Review of Cape Fear (1991) by Jen J — 25 Jul 2010

Prison can do things to a person. It can change them. It can turn them into a completely different person. For some, prison is hell. In Martin Scorsese's 'Cape Fear' (a remake of the 1962 film), Max Cady is a man who has just been released from jail and makes it his goal to ruin the life of the lawyer who failed to keep him out. Now, you'd think a character like this would only do such a thing had he been innocent to begin with, but Cady was busted for raping a young girl. He was really nuts, and Robert DeNiro blows up on the screen in his portrayal of the fascinating psychopath. We eventually learn the real point to this movie, when some feel there isn't one. The battle between the lawyer and the psycho is really a battle between moral human law and religious law, made apparent by Cady's persistent reluctance to use the Bible to justify his actions.

The film follows Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte), the lawyer who failed to keep Cady out of jail. When he realizes that his former client is following him, a series of events occurs that pits the lawyer into standing up for what is right. His goal to stop Cady faces many obstacles when he fails to find a way around stopping him without getting put in jail himself. The pyschopath starts to bug his family, and eventually tricks Bowden's daughter (played amazingly by Juliette Lewis) into... err... making out with him. While Cady succeeds into making Bowden's life a living hell, we can finally see the message of the story in it's full colors. Cady's dependence on religious law to justify his psychotic actions shows how evil can always find it's way around the law, to the point that it can corrupt any human being.

I think Scorsese did not get as much attention for this film as he should have, which is disappointing. The biggest factor of this was the time it was released. After the 80's, scary movies had become all about the scares, there were no meaning to them. Sequels were also dying out to the point that no one cared, and remakes fit into that category. Had this movie been released today, or back in the 70's or early 80's, it would've been more appreciated, and since it wasn't it is now one of the most unappreciated movies of all time. If you haven't seen it, see it. If you have, hopefully I talked you into gaining a little more respect for it. Now that you know what 'Cape Fear' is really about, hopefully you can understand why I think this movie showcases one of the greatest battles of all-time.

BONUS: This movie stars Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, who starred as Bowden and Cady (respectively) in the 1962 version, directed by J. Lee Thompson.