Review of Basic Instinct (1992) by Filipeneto — 11 May 2018

This movie revolves around the mysterious murder of a celebrity and the attempt to discover the killer. The main suspect is Catherine Tramell, a fiction writer who wrote a similar crime in a book. But she is intelligent and manipulative, as well as a sexual predator, and will not hesitate to seduce Detective Nick Curran. The film features the memorable interpretations of Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone, in the role that made her famous.

The script is interesting but flawed and far from perfect. In fact, it has several plot holes, as the fact of completely ignoring DNA forensic evidence. The crime, moreover, loses importance throughout the film, as Tramell seduces Curran. In the end, nobody remembers the guy who died first. The hottest scenes are very choreographed, look spectacular and must have been very exciting by the time the film was released. Just remember the famous cross-legged scene, the most famous of the film and one of the rare occasions when an actress's vagina appears in a frontal scene with nothing covering it. Stone looks well in her role, although it was the only film where she shone. Douglas makes a good cop but does not build any erotic chemistry with her.

Its an erotic thriller with ambitions of a police film, whose content grazes pornography in a dangerous way. Much of the erotic scenes were not necessary and were even dispensable, if the film wanted to focus on crime. Stubbornly overrated due to that, it does not have the quality it advertises and promises.