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Cape Fear (1991)
Martin Scorsese followed up his masterpiece Goodfellas with a blistering and bloody remake of Cape Fear which is best remembered for the bone-chilling, Oscar-nominated performance from Robert De Niro in the lead.
This remake of the 1962 classic finds De Niro playing Max Cady, a man who has just been released from prison after 14 years and goes straight to the lawyer who defended him, Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) who he feels dropped the ball and is responsible for him losing 14 years of his life, and begins blatantly stalking the man, his wife (Jessica Lange), and his 16-year old daughter (Juliette Lewis).
The screenplay has been adapted by the 1962 screenplay by James R. Webb, which was based on a novel by John B.McDonald, which eventually turns out to be a biting indictment on the contemporary justice system, which often seems to be just as protective of criminals, maybe a little too protective, as it is of the victims. The progression of this story aggravates as we watch the very dangerous Max Cady bring nothing but terror to the Bowden family and the more he does, the more the law seems to protect him instead of the Bowdens. There's a point in the story where we actually see Max take Sam Bowden to court so that he can have a restraining order put out on him so that Sam has to stay away from him!
On the other hand, the story is consistently intriguing primarily because the character of Max Cady is no moron. When we are first introduced to the character, Scorsese pans the wall and bookshelf in his jail cell, packed with all kinds of white supremacist posters and many books while we see the heavily-tattooed Cady doing pull-ups. We know this guy has not spent the last 14 year doing pull-ups. He feels that education is not only perhaps a way to a better way of life for himself, but also as his most important tool in exacting the revenge he has obviously been planning on Sam Bowden ever since he got locked up. I love his flawless use of legalese on the boat while he's throwing Sam around like a rag doll.
But the real story here is De Niro, in an absolutely chilling performance that earned him a sixth Oscar nominaton. De Niro has played a lot of creepy characters over the years, but I don't think he has ever made my skin crawl the way he does here. He and Scorsese continue to be an unbeatable writer/director combo, artists whose intuitive understanding of each other is unparalleled.
De Niro gets a strong antagonist in Nick Nolte, who is rock solid as Bowden, bringing a real meat to the character that's not really in the screenplay. Ironically, Nolte was also an Oscar nominee that year, but for a different film. Juliette Lewis also received a supporting actress nomination for her performance as Notle's daughter. Jessica Lange's work in this film has always been overlooked and underrated, but she's great here, especially in that scene on the boat where she's trying to keep Max from raping her daughter. Scorsese also casts three actors from the '62 film, Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, and Martin Balsam in supporting roles, but this is De Niro's show and for fans of the actor, this is appointment viewing.
Martin Scorsese followed up his masterpiece Goodfellas with a blistering and bloody remake of Cape Fear which is best remembered for the bone-chilling, Oscar-nominated performance from Robert De Niro in the lead.
This remake of the 1962 classic finds De Niro playing Max Cady, a man who has just been released from prison after 14 years and goes straight to the lawyer who defended him, Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) who he feels dropped the ball and is responsible for him losing 14 years of his life, and begins blatantly stalking the man, his wife (Jessica Lange), and his 16-year old daughter (Juliette Lewis).
The screenplay has been adapted by the 1962 screenplay by James R. Webb, which was based on a novel by John B.McDonald, which eventually turns out to be a biting indictment on the contemporary justice system, which often seems to be just as protective of criminals, maybe a little too protective, as it is of the victims. The progression of this story aggravates as we watch the very dangerous Max Cady bring nothing but terror to the Bowden family and the more he does, the more the law seems to protect him instead of the Bowdens. There's a point in the story where we actually see Max take Sam Bowden to court so that he can have a restraining order put out on him so that Sam has to stay away from him!
On the other hand, the story is consistently intriguing primarily because the character of Max Cady is no moron. When we are first introduced to the character, Scorsese pans the wall and bookshelf in his jail cell, packed with all kinds of white supremacist posters and many books while we see the heavily-tattooed Cady doing pull-ups. We know this guy has not spent the last 14 year doing pull-ups. He feels that education is not only perhaps a way to a better way of life for himself, but also as his most important tool in exacting the revenge he has obviously been planning on Sam Bowden ever since he got locked up. I love his flawless use of legalese on the boat while he's throwing Sam around like a rag doll.
But the real story here is De Niro, in an absolutely chilling performance that earned him a sixth Oscar nominaton. De Niro has played a lot of creepy characters over the years, but I don't think he has ever made my skin crawl the way he does here. He and Scorsese continue to be an unbeatable writer/director combo, artists whose intuitive understanding of each other is unparalleled.
De Niro gets a strong antagonist in Nick Nolte, who is rock solid as Bowden, bringing a real meat to the character that's not really in the screenplay. Ironically, Nolte was also an Oscar nominee that year, but for a different film. Juliette Lewis also received a supporting actress nomination for her performance as Notle's daughter. Jessica Lange's work in this film has always been overlooked and underrated, but she's great here, especially in that scene on the boat where she's trying to keep Max from raping her daughter. Scorsese also casts three actors from the '62 film, Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, and Martin Balsam in supporting roles, but this is De Niro's show and for fans of the actor, this is appointment viewing.