Review of Basic Instinct (1992) by Jeremy K — 19 Feb 2014

Today we have another film with a woman at the center of the horror; turns out women can be evil too, who knew? Anyway, here comes "Basic Instinct," which stars Michael Douglas as San Francisco police detective Nick Curran investigating the death of a rock star. He ends up wrapped in a relationship with the main murder suspect, the manipulative author Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone). While I will acknowledge that not everyone will like this movie, I will also acknowledge that it's well crafted and it has some standout performances.

The term "loose cannon cop" is really tired, but it best describes Nick in this film. He's a man who once accidentally shot two tourists while high on cocaine and is just now getting his life back together. Then he meets Catherine, and he goes back to drinking, smoking and snapping at his co-workers. Michael Douglas was a big star around this time, actually staring in a lot of movies with dangerous women, such as "Fatal Attraction" and "Disclosure." He does a very good job in this role.

Getting back to the story, Catherine had written a novel about a rock star killed with an ice pick in bed during sex, with his hands tied together with a silk scarf-which matches what just happened. There's also the fact that her parents died in a boating accident when she was younger and that when she was attending UC Berkeley, one of her college counselors was murdered with an ice pick. She also befriends murderers, like a woman named Hazel Dobkins (Dorothy Malone) who murdered her family for no apparent reason, and her lesbian lover Roxanne "Roxy" Hardy (Leilani Sarelle) who we learn killed her brothers as a teenager. Naturally, Nick suspects her, but none of his superiors want to push the case against her after she passes a lie detector test.

Sharon Stone was relatively unknown around this time period, although she had been in "Total Recall" two years prior to this film, which was also directed by Paul Verhoeven and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. This role shot her to superstardom; well, it might have just been one infamous, most-paused shot in movie history that shot her there, but her performance is pretty stand-out. I like watching her toy with everybody; you just get that impression that whatever happens is done with her pulling the strings. Sometimes all you need in a movie like this is someone who enjoys being evil; she really does, in my opinion. I think the best scenes are when Nick and Catherine are playing their little cat-and-mouse game. I like how even when they start their rigorous affair, Nick makes it clear that he still suspects her.

"Basic Instinct" is an interesting case because it's not one that focuses on murder or even on horror, but more on sexuality. It glorifies over its sex scenes; the one worth mentioning, though, doesn't involve Stone. It's a scene between Nick and police psychologist Dr. Beth Garner (Jeane Tripplehorn). They had previously had an affair, and Nick initiates an aggressive encounter at her apartment after they leave from a bar. Douglas and Jeane Tripplehorn were actually just rehearsing the scene, but the cameras were rolling, and Verhoeven liked the performances so much that he kept it in the movie. Anyway, these scenes serve as the general conflict for Nick: at what point does he distinguish between his duties as a police officer and his urges for Catherine?

Anyway, the movie plays out like a typical mystery thriller; there's plenty of back-story between Catherine and Beth, and it's done mostly well until maybe the last half hour where it just gets confusing. And for those who have used the criticisms that the filmmakers are using this movie to say that lesbians or bisexuals are evil and murderous, I say get a clue. It's only saying that about THESE lesbians and bisexuals. No one said all motel owners were murderers after "Psycho," so I don't see what all the fuss is about.

So while I think the movie is very good at being provocative, it's not so good at being smart; that is, it doesn't really show believable character traits. We see that Nick clearly has had problems before the events of the film, so it doesn't bother me that he gets attracted to Catherine. But he just goes on these huge angry outbursts for no real reason; part of me thinks he might be the most unstable character in the movie. Some of the writing is pretty goofy at times; Verhoeven and writer Joe Eszterhas went on to make "Showgirls" a few years later, so I guess it's not that surprising. I also mentioned the ending as problematic, and there's also a typical movie jerk Lieutenant Marty Nilsen (Daniel von Bargen) at Internal Affairs who wants to cause trouble for Nick...for whatever reason, but he gets his comeuppance anyway, so who really cares?

That's about all I really feel like saying about this film. I don't particularly love it, but I can recommend it if you're a fan of this stuff. Like I said, not everyone will get into a story like this or content like this, but it certainly accomplishes what it sets out to do.