Cape Fear 1991 – (Review)

Martin Scorsese has a magnificent CV that towers above almost all other directors. He is on the wishlist of every major star and has amassed both critical acclaim, industry acknowledgement and box office success over 4 decades and counting. So why, in 1991 with Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange at his disposal, did he opt to make a nasty little bit of sensationalist crap like Cape Fear?

You’d have to ask him, I have no idea why he’d bother.

The film places the afore-mentioned actors in decidedly B grade material, replete with overbearing music, chintzy camera techniques and some of the most overblown characterisation this side of the Hostel films.

Max Cady (De Niro) has more tattoos than the average NBA team and an accent more annoying than Dr Phil’s. He is also crazy. We know this because:

1/ He enjoys the 90s ‘comedy’ crapfest Problem Child. And 2/ He’s crazy.

Cady is released from jail and promptly finds his way to the home town of Sam Bowden (Nolte) and his family, wife Leigh (Lange) and teen daughter Danni (Juliette Lewis) to try to send the entire family nuts. Given that they are already four-fifths fruit loopy already this doesn’t seem a hard task, unless you have to watch it on film that is.

There is no foreshadowing, no build up. He’s just there. Everywhere. If Sam walks down the street Cady is in his car watching, when Leigh is shopping she can’t take a corner without seeing the leering rapist ogling with a crooked grin on his mug. And young Danni can’t even take a class without Cady popping up as her fake teacher.

In his few minutes downtime from menacing the Bowden’s Cady dabbles in a little torture and rape, just to keep his skills up in advance of what must inevitably come.

There is precious little more to the film than that, Cady orbits the family in ever decreasing circles while they opine the ineffectiveness of the laws and ponder other solutions.

We know exactly how it all must end but really by the time the finale kicked in near the two hour mark I couldn’t wait for the credits to roll – like my eyes when Cady embarks upon his extra long road trip clinging to the chassis of the Bowden family car.

Final Rating – 5.5 / 10. Earlier this year I half-panned Scorsese’s film Hugo as being not as good as it was purported to be, let me just say that by comparison to this flaccid remake Hugo is a masterpiece, I’d much rather Scorsese continued on making credible decent, mildly overrated films than dross like this.

About OGR

While I try to throw a joke or two into proceedings when I can all of the opinions presented in my reviews are genuine. I don't expect that all will agree with my thoughts at all times nor would it be any fun if you did, so don't be shy in telling me where you think I went wrong... and hopefully if you think I got it right for once. Don't be shy, half the fun is in the conversation after the movie.
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