Cape Fear (1991)

The remake of Cape Fear was perfectly timed. With thirty years between the original starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, and the remake with Nick Nolte and Robert De Niro, an entirely new generation can grow up with their own idea of what this scary classic is all about.The skeleton of the story is the same in both films: a paroled convict seeks revenge on the lawyer who put him behind bars. In the original, it's earie, tense, and creepy for the time. But, since the bad guy is hunky Robert Mitchum, it's a bit of a toss-up as to whether you want to root for the good guy or the bad guy. The remake is infinitely scarier. Put your kids to bed early if you rent this movie. And if there's ever a re-release in the movie theaters, don't do what my mom did and go see a late night showing by yourself. You won't be able to sleep.Nick Nolte, the charming Southern lawyer who loves his family, is easy to root for and wins over the audience in the opening scenes. Robert De Niro is the horrifying bad guy, and director Martin Scorsese takes full advantage of filming him from different scary angles and building unsettling tension during his entrance scene. If this is the first Robert De Niro movie you watch, you will be scared of him for life. In his quest to torment Nick Nolte, he starts up a relationship with Nick's underage daughter, Juliette Lewis. Those scenes are not Lolita; it's not a little taboo and a little sexual tension-this movie is frightening, upsetting, and completely earns its 'R' rating.That being said, now that I've scared the pants off you with my warning, this is a well-made movie, if you think it should have been made at all. Martin Scorsese creates an incredibly scary atmosphere, and Robert De Niro makes The Silence of the Lambs look like Dr. Seuss. This was one of the first Jessica Lange movies I ever saw, and not only does she look beautiful in this movie, but she gives a wonderful performance. I'm not even a mother, but I was moved to tears by her protectiveness of her daughter.I can't in good conscious recommend watching this movie, because of how scary it is. However, if you have your remote control nearby and are prepared and willing to fast-forward the scary scenes, then I can recommend it-but only if you really love someone in the cast or if you like horror movies. Or if you're obsessed with the original and want to see Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, and Martin Balsam thirty years later! To me, those cameos were the best parts.Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to extremely frightening scenes and violence, I wouldn't let my kids watch it. Also, there may or may not be a rape scene.

They should not have bothered. Robert De niro goes over the top chewing the scenery and over acting. His Max Cady while demented and seemingly inhuman isn't the scary menace of the original . Robert Mitchum endowed his Max Cady with a human anger and his Cady was human. and all the more believable. Mitchum gave his Cady an intelligence that shone thru. While Deniro only hints at his Cady's intellect.the movie only bares a passing glance to the original and quickly dissolves into parody. Juliette Lewis portrays Danni as a spoiled angry disrespectful teen and nick nolte portrays Sam as border line mentally challenged. And Jessica Lange comes off the worst as her Leigh comes off as a shrew.Either way by the end which was too over the top I no longer cared what happened. Cape Fear deserves another remake because it shouldn't be remembered for this one and give it to a director that wants to do it and stars that want to actually do it and understand the script first.

To be successful, any remake of an old movie needs to establish an identity of its own. This revamp of "Cape Fear" (1962) achieves this by being a colourful widescreen production in which dramatic camera angles, extreme close-ups and a distinctive style of editing, contribute to a hyped-up sense of drama and danger that prevails throughout the whole movie. Its plot about a violent ex-con who, after being released from prison, decides to take revenge on his defence attorney, follows a very similar course to the original, but instead of being a straightforward story of good versus evil, it becomes slightly more complex because of significant changes that are made to the characters of the lawyer and his family.Saul Bass' opening credits, Bernard Herrman's original 1962 score (reworked by Elmer Bernstein) and some other striking visual techniques, make the introduction to this movie very Hitchcockian and in a nod to the original film, three of its stars, Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck and Martin Balsam, are all featured in significant cameo roles.After having served 14 years in prison, Max Cady (Robert De Niro) travels to New Essex, North Carolina to take revenge on Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte), the public defender who'd represented him on the rape charge which led to his imprisonment. Cady, who was illiterate at the time of the trial, spent his years in prison learning to read (literature, philosophy, law and the bible) and having discovered that Bowden had withheld information at his trial (which could possibly have won him an acquittal), blames his lawyer for his incarceration and the loss of 14 years of his life. He initially harasses Bowden and his family in fairly subtle ways that don't risk him getting into trouble with the police and it soon becomes clear that his bete noire is getting rattled.Bowden, who is now a partner in a private practice, had managed to get Cady's charge reduced from rape to criminal battery but had chosen not to divulge information he had about the victim's promiscuity because after having seen the extent of her injuries, he'd decided that Cady's crime really shouldn't go unpunished. As well as being unprofessional, Bowden is also a serial adulterer whose dysfunctional marriage has made his wife neurotic and caused his 15-year-old daughter to become troubled and insecure. As Cady's behaviour becomes increasingly threatening, Bowden turns to the police, a fellow attorney and a private investigator for help, but all of their efforts on his behalf prove to be futile because of Cady's cleverness at keeping his actions within certain boundaries. When the ex-con eventually goes beyond these limits, things change rapidly and lead to the story's final confrontation between the two men.The decision to make Bowden a flawed individual instead of the paragon of virtue that he was in the original movie, introduces some moral ambiguity into the plot and certain family dynamics which Cady is able to exploit for his own ends. Although these changes add some interesting and enjoyable new elements to the story, they do nothing to justify Cady's brutality or his misguided beliefs.Robert De Niro makes his character an extremely powerful presence throughout the whole movie. As Cady, he's convincingly sinister, diabolically vicious (when he sexually assaults one of Bowden's work colleagues) and incredibly creepy in a memorable scene that he shares with Juliette Lewis who also turns in a fantastic portrayal of Bowden's daughter. Nick Nolte shows all the anxiety, anger and frustration that Bowden feels during his ordeal as well as the overwhelming sense of guilt that haunts him because of the responsibility he feels for the terrifying experiences that his family get put through.Overall, the sheer vitality of this ramped-up remake together with some great acting, makes it worthwhile, riveting and very much, a thriller of its time.

In short, a bad man and convicted rapist (DeNiro) is released from prison after 14 years for a crime he probably did commit although it is open and questionable that he was guilty of that crime. The man who defended him (Nolte) is a criminal lawyer who withheld evidence because he didn't want to see this animal go free but he cheats on his wife and does a number of other questionable acts. So now DeNiro has come back to stalk Nolte and his family for revenge. Quite predictable and few surprises. And somehow, DeNiro's character is just super, super smart, savvy and able to accomplish anything so he can be creepy.Robert DeNiro's horrendous southern accent is horrendous, making what could be a serviceable but predictable thriller into a comedy in every scene he is in. Sometimes you have to question the decisions of directors to force actors to play parts that may not be necessary, such as that of a southern criminal. But if you're going to butcher it so badly that any American will laugh his/her ass off, you're never going to pull off a thriller. As it moves on, it becomes more preposterous and choppy editing and absurd ending that is more worthy of a first time director. It was hard for me not to get a good long laugh at the twisted, overly long ending. If this movie didn't have the cast and DeNiro's name it would probably rate a 3-5.This film is only redeemed by mostly excellent performances by the cast, a great Jessica Lange and a fantastic Juliette Lewis. DeNiro does what he can but that accent is truly cringeworthy and out of place. This is a "nothing to do what's on cable?" movie. Don't expect to be impressed, color by numbers and quite mediocre with a generous 5.