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"The face of a mad
man...De Niro style." |
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Directed by Martin
Scorsese - Written by
Wesley Strick
Starring Robert De Niro,
Nick Nolte, Jessica
Lange, Juliette Lewis
Distributed by Universal -
1991 - 128 mins - Rated
R |
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Robert De Niro and Scorsese collaborate on a slasher film. Is Hell
cold about now? |
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In the
original "Cape Fear," villain Max Cady was insane. He was a brutal
rapist and criminal who, once released from prison, goes after the
lawyer who caused him to be put there. In the remake of "Cape Fear,"
Max Cady isn't insane...he's completely and totally off his rocker. He
hasn't a single ounce of sanity within his mind. He rambles, rants,
screams, murders, and does things that only a veteran actor like
Robert De Niro can portray. In the original, Cady was the villain: a
criminal hellbent on revenge. In the remake, Cady is the boogeyman: a
Bible quoting, heavily tattooed freak who kills anyone or anything in
his way to extract brutal and vicious revenge. He's not the least bit
realistic. He's evil in it's purest form. De Niro is so over the top,
but so frightening, that he keeps an otherwise bad film afloat. He
deserved his Oscar nomination, but the film didn't deserve to be a
moderate hit.
I normally trust directing decisions by the great Martin Scorsese.
This is Scorsese's worst film (although "Scorsese" and "worst" in the
same sentence is usually an oxymoron). Here though, his frantic camera
movements, bizarre dissolves, and some bad casting choices affect the
film. The major fault lies not on Scorsese, though, but on it's
screenwriter.
I love to see remakes that change the original film so a unique
experience is created, but here, the film becomes so overcooked and
overwritten so fast, that it's unbelievable. The film opens and ends a
pitiful narration by the film's worst performance (more on that
later), and rather than slowly and carefully escalate the violence as
in the original, everything happens too quickly. There's no way to
believe that our heroes are real people when they go to such drastic
measures so early in the story.
The cast is decent for the most part: Nick Nolte is no Gregory Peck,
but he's decent in it. Jessica Lange is forgettable, but capable. Then
there's Juliette Lewis as the daughter. I'm not sure I've seen a worse
performance than the one here. I never once felt that she was real. I
never once accepted her as a character. Watching her interact with
Robert De Nero is embarrassing.
My other complaints: why have Cady kill everyone like this is a cheap
horror film? In the original, Cady never had to go on bloody rampages,
but he was still monstrous. Also, why does the family have to hate
each other? One of the pros of the original was that it was a loving
family that cared for one another. Here, they just fight.
Not worth wasting your money on, but also not worth watching on TV
because they'll censor it. Therefore "Cape Fear" falls into a movie
"no man's land."
And there it will remain. |
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© Written by Jacob Hall |
TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Richard
Propes' Comment
This
remake tends to go for the easy money in
choosing obviously suspenseful situations. This
is ultimately less satisfying than the original.
I agree with much of what Jacob says here, yet I
still find myself enjoying this remake enough to
justify a "B." I also loved DeNiro's performance
here, and, ultimately the film stands on its
own. It's a good film not quite up to the
standards of its original.
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