BASIC INSTINCT. Directed by PauI Verhoeven; written by Joe Eszterhas, produced by Alan Marshall for Tri-Star. Starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone. Rated R.
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Basic Instinct is, basically, about one half of a really good mystery/thriller. The premises are intriguing, if somewhat overloaded, and the acting is good.
Nick (Douglas) is a homicide cop with a checkered past and a short fuse. Catherine (Stone) is an incredibly rich writer of bloody stories whose life imitates her art a bit too closely. She becomes the chief suspect in a grisly murder, but, as we can tell from their first meeting, Nick is going to fall hard for her.
Interesting as the story is, it's much too predictable, especially for a whodunit. Besides, the setting up, and the playing out, of the story are both too drawn out and too overheated. (The same criticism applies to the notorious sexual relationship between Nick and Catherine, by the way.)
And none of the characters are likable, in spite of their physical attractiveness, except maybe one or two minor ones. Maybe. The lesbian groups that have been protesting against this movie have a strong case. Characters with that sexual orientation are treated very unsympathetically.
But they aren't the only ones. Women in general do not come off well in Basic Instinct. And the men don't do much better.
Philosophical problems aside, however, I still could have enjoyed the movie if it were a really well-made mystery. And it is, for a while. But it unravels as it gets toward the end, trying too hard for thrills and chills when it should have been tying up the mystery's loose ends. Especially in the last 15 minutes or so, the director loses all control with incredible reaching for a convoluted ending
Lots of movies may be difficult to wrap up successfully, but murder mysteries should be easy. Guilty person is discovered, gets just desserts, and that's that. Basic Instinct tries to be too fancy, when it would have been much better off sticking to the basics.
April 8, 1992