Cape Fear ’91
Remakes by and large are frowned upon in this day and age, and rightfully so, but when you have the likes of Martin Scorsese taking the reins of this particular one to fruition, and arguably coming up with the single best film of his career, not to mention an excursion outside his comfort zone of gangster flicks and stories set in New York City, the remake stigma pretty much earns a one time pass as it did here, becoming in essence possibly the best suspense thriller ever made and proving Scorsese to be a master of the style on the level of Hitchcock himself, making one wonder why he didn’t dabble in more of these kind of films as his career went on. The original film, which starred Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck (brought back in cameo roles here), was a story about a sexual psychopath convicted of rape due to the testimony of a good-hearted man’s eyewitness testimony whom, when released, relentlessly stalks his accuser and his family with the intention of exacting a horrific revenge. The remake sees Robert DeNiro taking on Mitchum’s role as Max Cady, covered with tattoos and now imbued with a God-given sense of righteousness to his goals, given that here the character of Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte replacing Peck) had actually been CADY’S court appointed defense attorney at his trial, having buried a report on the prior sexual history of Cady’s victim showing her to be promiscuous, because of the fact that he knew Cady to be guilty (having boasted to him in private about his crimes) and that the pictures of the severely beaten girl had led him to in essence screw his client over to ensure that he be put away for what he did, figuring he would get away with it since Cady (at the time) was illiterate. So, while Bowden did what he morally thought was the right thing, he had actually committed a ethical breach so severe that Cady, now released fourteen years later (and fully aware of what he did) has now elevated Bowden’s betrayal in his mind to be a crime of literally Biblical proportions, starting a campaign of harassment, mind games and violent crimes against Bowden and his loved ones, with his endgame seemingly being to brutally rape his wife and daughter before killing them while Bowden is forced to watch, proving his religious mania was merely a front to justify the fact that he is little more than a monstrous sexual predator who sees himself as some kind of divine avenger. And this is the heart of DeNiro’s terrifying, yet charismatic turn as Cady, one of the most dedicatingly evil psychopaths in the history of cinema, earning him a Best Actor Oscar Nomination but yet seeming to always slip through the cracks when people talk about his best performances, when in fact it may very well be the single best role he’s ever had, brilliantly different from anything else he’s ever done when it comes to portraying pure, seductive and utterly twisted depravity. And as great as DeNiro is, one also has to talk about Nolte (often thought of as being among the most rugged of great major movie stars) as Bowden, a guy who being a lawyer has learned to keep his emotions in check, but when faced with an animal like Cady who nonetheless is so smart that he manages to elude any legal (or illegal) means Bowden has at his disposal to get rid of him once and for all, goes from being a calm, almost nerdy type to a man who must unleash the fury within to win this battle once and for all, with the script’s strongest subtext being the clash between the civilized, peaceful elements of humanity versus the savage, unbridled types especially in the way that Cady feels that the years he had suffered in prison due to Bowden has somehow ENTITLED him to have forceful sexual congress with his wife and daughter. Jessica Lange as the emotionally troubled wife is effective enough as we learn that the Bowden’s marriage is certainly a rocky one and Juliette Lewis as the daughter became a star overnight with her sexually curious turn as the teenage daughter whom Cady has made a point of targeting with the intention of seducing her into a (consensual) physical relationship, sweet talking her in such a way that we as viewers are actually disturbed to see that the attraction might be mutual, and Lewis’ utter perfection at playing awkward garnered her an Oscar Nom for Best Supporting Actress. The real joy is watching the movie go on for over 2 hours, yet Scorsese keeps the tension building practically from the opening credits, with not a wasted scene or moment as the story and suspense build, coupled with creative camerawork and editing, an excellent score (recycled and rearranged from the original), and a smart script that manages to cover all the bases as it relates to covering up plot holes and other story flaws while retaining exceptional dialogue and character development. Overall, a film that pretty much bests all others in the genre of pure edge of your seat thrillers, and another classic to notch in the belts of several of its big name participants…
10/10