Primal Fear

Riveting courtroom drama, starring Richard Gere, with occasional flashes of action. New to me faces that impressed are Laura Linney and Edward Norton, both of whom give outstanding performances against the ever reliable Gere, a sometimes underated star actor.

Kept me on the edge of my chair throughout. One of the best of the courtroom genre films that I have seen.

A coherent script, well directed and edited, leaving me guessing to the end, with a really neat twist in the final stage. Excellent.

If you want to see excellent acting in the service of an involving well told story this is a good place to start. Across the board there is not one weak performance. Gere has one of his very best roles as a fame loving attorney who chases a headline case that is more than he bargained for. He and the Laura Linney spar and parry both in and out of court with wonderful brio, she is his equal even if he is loath to admit it and the actress's personal strong persona fits the role perfectly. In a star making performance Edward Norton grabs his part by the throat and runs with it, a brilliant job and one that marked him as a true talent to watch. Each secondary roles is filled with top drawer character actors-Frances McDormand as an understanding therapist, Maura Tierney and Andre Braugher as Gere's assistants and on and on all deliver quality work. Alfre Woodard deserves special mention as the no nonsense slightly cantankerous judge who tipples a little on the side. She takes what could have been a throwaway part and makes her both memorable and humorous. A little overlong you won't notice so good is the acting and once it gets going the story keeps the interest level high.

Into big city Chicago political corruption and moral decay comes an ingeniously deceptive sociopath from nearby backwoods Kentucky who we see at the opening as an altar boy singing in an all boy church choir that's performing for the city's elite at a social fundraiser for charity. Like another Gregory Hoblit film (Fracture), you have to accept a certain amount of implausibilities. Like the murder itself, for instance, around which the film evolves. But also like Fracture, this is another (earlier) and surprisingly good take on lawyers and prosecutors (Richard Gere and Lara Linney) and the elusive perfect crime. As well, is the part played by Edward Norton. He's got that backwoods hardscrabble menace down about as well as anyone since those Georgia hillbillies in Deliverance.

I was convinced that "Primal Fear" would be the type of courtroom drama that Hollywood seems to use to pave the streets with. You know what I mean: Someone gets wrongly accused of some mischief, he can't pay a lawyer, but of course there is one who is really interested in the case and he is prepared to defend the poor guy anyway. The defender finds some wholes in the police investigation or in the statement of the other party and knows to prove the innocence of his client and even get a big indemnity. Well, I was wrong, for once this was a courtroom drama that had a bit more to offer than the usual story line and twists. In fact, this was even a very enjoyable movie.

Even though I'm not really a fan of Richard Gere (I'm not a woman, so no I don't like him because the way he looks, I only look at his acting), I have to admit that this time he really did a very good job as the slick, media-friendly, arrogant lawyer Martin Vail. Still, in my opinion the real star in this movie is Edward Norton. He's really excellent as the altar boy who is accused of murdering a Catholic bishop.

For once the story isn't as predictable as usual. At first the case seems rather clear: an altar boy is running away from the home of the bishop, with blood all over his clothes. No doubt about it you think, he did it, case closed, next movie! But than the first interesting twist in the movie appears: Yes, he was at the murder scene, but he can't remember anything about the grisly murder, because at that exact moment he got a blackout. He's convinced that there was a third person in the room. That third person must have killed the bishop, he's innocent. His lawyer tries to prove the third man theory in the court room, but as the process comes nearer to the end, some new evidence will make everything a lot clearer and more interesting...

As I already said, this movie is more than just worth a watch, thanks to the rather innovative story line and characters. For once, this movie didn't annoy me more than I could ever like it. That's already worth a lot, so I give it a well deserved 8/10.

Although Richard Gere has one of his juiciest roles in Primal Fear, the best performance by far is that of Edward Norton who got the film's only Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a stunning debut picture. It's the kind of debut that any player would like to make and the trick is to keep up a high standard you've already set for yourself. Which Norton to his credit certainly has in his career.

But as to Gere he plays Martin Vail, a top criminal defense attorney who will let everyone know it if they haven't figured it out. It's a tricky part because a guy this arrogant has to maintain some kind of surface likability or else you'd never believe he'd ever win a case in front of a jury. As for movie viewers they must have a rooting interest for him as well. But Gere's definitely a guy who they make lawyer jokes about.

A young altar boy has murdered the archbishop of Chicago, a mush mouth kid with a Kentucky twang played by Edward Norton. He's part of a choir of street kids that the Chicago archdiocese shows off on many an occasion. It was a particularly brutal murder, multiple stabbings and the carving of a cryptic message in the chest of the deceased.

Gere makes no bones about it, he's wanting this case because of the headlines it will bring him. But when F. Lee Bailey or Johnnie Cochran offers to defend you for nothing, you don't ask questions.

Which brings us to Norton who has you might have gathered is not all he seems. He's a street kid and he's used to getting over on people himself. It's one of the darkest characters ever done on screen, maybe a bit too dark for Academy tastes. That might have been the reason that Cuba Gooding beat out Norton for Best Supporting Actor with his much lighter role in Jerry Maguire.

One in this film you will notice are Laura Linney as the Assistant District Attorney who Gere was once involved with and is getting a lot of pressure to bring in a guilty verdict for understandable political reasons. I also liked Alfre Woodard as the very patient judge at Norton's trial and Frances McDormand as the psychiatrist who examines Norton.

If you think you've figured out what's behind Primal Fear, rest assured you haven't from this description. Let's just say everyone gets good and played here.

Which brings to mind the dedication for this review. Gere's attorney character is likable, but arrogant. Back in the day I knew an attorney who was arrogant without any real reason for the arrogance. He'd love to have been Richard Gere, I'm sure he saw himself that way. So to you Ron D'Angelo this review is dedicated to.