To high priced lawyer Martin Vail (Richard Gere), there are no good or bad people, just income and publicity opportunities. A good lawyer can get a bad client off, a bad lawyer can have a good client convicted.
So when Vail watches on as every TV channel sends itself into a frenzy over the murder of a prominent religious figure which leads to the nearly instantaneous capture of a blood stained choirboy Aaron Stampler (Ed Norton), Vail knows not of guilt nor innocence, only that he will have this case.
The first meeting with Stampler shows Vail that his new client is a soft spoken rube, seemingly fresh faced and guileless, lacking in confidence with a socially debilitating stutter. In other words a perfect visage to show to the world to build uncertainty. How could such a shy young man from the backwoods be a cold blooded murderer?
Leading the prosecution is Janet Venable (Laura Linney), with whom Vail once had a torrid affair, and a confident young woman to whom Vail holds no fear.
As Vail uncovers the truth behind the death of the archbishop, and pieces together some of the events prior to the murder, he requests the professional opinion of noted psychiatrist Molly (Frances McDormand), and receives not so solicited advice from high powered people who had their own dealings with the deceased.
Primal Fear manages to avoid most of the clichés with courtroom films. The usual ‘falling onto a key clue’ or catching the exact second of dialogue that breaks the case are refreshingly absent. In fact in one key scene Vail chews out his investigative team for missing something, in another he drunkenly reveals himself and all of his human weaknesses and indulgences to a reporter – before casually threatening the same reporter with a million lawsuits if he tells a soul.
The interaction between Vail and Veneble isn’t forced, and the scenes with Vail and Stampler form the centrepiece of the film, and will keep you guessing throughout.
Primal Fear is a two hour journey with a two minute pay-off. Whether this destination justifies the trek is up to you, but once the culmination of events is made transparent, any worth in revisiting the film becomes dramatically devalued.
Final Rating – 7.5 / 10. Courtroom thrillers like this have a short shelf life and generally hold no repeat viewing value, but Primal Fear works very well in that first viewing.
