The Dominator reviews
Primal Fear
Distributed by
Pioneer LDCE
Producer:
(Virtuosity )
Screenplay:
Steve Shagan and Ann Biderman
Music:
Cast:
Martin Vail : Richard Gere (Pretty Woman, Internal Affairs, An Officer And A Gentleman )
Janet Venable : Laura Linney (Absolute Power, Congo, Tales of the City (TV) )
John Shaughnessy : John Mahoney (She's The One, In The Line of Fire, Fraiser (TV) )
Judge Shoat : Alfre Woodard (Grand Canyon, Passion Fish, Gulliver's Travels )
Molly : Frances McDormand (Fargo, Blood Simple, Lone Star, Short Cuts )
Aaron : Edward Norton (The People Vs. Larry Flynt )
Goodman : Andre Braugher (Class of 61, The Tuskagee Airmen )
Archibishop Rushman : Stanley Anderson
Primal Fear Richard Gere ) puts himself forward as the man to defend him, albeit
for the main reason that doing so will put his name in the headlines and thus
further his career due to the massive press coverage that the case is getting
as he spots a news broadcast in a bar showing Aaron escape on the run from the
police across train tracks, almost getting killed in the process.
On the opposite side of the fence is prosecuting attorney Jane Venable, Vail's
ex-lover. As the case unfolds, Vail finds himself uncovering an immense amount
of corruption, resulting in a trial that will test his skill, judgement and
his win-at-any-cost attitude.
Richard Gere turns out his usual good performance as the stressed-out lawyer
trying to defend what first appears to be the indefensible. Laura Linney has
a fair bit more to get stuck into here than she did in the average action flick,
Congo , but you don't really get a sense of chemistry between them as
they square up against each other in the courtroom scenes, save for the
occasional mentions of this outside of that environment. They could just as
easily have been out of favour with each other for any other reason.
For the most part, the rest of the cast give adequate performances to tell the
story, the cast including Frances McDormand from last year's
critically-acclaimed Fargo . However, the real revelation in this film,
and the best reason to make a point of seeing it, is the acting from the
accused altar boy, played by Edward Norton , also seen in this year's biopic,
The People Vs. Larry Flynt , opposite Woody Harrelson and on the
other side of the law starring as Larry Flynt's lawyer.
Picture quality is very good, although some scenes do have a slightly washed-out
appearance with some speckling. Sound quality is also very good, but mainly
functional. 26 chapters cover the length of the film well, and while there
are no extras, the disc is almost filled to capacity with 61.49 on side one
and 64.00 on side two.
Overall, this is a competent courtroom thriller which does have some slow
moments, but with the best scenes reserved for those between Gere and Norton.
Film: 3/5
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1997.
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