Title: Basic Instinct
Rating: 3 Stars
Lately, I’ve been dipping my toe into neo-noir. In the last week or so, I’ve watched Body Heat and House of Games. I even went old school noir with the John Garfield / Lana Turner The Postman Always Rings Twice. I may or may not be sufficiently inspired to watch the Jack Nicholson / Jessica Lange version.
Basic Instinct was directed by Paul Verhoeven. When this film was made, Verhoeven was in the midst of a series of intense films (Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Showgirls (?!), Starship Troopers, and Hollow Man). Starring Michael Douglas as an out of control detective obsessed with his suspect, he was in the midst of roles of men behaving badly (Fatal Attraction, Wall Street, Basic Instinct, Falling Down, Disclosure, A Perfect Murder).
The story is classic noir. The film opens with a couple (the man a former rock star) having sex. In the midst of the action, the woman (blonde but you never see her face), reaches back, grabs an ice pick, and brutally stabs him to death. Suspicion is immediately focused upon his girlfriend Catherine (Sharon Stone). This suspicion is intensified when the detectives learn that Catherine, a writer, wrote a novel years ago that included an exact description of the crime. Nick (Douglas), the detective, begins a cat and mouse game with Catherine. Nick is trying to determine if she’s truly the killer. Catherine, writing another novel, this time about an out of control detective that once shot some innocent tourists (as Nick once did), is using Nick to gain material.
The tension builds. People die. Nick and Catherine have passionate, almost violent sex. As Nick gets deeper into the case, he becomes even more erratic, to the point where he is suspected of murdering an Internal Affairs detective that is after him.
He is suspended from the force but can’t stop investigating the murder until the fatal denouement.
In terms of the film, just as I did with Body Heat, I first have to give a shout out to the casting agents. Douglas and Stone are perfectly cast. It doesn’t just stop there though. The film is stacked with the best character actors working at this time. George Dzundza is Nick’s world weary partner. Stephen Tobolowsky is a psychiatrist. Wayne Knight is a district attorney. Daniel von Bargen is the Internal Affairs detective. Jeanne Tripplehorn is a psychiatrist / Nick’s ex-girlfriend. Chelcie Ross is the police captain. Some of these names might not be familiar, but they are all omnipresent character actors doing strong work here.
Clearly Verhoeven is aiming for a Hitchcockian vibe here. Arguably, you can picture the Vertigo Jimmy Stewart in the role of Nick and the Rear Window Grace Kelly as Catherine. Verhoeven imitates the camera work of Hitchcock. He even includes a shot pointing down a winding staircase reminiscent of Vertigo. The slasher scenes certainly bring back memories of Psycho. With the whole will they / won’t they and is she guilty / innocent themes running through the film, he’s trying to build up Hitchcockian psychological suspense.
It might have been much more successful if it wasn’t for the screenwriter. This would be Joe Eszterhaus. At the time, he was an incredibly in demand screenwriter. He was paid three million dollars for the screen play. For three million dollars, you apparently do not get subtlety. The violence is gory. The sex is graphic. There is bondage. There is bisexuality. There is what can only be described as barely consensual rape. It’s kind of hard to really have serious psychological suspense when much of your film audience is trying to sneak a peek at Stone’s intimate parts. Sure, Hitchcock had the Hays code to deal with, but even without it, I’m sure that he probably would have thought it best to hold back just a little bit. Here, it’s all on the screen.
I know that this makes me sound old, but I do kind of long for that time when films like this were made with the idea that they could become blockbusters. Even though it had a pretty hard R rating (it initially had an NC-17), it was one of the top grossing films of the year. In today’s world of sequels, comic book films, and comic book sequels, I miss the days when a truly adult film with an original script could be released with the expectation of high grosses.
dorkenstein 