Primal Fear (1996)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Gregory Hoblit

Writers (WGA):

William Diehl (novel)
Steve Shagan (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

3 April 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Sooner or later a man who wears two faces forgets which one is real.

Plot:

An altar boy is accused of murdering a priest, and the truth is buried several layers deep.

Plot Keywords:

Altar Boy | Murder | Bishop | Courtroom | Catholic

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 9 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Richard Gere	...	Martin Vail
Laura Linney	...	Janet Venable
John Mahoney	...	Shaughnessy
Alfre Woodard	...	Shoat
Frances McDormand	...	Molly
Edward Norton	...	Aaron
Terry O'Quinn	...	Yancy
Andre Braugher	...	Goodman
Steven Bauer	...	Pinero
Joe Spano	...	Stenner
Tony Plana	...	Martinez
Stanley Anderson	...	Rushman
Maura Tierney	...	Naomi
Jon Seda	...	Alex
Reg Rogers	...	Connerman

Also Known As:

Zwielicht (Austria) (Germany) [de]
Первобытный страх (Russia) [ru]
A Raíz do Medo (Portugal) [pt]
Alaston pelko (Finland) [fi]
As Duas Faces de Um Crime (Brazil) [pt]
Et spørsmål om skyld (Norway) (TV title) [no]
Fovos enstiktou (Greece) [el]
Ilk korku (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Iskonski strah (Serbia) [sr]
La raiz del miedo (Mexico) [es]
Las dos caras de la verdad (Spain) [es]
Legbelsö félelem (Hungary) [hu]
Lek pierwotny (Poland) [pl]
Les dues cares de la veritat (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Pahud Rishoni (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Peur primale (France) [fr]
Schegge di paura (Italy) [it]
Terreur extrême (Canada: French title) [fr]

MPAA:

Rated R for brief grisly violence, pervasive strong language and a sex scene.

Runtime:

129 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #33986) | Iceland:16 | Canada:A (Ontario) | Philippines:R-18 | Canada:18A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Denmark:16 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:16 (bw) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Australia:MA (re-rating)

Filming Locations:

Ballroom, Park Plaza Hotel - 607 S. Park View Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

2,100 actors auditioned for the role of Aaron Stampler - Matt Damon was one of them.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In one of the first scenes in Martin Vail's office, he uses the word "illegibly" instead of the correct word "allegedly."

Quotes:

[first lines]
Marty: On my first day of law school, my professor says two things. First was; "From this day forward, when your mother tells you she loves you - get a second opinion."
Jack Connerman: [chuckles] And?
Marty: "If you want justice, go to a whorehouse. If you wanna get fucked, go to court."

Movie Connections:

Featured in Primal Fear: The Final Verdict (2009) (V)

Soundtrack:

Chez What

The birth of a star and the resurrection of another

It's not often that viewers get a chance to watch a star being born - that a talented unknown actor's performance that is so spectacular it leads to the A-list in one role is rare: Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, Brad Pitt in Thelma & Louise to name a recent few. But Edward Norton's turn as the "defendant/victim" in Primal Fear is one of those "Wow" moments that leaves the audience salivating for his next performance. In this feature debut, Norton outdistances his role, as does Richard Gere, in a resurrection no less impressive than Norton's star-making turn. Heretofore, Gere has specialized in assorted intelligent professional cad roles. Here, he gets a chance to inhabit one that not only wears his dubious character on his sleeve, but wears it, drives it, drinks it... revels in it. Yeah, sure somewhere there's a heart of gold, but like his client, the layers on top serve him better, and the heart of gold is tarnished. Gere is at his peak, comfortably, cheerfully inhabiting the role.

Laura Linney deserves extra credit for often being the ice-queen foil which propels the two male characters' development; her own character is rather one- dimensional, but she herself squeezes as much dazzle as she can from it. Even though everyone else obviously falls for whatever Gere's Vail purrs into their ears, it's merely enough time for Linney's Janet to get a drag on her ubiquitous cigarette; another step in what will (hopefully) someday be film's love affair with her. Wasted, sadly, are fine character actors like John Mahoney, Steven Bauer, Maura Tierney & Andre Braugher who could have lit up the screen had they not been handed scripts with generic character stereotypes.

See it to watch the ascension of Norton and Gere.