"Cape Fear" includes three of my favorite aspects of the film industry: Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, and thrillers as a genre. Naturally, I was bound to like this movie. It's a remake of a 1962 film of the same name, which was in turn based off a novel. I don't know anything about those two, but Scorsese's version was extremely well acted, filmed, etc. It is one of the reasons why the 22 year film partnership between Scorsese and De Niro never should have ended. They did beautiful work together. De Niro plays a rapist, Max Cady who has just been released from prison after 14 years. Sometime in prison he went insane apparently and decides that he wants to stalk and kill his former lawyer, Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) and his wife (Jessica Lange) and daughter (Juliette Lewis). It is revealed that Sam did not do all he could have to get his client off. Robert De Niro is absolutely wonderful in this film. He is such a talented actor, and should really start steering clear of movies with the word "Focker" in them...he is way too talented for that nonsense. He entirely becomes a psychotic rapist, complete with tattoos, unruly hair, and a creepy southern accent. The rest of the cast is great as well, although I'm going to opt not to comment further. "Cape Fear" also benefitted from an incredible score that added so much suspense and intensity to each scene. The score was a rearrangement of the original score for the 1962 film by Bernard Herrmann. I love that man. He did the brilliant scores to "Psycho" (and other Alfred Hitchcock films), "Taxi Driver", "Citizen Kane", and many, more. Without his ear for music and how it compliments a scene I doubt these films would be as lasting, and memorable as they certainly have become. Finally, the film visually is great, with dim lighting, an exciting climax, among many other aspects, all adding to the enjoyment of this film. Just be warned...a girl does get a piece of her cheek bitten off...just a word to the wise.3 1/2 stars out of 4
-Joseph Sbrilli
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