# Basic Instinct (1992)

### reviewed by
Heather Picker

                                                    "Basic Instinct"

                                            Reviewed by Heather Picker

Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Written by Joe Eszterhas. Starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone, with George Dzundza and Jeanne Tripplehorn. 1992, 130 min., R (available also in an unrated director's cut), see below for details.

When "Basic Instinct" came out in 1992, audiences either loved it or loathed it. Critics were much the same. Actually, most praised it if only done at face value, for Joe Eszterhas' script is as full of holes as a piece of Swiss cheese. Eszterhas was propelled to stardom, becoming Hollywood's highest paid screenwriter, for this lackluster effort. Yes, the same Eszterhas who will be best remembered for "Showgirls," for which he was unofficially inducted into the screenwriter's hall of infamy and public laughingstock-hood. (Though I don't believe it harmed the size of his paychecks.) There has been speculation that he only turned in a rough draft of the script, but it is so terrible that he doesn't really have a defense. In spite of this severe flaw, the film became a box-office success. Sleek sets and steamy sex aren't enough to make this the seriously suspenseful film it could have been, though it's potential is evident and we are luckily given glimpses of what a good thriller should be.

Detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) and his partner Gus (George Dzundza) are investigating the murder of a "civic" minded ex rock star that was stabbed to death with an ice pick while in the throes of sexual passion. His casual lover of the past year and a half, Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) becomes the main suspect, and with good reason. After the boating death of her parents, she inherited around one hundred-ten million dollars, and now, at the age of thirty, after earning college degrees in both literature and psychology, she is living the good life with girlfriend Roxy (Leilani Sarelle) and writing books under the pseudonym Catherine Woolf. Her last novel is suspiciously exact in its depiction of the ice pick stabbing of a thrill-seeking, aging rocker.

Nick has a shady past. He had a cocaine problem, was an alcoholic, has shot four people, two who were innocent bystanders, and it is suggested that his behavior led to the suicide of his wife. Catherine's sob story is elaborated, but it is still hard to think of her as anything but a brilliant seductress. Both Nick and Catherine are desperately dysfunctional, but Nick can't hide his tendencies the way Catherine can. Given these two main characters, who are hard to feel anything for, it is poetic justice that the murderous (past?) drug user, and all around despicable…wait, that applies to both. Ah, all the more perfect. This is one of the major downfalls of the script, but it is also why it is believable on the surface. It is shoved down our throats that these are tragic and doomed characters, and an underlying tension is provided in the various edits of the film (material was excised for television that places Nick in an even more unfavorable light), by Nick and Catherine to similar degrees. Of course, either way he is constant danger of being seduced by Catherine. (If only he had paid more attention when she told him that her next book was going to be about a police detective who winds up dead.)

The US version was submitted several times to the ratings board to get an R instead of an NC-17, the television edit was prepared by Verhoeven, and many of the scenes were drastically altered, in turn causing the viewer's perception of Nick to possibly be changed. The unrated director's cut was screened in Europe, and is available on laserdisc, video, and DVD in the United States. In addition to the problems with ratings, gay rights activists who thought that the lesbianism and bisexuality was handled irresponsibly picketed "Basic Instinct." I disagree with their qualms.

Roxy was not likable, although it was easy to feel sorry for her. Most people in the movie were unlikable. And there is no disputing that Catherine was cold and calculating and used sex to get whatever she wanted. Does that defame bisexuals? No more than Nick disparages heterosexual men. Did anyone complain about that? He wasn't nearly as smart as Catherine, and it is quite apparent that he is sleeping with her only because he has to do something, and he certainly can't compete with her in the intelligence/mind game departments. The most telling scene in the film, and one illustrating that the film is not homophobic, is the one that angered so many.

Following one of Nick and Catherine's soft-porn, exhausting sex diversions, Nick goes into the bathroom, where he encounters Roxy, who tells him that if he doesn't leave Catherine alone she will kill him. Nick asks Roxy to talk to him "man to man." But the scene is more visually representative of a statement against Nick, or in a broader sense, men, as he is naked and Roxy is clothed, thus putting her in the position of power. And Nick was smug, and thought that Roxy was jealously watching him do something with Catherine that she couldn't. Of course, the tables are turned when it is revealed that Catherine knows about the watching and encourages it. Now it is Roxy's turn to be smug.

