reviewed by Brian "The Naked Gun" Felts & Benn "Where's the Humanity?" Farrell
"Primal Fear" is about Catholic Archbishop Richard Rushman and his murder by an alter boy named
Aaron Stampler, played by Edward Norton (Red Dragon.) Aaron gets famous Chicago attorney Martin
Vail, played by Richard Gere (Shall We Dance), to represent him for free. Vail's task is to
determine if the most obvious solution to the crime, Stampler, is indeed the murderer. There
are a few other sub-plots but that is the main thrust of the story.
Richard Gere does a great job as slimy lawyer Vail. His greed, ego, and pride, motivate this
character to defend the obviously guilty and the possible innocent. Norton also is quite good
as the stuttering innocent Stampler. His acting is convincing and he is enjoyable to watch.
Here is one problem. From the beginning of the movie, I asked Benn if there was sex involved with
the Catholic Archbishop, and sure enough there was. But, it is not homosexual love, but contributing
to the delinquency to a minor kind of love. That is what ruined the movie. There were other angles
presented that would have allowed for a much more enjoyable movie then sex. The priest must die
because he is a pervert is done way too much.
The other problem is that half way through the movie, we discover that Aaron, may have a split
personality disorder, and it was his evil half, Roy, that did the murder. But since the trial
already started, Vail can't change to the insanity plea, so it is up to Vail to get the court to
declare him insane on their own to get him off. However, I was asking myself the minute the
split personality show up, if it was real or not. Well, guess what? It isn't real, Stampler is
a cold hearted murderer who not only kills the priest but his girlfriend before hand. Stampler
is smart enough to use Vail's ego and everything else to get him off when he should have been
fried. I was upset that it was a big lie, and Aaron was the bad guy. I feel it would have been
way more interesting to let Aaron be the split personality guy, still get convicted and get the
chair, and have the slimy lawyer learn his lesson that way, instead, "Surprise" he is lying.
Because of the ending and the stereotypes I give this a mediocre review. But it could have been
a lot better if the screenwriter would have been original.
Brian - the Naked Gun This court room thriller is fairly strong and well paced, but its plot goes in directions which are closed unusually fast. The plot for "Primal Fear" takes a couple avenues to point guilty fingers at state's attorney Shaughnessy, played by John Mahoney (TV's Frazier), but then he is quickly proved to be not involved in the murder at hand. Simpler conflict arcs are presented like this one and quickly shot down. When the movie focuses on Aaron's mental problems, the picture becomes very interesting and somewhat fun. However, the closing twist was a little too inevitable, almost predictable; an easy way out, which hurt the last thought of the show. I liked the ending personally, but its faults are obvious. The character of Vail is very well written and complete, he has just enough scenes to show he is human, despite being a headline-loving lawyer, with a very believable inner motivation. Gere did just fine as Vail. The picture didn't center on his performance, but he was as strong as the production required. Norton was also very good, but mostly playing the Aaron personality. When he was playing the Roy personality, his performance struck me a little contrived. I read both Will Wheaton and Leonardo DiCaprio both turned the part of Aaron down in casting. However, I think Norton was as perfect as choice as they could've gotten. He was nominated for a Best Support Actor Oscar® that year for this. The cast is also filled with heavy hitting actors like two time Academy Award® nominee Laura Linney (Love Actually) as assistant D.A. prosecutor, Alfre Woodard (Beauty Shop) as the trial's Judge Shoat. Rounding out the ensemble was Andre Braugher (Glory) as Vail's investigator, while classy hottie Maura Tierney (Liar, Liar) played his assistant council. Stanley Anderson (Runaway Jury) plays Archbishop Richard Rushman. "Primal Fear" is one of my favorite directing efforts of Gregory Hoblit (Frequency, Hart's War) for his ability to maintain suspense without milking the picture's material. The screenplay was written by Steve Shagan (Save the Tiger) and Ann Biderman (Copycat), based on a novel by William Diehl, same title. Diehl's novel "Sharky's Machine" was also made into a movie. Overall, I think "Primal Fear" is worth seeing if you're into courtroom thrillers/dramas. It has a couple of faults, but I enjoyed it enough to buy it for $5. Take from that what you will. Benn - Where's the Humanity?
This would have been an excellent movie if the story did not follow some very typical Hollywood
stereotypes. The Catholic priest who likes to help kids enjoy sex, and slime ball lawyers who
get theirs in the end are the two main examples that this movie has that brings it down. Other
than that this is an exciting movie.
***Spoiler below, if you do not want to know the ending, do not continue.***