Review of Raising Cain (1992) by Peter B — 29 Jul 2008

This film was recommend to me by someone (I don?t remember who) who told me that this was their all time favorite movie. I took a quick look at the synopsis and it seemed interesting enough. John Lithgow plays a guy with severe multiple personality disorder and there?s something about suspense in there. Throw all that together in a flick directed by Brian De Palma and I?m going to give it a shot. The film got some bonus points for dealing with psychology which meant that my fiancee would be interested in it too.

Unfortunately, the movie is pretty bad. First off, the whole thing looks like a made-for-TV movie. The camerawork looks pretty amateurish and the only ?real? actor in the entire thing is Lithgow who actually gives a decent performance as he shuffles from personality to personality (I think there was about 6 in total). The rest of the cast is pretty lackluster and I really couldn?t bring myself to care for any of them.

Add in a triple dream sequence (Lithgow?s wife wakes up from a dream, which turns out to be a dream, which turns out to be another dream. This is confusing as all hell and you have no idea what is really happening). The premise of the film is pretty flimsy based around Lithgow?s multiple personalities stealing babies for his crazy Dad. Everything comes together in a reasonably shot climax and a predictable ?shocker? ending.

The entire film was pretty disappointing. With De Palma involved I was hoping it would be at least interesting, but everything moves incredibly slowly. Even though the entire film clocks in at around 90 minutes, it felt like it was just dragging on and on by the end. The film should only be viewed if you?re a hardcore De Palma or Lithgow fan and even then, with caution.