Okay, enough of that. Director Paul Verhoeven (Robocop, Total Recall) gets to shoot a lot of nudity and sex. This will attract some, well, probably most viewers. I found myself detached from the movie enough that I saw the sex scenes as ploys to maintain interest. The more liberal critical viewpoint would be that the graphic sex and violence contained in "Basic Instinct" is necessary to understand the story, and, more importantly, character (mainly Catherine) motivation. The famous interrogation sequence, however, is the scene best surmising her (though it can still be considered gratuitous, either reinforcing or downsizing the concept).

Michael Douglas is right for the role of self-assured Nick. "Fatal Attraction" will be compared to this picture, and the parallels are there, but "Basic Instinct" is stylized, unabashed smut, while the former aspired to a bit more. Douglas more than pulls off Nick, who was written in a way that would have proved troublesome for other, less versatile actors. He manages to be edgy, threatening, and disbelieving while at the same time being vulnerable, naïve, and the resulting gullible; all done realistically. Douglas adds the depth that makes one wonder if Nick knows his fate and just doesn't care.

Sharon Stone has the most complex role, at least on paper. She has managed to rise above the material presented and convincingly portrays this diabolical and wounded character. Recently, I saw her interviewed on the program "Inside the Actor's Studio." When asked by host James Lipton if, in her opinion, Catherine ends up killing Nick, she automatically said yes and when prompted to elaborate, said, "He had to die," going on to explain that in the mind of Catherine, it was either or her or him, because someone had to go. And right she is.

The supporting cast makes the predictable story a bit easier to watch. Jeanne Tripplehorn poses an intriguing figure as a police psychologist, past girlfriend (of more than one character) and all around hard to decipher onlooker and potential participant. Dorothy Malone is back in a nice, if brief role as a friend of Catherine's with a murderous history. Wayne Knight ("Jurassic Park" and seen weekly as Officer Don on "Third Rock From the Sun") is amusing as a lawyer, and Leilani Sarelle is a standout as Roxy, the oddly sympathetic character, and George Dzundza seems well cast but has little to do as Nick's ill-fated partner, Gus. (Did any other viewers of "Law & Order" find themselves envisioning the movie as an episode instead? That way, at least, Dzundza would have had a partner that was better suited him, and even if Chris Noth's Detective Mike Logan didn't triumph over Catherine, we would at least have had someone to grieve for.)

Overall, the film comes across as a skin flick with a good cast. Attentive viewers may have noticed the numerous Hitchcock rip-offs (there were too many for them to be considered references or homage), beginning with the opening crane shot. Almost all of the San Francisco shots, most noticeably the ones of the Golden Gate Bridge, looked like they had been lifted straight from "Vertigo." When Catherine's hair is pulled into a bun, she bears a striking resemblance to Kim Novak (in "Vertigo"). Another idea that was stolen is a slight variation on the lengthy talking and lips brushing scene that Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant made history with in "Notorious." Sampling may be artistic licensing in the music world, but in movies it seems more like plagiarism. The film's score, composed by Jerry Goldsmith (LA Confidential) sounds Bernard Hermann-ish. It is the best attempt at imitation in the movie.

"Basic Instinct" is a typical potboiler that fails to hold up under dissection. Verhoeven has done better, nothing extraordinary is expected from or delivered by Eszterhas, but Douglas is dependable as usual. His similarly unsympathetic turn in "A Perfect Murder," and his strong title role in "The American President" have led me to believe that he is one of the most underrated actors currently working. And Stone is nothing short of a revelation. After a decade of admittedly weak work, she made a strong and lasting impression, and has since established herself as a respected actress. (Later winning a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination for Martin Scorsese's hit "Casino," and garnering more critical acclaim for her role in 1998s "The Mighty.")

Notes: Rated R for nudity, sex, violence, and profanity. The unrated version has more explicit scenes of sex and violence.

DVD Details: Widescreen, production notes, theatrical trailer(s). Currently, the DVD is only available as the R-rated theatrical cut. A DVD with the same features as the Special Edition director's cut laserdisc is reportedly in the works.

The Verdict: "Basic Instinct" falls flat. So unless you're into bad scripts that strong performances can't salvage, skip it in favor of "Vertigo." If you're looking for a bravura Stone performance, check out "Casino."

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