On C List of Movie Reviews

(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)

---

Cape Fear (1991)

Rate: 9
Viewed: 6/06, 2/13, 6/25

6/06: Martin Scorsese's version of Cape Fear is much more thrilling and suspenseful than the original.

All it does is concentrate on two aspects: style and acting. For every wrong in the 1962 version, it's been corrected in the remake. There's an excellent use of manipulation by forcing me to care about Bowden's family.

Martin Scorsese has established himself as an aesthetic filmmaker, a true auteur, because of how he envisions the show to give the audience what it wants. I'm glad he didn't plagiarize much from the original but rather remake it from a new perspective while offering plenty of movie moments.

The performances are uniformly excellent. Robert De Niro is chilling as Max Cady. Juliette Lewis embodies the look of an innocent teenage girl. Nick Nolte does everything that Gregory Peck couldn't do. Jessica Lange is far better than Polly Bergen. Joe Don Baker is the man while Illeana Douglas is supremely effective. A terrific scene is when Robert De Niro and Juliette Lewis are alone in the auditorium. It's why she was rewarded with an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

All in all, every credit goes to Martin Scorsese for transforming a bland movie into a taut thriller for Cape Fear.

2/13: Robert De Niro is at his villainous best in Cape Fear, earning himself a much-deserved Oscar nomination.

He's the reason why I love to revisit the film from time to time. I say this with no disrespect to Robert Mitchum, but Robert De Niro took the evilness of Max Cady to another level. He's so annoying and won't go away. The editing is terrific with tons of style.

All in all, the remake of Cape Fear blows the original out of the water.

6/25: I will always say this: the remake of Cape Fear is superior to the original.

---