Fatal Instinct (1993)

A spoof of the erotic thriller genre in the "Naked Gun" mold, "Fatal Instict" must have been funnier back in 1993. Now, a lot of its references to other movies ("Sleeping With The Enemy", "Cape Fear", "Body Heat"), though still recognizable, have lost much of their topicality. The film is full of "meta" gags which are sometimes clever, sometimes derivative. The cast is certainly game: Armand Assante is perfectly deadpan, and the women (devious Kate Nelligan, sweet Sherilyn Fenn and slinky Sean Young) are terrific. Also, Carl Reiner's direction doesn't over-rush the pacing like most such spoofs, and Richard Gibbs' music score is spot-on. **1/2 out of 4.

FATAL INSTINCT is a side-split-tingly funny spoof of film noir dramas, in the AIRPLANE/NAKED GUN mode that offers affectionate winks at films like FATAL ATTRACTION, BASIC INSTINCT, THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, and CAPE FEAR, offering consistent laughs thanks, in part, to the self- assured direction of comedy icon Carl Reiner. Reiner smartly chose to cast strong actors instead of pure comics whose uncanny ability to play the funny material with completely straight faces is what makes the film so funny. Armand Assante is surprisingly funny as Ned Ravine, a cop and a lawyer who is being cheated on by a scheming wife (Kate Nelligan), being pursued by a sexy client (Sean Young)and being loved from afar by his faithful secretary (Sherilyn Fenn). There are also funny turns from Christopheer McDonald as Nelligan's dim-witted lover, James Remar, in a perfect take off of Max Cady from CAPE FEAR, and Tony Randall as a judge. The gags come fast and furious and most of them work, there's even a very funny cameo by Bob Euker, as a color commentator for a trial. Just sit back, relax, don't think about it too much and there's a lot of fun to be had here.

FATAL INSTINCT is a side-split-tingly funny spoof of film noir dramas, in the AIRPLANE/NAKED GUN mode that offers affectionate winks at films like FATAL ATTRACTION, BASIC INSTINCT, THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, and CAPE FEAR, offering consistent laughs thanks, in part, to the self-assured direction of comedy icon Carl Reiner. Reiner smartly chose to cast strong actors instead of pure comics whose uncanny ability to play the funny material with completely straight faces is what makes the film so funny. Armand Assante is surprisingly funny as Ned Ravine, a cop and a lawyer who is being cheated on by a scheming wife (Kate Nelligan), being pursued by a sexy client (Sean Young)and being loved from afar by his faithful secretary (Sherilyn Fenn). There are also funny turns from Christopheer McDonald as Nelligan's dim-witted lover, James Remar, in a perfect take off of Max Cady from CAPE FEAR, and Tony Randall as a judge. The gags come fast and furious and most of them work, there's even a very funny cameo by Bob Euker, as a color commentator for a trial. Just sit back, relax, don't think about it too much and there's a lot of fun to be had here.

March 11,'06.....Oh! Why did it take so long for me to discover this gem? Only tuned in to view it as NCAA playoff's went to commercial, and then stayed with this "Spoofy Comedy" until the finish..Carl Reiner's directorial skill is only matched by his choices in 'shooting', editing..brilliant..I have been to recent comedies, a few, including Wedding Crashers, which was well done, BUT ,for scene to scene, shot to shot comedy, Fatal Instincts wins, 'high heels' down..Few of the Cameos get credit, but Carl's friends , almost all appear... I wondered where he was going with the wonderful tenor sax player following Lana, and then I hear a trumpet player, Doc himself...If you haven't seen it, SEE IT, and look in 'unsuspecting' places for Doc's trumpet..Brilliant, Thanks to Carl Reiner.....