Disclaimer: like last time, don't read if you don't want this movie to be spoiled for you!
So, the night before I left for Berkeley, my sister and I watched Cape Fear. To be honest, all I had heard about this movie was on VH1's "I Love the '90's!", in which D-list comedians made fun of Juliette Lewis (who is an incredible actress, btw... although The Other Sister is... ehh...) sucking on Robert De Niro's thumb. I know you expect me to say something cliche like, "with that as a precedent, I went into the movie with low expectations! :P " but I'm not dumb enough to let lame comedians influence my movie choices, thanks.
Actually, I was pretty excited. My sister said it was one of the scariest movies she'd ever seen, and saying she's a movie buff is an understatement.
First of all, the movie takes place in Cape Fear, North Carolina (represent), which is, in fact, a real place. More importantly, it took place during the summer, and the feel of a North Carolina summer is one that will stick with you forever - humid, wet, so hot it almost exhausts you, but also really wonderful - so I guess in a way I could feel what was going on. An ex-con (Robert De Niro) is released from prison and seeks revenge on the lawyer (Nick Nolte) who withheld information about his trial that could have helped save him from prison and the lawyer's family (Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis). The ex-con, Max Cady, had been imprisoned because he raped and beat a teenage girl, and the lawyer, Sam Bowden, was assigned by the court to defend Cady. The girl had allegedly been "promiscuous," and apparently in teh olden dayz (aka the '70s and '80s, wow) it could have been the girl's fault if she was promiscuous. Seems like a bag of BS to me. Sam explains his reasoning for not using that evidence to support Cady's case by describing how battered and bruised the girl was, and that Cady had to be punished.
Oy vey! Right off the bat this movie just has an eerie, overbearing feeling. Other horror/suspense/thriller movies are about 99% build up to one particular shocking moment, and it's not that Cape Fear doesn't have moments where you go "AWW SH*T NO!" - I guess what I'm trying to say is that every moment of this movie is significant.
Another thing I really like about this movie is Juliette Lewis's character, Danielle. Whereas scary movies typically depict teenagers (girls in particular) to be really perfect (popular, get along with family, good grades) yet stupid ("opens that door" after the audience screams "DON'T OPEN THAT DOOR!"), Danielle is really complex, and has a pretty believeable side story. Sam and Leigh, his wife/her mom, force Danielle to go to summer school to avoid expulsion from her high school after she was caught smokin' dope. That right there proves that Danielle has some substance. Now, I know "I Love the '90's!" made fun of the "finger-sucking" scene, but I actually thought it was one of the most interesting scenes in any movie I've seen, and I'm really picky/don't like watching movies in general. See, Danielle is supposed to be really afraid of Cady because he wants to torment the family, but she's realistically enamored with him. He poses as her replacement drama teacher at summer school, and he really relates to her in weird ways. There's a long scene of them just talking back and forth, but Juliette Lewis's delicate approach to Danielle makes it really good and really raw.
The final scenes on the Bowdens' houseboat are all amazing, too. Cape Fear (as a cape itself) is aesthetically really weird; it kind of looks like a swampy river. The strong visual background really complemented the scenes. Anyway, because Cady is a freakin' psycho, he clung to the bottom of the Bowdens' Jeep all the way from their home to their houseboat out on the water (which we can assume is a good few hours, so daaamn). Once Sam, Leigh, and Danielle are all out on the water, they think they're safe - until Cady pops out from the bottom of the boat! A fight between the Bowdens and Cady ensues, and eventually Cady drowns.
I would definitely give the movie five bright, golden stars - rush out to your local Hollywood Video/Blockbuster/Netflix to rent it, it's awesome. I'll take this time to welcome Lindsey to BLOGSPOT! WOO! I've been tellin' her to get a blog, because like Amy Adams as "Julie," she "has thoughts!"
Big Brother news in 20 words or less: RIP Chima/Lydia, love Jeff and Jordan, Natalie and Kevin better go next.
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Thanks for the shoutout, homie. I like to think that I have thoughts. Amy Adams and I both have alliteration names, so that's probably a good sign.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to watch Cape Fear. Intelligent horror films are superior to gore, and Cape Fear sounds thoughtful. If that makes sense.
Okay, another good post! I too have heard about Cape Fear on Vh1's "I love the 90's" however the way it was critisized I never gave a thought to watching it. On the other hand I also really enjoy those "D-comedians" and somewhat respect their judgement. But hearing you say it's such a great movie, like Girl Talk, I'll have to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I really enjoy your movie critiquing and would really like to get your opinion on the movie "Last House on the Left". I watched it a few hours ago and thought it was possibly one of the greatest thriller/suspense movie ever! This movie isn't for the faint-of-heart so if you can't handle; blood, violence, rape, and/or gore; this movie ISN'T for you. But if you can handle that stuff, I would love to read what you have to say about it, because like the "D-list comedians of Vh1" I can and do disagree with somethings you say, but I respect and value other things you say soooo much more!!!
Thanks Kadeem!
ReplyDeleteI hate to break it to you, but I really have no desire to see Last House on the Left because, in all honesty, the synopsis makes me pretty uncomfortable. Also, it's a remake of the original movie from 1972, and thus I don't really think it's that relevant to 2009. You should read up on the old one and stuff, there are some pretty interesting articles about it out there.
I will most definitely look into it! I take no offense that you don't want to watch it because it's a pretty intense/disgusting movie! But you read my feedback which is good enough!!
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