# Primal Fear (1996)

### reviewed by
Michael Redman

    Primal Fear
    A Film Review By Michael Redman
    Copyright 1996 By Michael Redman

    *** (out of ****)

Richard Gere can be a commanding actor, but he's not always in great films. Everything comes together here. Gere is a big time Chicago defense attorney who takes on a seemingly unwinable case in hopes of even more publicity. It doesn't go exactly as he expects.

Gere's client, Aaron (Edward Norton), is a shy stuttering Tennessee boy who is accused of brutally murdering and mutilating a Catholic archbishop. The evidence is stacked against him. He was caught running from the scene covered in the bishop's blood. His bloody footprints are all over the murder scene. He has a relationship with the priest.

Gere talks to the boy, believes that he is actually innocent and sets about finding the real killer. Despite the lawyer's proclamations that he doesn't care about the guilt of his clients and that the real thrill is gambling with people's lives, he becomes involved with Aaron and is determined to free him.

Lots of complications and twists. The prosecuting attorney is Gere's former co-worker and lover. They both work each other's motives to their legal advantages and it gets messy. Her boss had major economic dealings with the archbishop that went sour and seems to have crime connections. Aaron gets weirder and weirder as the trial goes on. Gere's case is falling apart and he is faced with about a dozen ethical dilemmas.

Gere is exceptional as the well-dressed reserved counselor, but just once, I wanted to see him kick back and come out of his "suit" persona. Even when he loses it, you don't see very far inside. Norton's Aaron is convincing: he comes across as the backwoods kid misplaced in the big city. The supporting cast does a fine job of holding together the story.

As with most of the effective courtroom dramas, the cinematography is crisp and rich. The story will keep you on the edge of your seat. Nothing is what it seems.

[This appeared in the 4/11/96 "Bloomington Voice", Bloomington, Indiana. Michael Redman can be contacted at redman@bvoice.com]

-- mailto:redman@bvoice.com This week's film review at http://www.bvoice.com/ Film reviews archive at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Michael%20Redman

The review above was posted to the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due to ASCII to HTML conversion.

Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews