"Oh, I'm always scared going in. You never know what's going to happen. Every time I get before a camera, I get nervous. No question about it." - Richard Gere

"Primal Fear" is supposed to be about masks and deceit. It's supposed to be about the two faces we wear; our real face and the face we show the world. In the film, based on a book by William Diehl, Richard Gere plays a lawyer struggling with his two faces. He's a "hot shot lawyer" who finally has a client whom he believes is innocent. Gere's Martain Vail has spent his career representing the smarmy types, mafioso gangsters and such. (Here, in the film, we are supposed to believe that they too have their two sides). But the film also uses the character of Aaron Stampler, the young alter boy who is a suspect in the murder of an archbishop, to discuss the two sides of a man's nature. This is even alluded to in a quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter." In the long run, however, these characters have only the two faces the scriptwriters give them: The one that shows their innocence and the one that shows their guilt. We are never surprised when one face turns into another.

After a depiction of a crime at it's beginning, "Primal Fear" soon falls into typical courtroom drama antics, thanks mainly to the lackluster script by Steve Shagan and Ann Biderman, which is highlighted by Director Gregory Hoblit's appearance here. As one of the men who helmed TV's "L.A. Law" (he directed the pilot episode among others), Hoblit can't seem to stretch out of his TV mentality. It doesn't help that Diehl's original manuscript is little more than a Made-for-TV movie all dressed up in psychological fluff. What we see here has been done many times before with much more interesting results.

Gere, for what it's worth, does okay here. We like his character and Gere struggles to make him whole. But his source script is so weak that Gere is usually left grasping for straws. His romantic past and flirtations with Laura Linney are so stilted, mainly due to Linney's lackluster approach, that we care nothing about them. When the film's script completely abandons her character's intelligence at it's finale, we understand why she gives so little here. Worse yet are Gere's assistants who are allowed to add absolutely nothing to the film. All of these sideline stories mean nothing to the film. Why so much time is wasted on them is anybody's guess.

The truly interesting aspect of the film, as with many lawyer films, is the client. Played by young Edward Norton (my nominee for worst stage name of the 90's), the alter boy Stampler is both likable and pathetic. We grow to trust him and feel sorry for him, much like Vail does, even though we know we will regret it. Norton is so perfect as the stuttering, subdued Stampler that it makes much of the film worth watching. Frances McDormand, who was enjoying great acclaim for her appearance in "Fargo" when this film was released, gets to spend most of her screen time with Norton and one wishes the film was based solely on their relationship. There just isn't enough time to fully explore what needs to be presented with the duo. Instead, like Gere and the others, both Norton and McDormand are eventually left out to dry by the script's trite contrivances and pitiful plot twists. In the end, like Gere, we feel cheated by the story we've witnessed.

An odd aside about the film is it's unusual similarity to the OJ Simpson trial. Here we have a male defender, and a female prosecutor. We also have an assistant, although in this case it's one of Gere's teammates, played by a black male who bares a remarkable resemblance to Christopher Darden. The media's attention to the case and the citizenry's interest in it are also depicted. For the most part, however, one must assume that these are minor coincidences and not real attempts at making a statement because the film does nothing with them.

"Primal Fear" isn't a horrible film, it just typical. We want a more twisted ending here. We don't expect what comes to pass but we aren't all that surprised by it either. This film wants to blow our collective minds and, instead, simply bugs us. We expect more from a feature film. And because we are so legally savvy as citizens in the 90's, we deserve more! Norton's eventual outcome is so pathetic, and handled so badly by the actor, that we can't believe we've waited over 2 hours for it. After twisting ever so slightly for such a long time, "Primal Fear" simply loses it's grip.

Note:

Also with Alfre Woodard and Joe Spano.

Director of Photography is Michael Chapman. Music by James Newton Howard.

Review written in 1996

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