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Keyser Corleone's Martin Scorsese Week, Review 5
Cape Fear (1991) - Directed by Martin Scorsese
"I always thought that for such a lovely river the name is mystifying: 'Cape Fear.'"
When I first decided to check out Cape Fear, I thought up two opinions on what I knew about it: the plot could go in a variety of interesting directions, and it seemed like Cape Fear would be one of Scorsese's darkest films. I'd have won a prize for getting the second question right, but the first one wasn't always delivered on.
Cape Fear is a remake of a 60's film starring Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck, except the stakes are higher. A convicted rapist (Robert De Niro) is released from prison, and has read a lot of law books while he was in there. He stalks the lawyer who defended him at his trial and failed to keep him out, manipulating the law to get away with his stalking and torturing legally. But it's quite obvious that the lawyer's teenage daughter is in danger of being the stalker's next victim
Cape Fear boasts a well chosen cast that's lead by Nick Nolte playing the lawyer, who's efforts to maintain his sanity are challenged by the law being manipulated by De Niro's demented rapist, forbidding the lawyer from taking drastic actions. As a result, throughout the movie, the lawyer starts to go a little crazy with bloodlust until the ending fight scene where the grand acting of the part makes it obvious. But Robert De Niro plays one of his best characters as this half-hillbilly half-demented rapist who's performance gradually shines brighter until the crazy crap he pulls from his ass in his last moments on screen which shine with darkness so powerfully that Ozzy would kneel before De Niro. And it was a good movie putting the original film's stars Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum in the film with bit parts. I also enjoyed the role of Joe Don Baker, who I know best from the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode, Final Justice.
But the movie isn't without its problems. Scorsese has a bad habit of drawing out scenes on occasion, and Cape Fear has several scenes which go on a few minutes too long. The build up mostly remains scary, but sometimes the chills are watered down in favor of clever dialogue. However, the heartrate beeps on with the sympathy one must feel for the family as they all go through their own experiences with him. So despite the length, the movie will still win fans.
The score is a cover of Bernard Herrmann's score from the 1962 film, and as a result the music is quite epic in approach, but dated. It's a chilling soundtrack on its own, but remaking the score means failing to take into account the changes made to the movie itself. The movie is slow and builds suspense gradually, so these blasting trumpets aren't always fitting.
Cape Fear is an odd kind of movie where the cons can be seen as pros because they don't fit together perfectly, but still work well all alone. It's a fine enough movie to warrant a four-star rating. It's nowhere near one of Scorsese's best movies, but it boasts an incredible performance by De Niro and is in fact worth your time if you're a fan of thrillers.
Cape Fear (1991) - Directed by Martin Scorsese
"I always thought that for such a lovely river the name is mystifying: 'Cape Fear.'"
When I first decided to check out Cape Fear, I thought up two opinions on what I knew about it: the plot could go in a variety of interesting directions, and it seemed like Cape Fear would be one of Scorsese's darkest films. I'd have won a prize for getting the second question right, but the first one wasn't always delivered on.
Cape Fear is a remake of a 60's film starring Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck, except the stakes are higher. A convicted rapist (Robert De Niro) is released from prison, and has read a lot of law books while he was in there. He stalks the lawyer who defended him at his trial and failed to keep him out, manipulating the law to get away with his stalking and torturing legally. But it's quite obvious that the lawyer's teenage daughter is in danger of being the stalker's next victim
Cape Fear boasts a well chosen cast that's lead by Nick Nolte playing the lawyer, who's efforts to maintain his sanity are challenged by the law being manipulated by De Niro's demented rapist, forbidding the lawyer from taking drastic actions. As a result, throughout the movie, the lawyer starts to go a little crazy with bloodlust until the ending fight scene where the grand acting of the part makes it obvious. But Robert De Niro plays one of his best characters as this half-hillbilly half-demented rapist who's performance gradually shines brighter until the crazy crap he pulls from his ass in his last moments on screen which shine with darkness so powerfully that Ozzy would kneel before De Niro. And it was a good movie putting the original film's stars Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum in the film with bit parts. I also enjoyed the role of Joe Don Baker, who I know best from the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode, Final Justice.
But the movie isn't without its problems. Scorsese has a bad habit of drawing out scenes on occasion, and Cape Fear has several scenes which go on a few minutes too long. The build up mostly remains scary, but sometimes the chills are watered down in favor of clever dialogue. However, the heartrate beeps on with the sympathy one must feel for the family as they all go through their own experiences with him. So despite the length, the movie will still win fans.
The score is a cover of Bernard Herrmann's score from the 1962 film, and as a result the music is quite epic in approach, but dated. It's a chilling soundtrack on its own, but remaking the score means failing to take into account the changes made to the movie itself. The movie is slow and builds suspense gradually, so these blasting trumpets aren't always fitting.
Cape Fear is an odd kind of movie where the cons can be seen as pros because they don't fit together perfectly, but still work well all alone. It's a fine enough movie to warrant a four-star rating. It's nowhere near one of Scorsese's best movies, but it boasts an incredible performance by De Niro and is in fact worth your time if you're a fan of thrillers.