raising Cain (1992)

Director Brian De Palma is one of the recognizable names of the last forty or so years hitting us with classics like Carlito's Way, Mission: Impossible, The Untouchables, Carrie, but who could forget Scarface as one of his finest. In 1992, De Palma would have another work of his hit the big screen when he released psychological horror classic Raising Cain which starred John Lithgow (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension) as Carter Nix, a seemingly normal child psychologist who is raising his daughter with his lovely and attractive wife Jenny (Lolita Davidovich). Jenny begins to notice that Cater is taking too much of an interest in how their daughter is rai sed. What Jenny doesn't realize is that Carter is harboring a dark secret inside him from his past that is causing him to kidnap children, but why is he doing it? The film also stars Steven Bauer (Scarface) as Jack, Frances Sternhagen (Sex And The City) as Dr. Waldheim, Gregg Henry (Guardians Of The Galaxy) as Lt. Terri, Tom Bower (Out Of The Furnace) as Sgt. Cally, Mel Harris (Wanted: Dead Or Alive) as Sarah, Teri Austin (Knots Landing) as Karen, Gabrielle Carteris (Batman: The Brave And The Bold) as Nan, and Barton Heyman (Let's Scare Jessica To Death) as Mack.

So, I can definitely see where M. Night Shyamalan got his inspiration for the film Split as Carter is someone who deals with multiple personalities like a female figure, a child, a bad boy, and even his father and each one is created to protect and hide the real him. I'm not saying that he ripped him off, but you can see what might have inspired him at some point. He could also read some books about much like Brian De Palma had to as well, but I want to get down to business. What the hell was wrong with the police officers in this film? A doctor comes in claiming she knows Carter Nix because she worked with his dad and tells the cops that she can basically get to the bottom of it as she has some time and a room. They accommodate her only to leave her alone in the room with her with no other supervision. Are you kidding me? No cop would ever go with it let alone leave him in there with no restraints. John Lithgow who I am so used to seeing in comedies was actually brilliant in the film especially when he did the different personalities. I liked the idea of the events that happened in the film, I thought some of them were actually pretty clever, but it could have been written a little better. I don't know how to describe it, but the film has a very 90's feel to it as far as it's look and I kind of miss that kind of cinematography. The film pays homage to several films that De Palma obviously loved like Psycho and the car scene which I thought was great and there's many more. I am going to give the film an B for a final grade.