Directed by:
Martin ScorseseCinematography:
Freddie FrancisCast:
Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis, Joe Don Baker, Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, Martin Balsam, Illeana Douglas, Fred Dalton Thompson (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
A deranged convict seeks revenge on the attorney who improperly defended him. (official distributor synopsis)
Videos (1)
Reviews (8)
Scorsese is indeed a master artist. He manages to extract the maximum from a simple premise, squeezing every bit of potential out of it. I haven't seen the 1962 original, and I'm not sure if I'll ever be in the mood for a film that's over half a century old, but I can say that I find it hard to believe that the original could surpass the remake. The standout here is Robert De Niro, who delivers an iconic performance as a maniacal lunatic with impressive ease (that slicked-back hairstyle might have added to the believability). Nick Nolte also delivers a strong performance, but De Niro maintains a slight edge and doesn’t let anyone surpass him. The revenge plot is fairly ordinary, but the execution compensates for that. The intense music and the suffocating atmosphere of the impending moments, where you have no idea what the slimy criminal will do next, were striking. De Niro’s emotionless face shots were especially unsettling. The only thing missing from a perfect score is a more developed ending; everything that survived bordered on fantasy. Still, it’s a well-executed film, and I give it 81%.
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That Martin Scorsese knows how to create tension is a well-known fact. What's worse is that Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange here consistently choose weak moments, and everything thus ends up depending on the shoulders of the focused demon Robert De Niro. It is precisely in the shadow of his slow nervousness of the hated lawyer that the final catharsis on the ship seems clichéd and unnecessarily exaggerated.
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Already the opening shot of De Niro's tattoos on a chiseled body gives us a hint that we are going to see something interesting. Scorsese is back on his game and this remake easily surpasses its black and white predecessor. It's worth seeing, if only for the scene where De Niro as a supposedly bohemian teacher seduces Julliete Lewis – what she does is fabulous acting. I'd give it five stars, but the ending is unfortunately stupid, drawn out in the classic Hollywood way.
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Scorsese's hyperactive, hysterical, episodic, and unrepentantly coked-up direction simply can't tighten up stories with fewer characters. Watching not particularly well sequenced scenes where four overacting actors scream wildly at each other can be tolerable, even enjoyable for subjective biopics covering the span of several years when basically all the characters are on drugs (Goodfellas, Casino). It's worse with the story of a middle-class family threatened by a relentless rapist, which takes place over the course of several days. Basically, it's a kind of frantic Schadenfreude filled with comical camera zooms, but despite my unbounded respect for the director, I have to admit that Cape Fear isn't much more than a cutely goofy snack.
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A perfect homage to the genre with exemplary tension building, gripping atmosphere, and a formally stylized approach uncommon for Martin Scorsese, plus some camera tricks. Roboert De Niro is indescribably brilliant, and the ending is simply demonic. Perfection itself.
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