Basic Instinct, 1992

Basic Instinct ushered in a new era of acceptance in filmmaking, if only for a little while. Verhoeven would take it to the limit (at the time) with Instinct, and then he would just erase the line with Showgirls...

At the time of its filming, Michael Douglas had already established himself as one of the top five male stars in America. He had a very impressive career to begin with. The China Syndrome, Romancing the Stone, Jewel of the Nile, Fatal Attraction, Wall Street, War of the Roses, Black Rain... he was one of those actors that you weren't quite sure what was going to come next... but he was pretty much (at the time) a gauranteed hit.

I dig his work, most of the time, when he's not trying too hard. I think there were a lot of expectations with this film... Verhoeven was interested in shooting the script, word for word. If you're familiar with his other work, his European work, you'd know his love for sexuality. So, I think that they (the producers) needed a big star to draw in an already prescribed audience.

Because Sharon Stone was pretty much an unknown.

Douglas played his role smart, but in this film he forced the role slightly, playing harder than he'd had to in previous roles. As I said, I think a lot was riding on this one, and people were apt to remind him of that.

His work after Instinct went up a notch, I think. With films like Falling Down, The American President, The Game, Wonder Boys and Traffic, we got to see a steady side of Douglas... some of them in the same niche... a character actor who can play the mid-40's executive type very convincingly.

Though I can say that for every Wonder Boys and Traffic film that Douglas has made, there are some stinkers. Disclosure, A Perfect Murder, One Night at McCool's... whew.

Sharon Stone was doing bit pieces in the 80's. She got parts in films like Police Academy 4, King Solomon's Mines, Above the Law and Action Jackson. It was in 1990 that she got to star with Schwarzenegger in Total Recall, with Verhoeven. From what I've read, Basic Instinct was Verhoeven's revenge for not getting Stone naked in Recall. Well, he definitely got his revenge.

After going through an exhaustive search for someone who would be comfortable with the nudity and sexuality of the film, Stone got the job... counter-balanced with the star power of Douglas... I think this could be catagorized as another example where the main actor got put on the back burner (as in Batman with Nicholson and Keaton), unintentionally. Stone was pure sexuality, and the limits that the film broke was a shock to movie audiences everywhere... especially the gay community who was looking for a prime outlet... or hero.

I have not enjoyed Stone's work since. The only film that I've tollerated her work in was Casino and The Quick and the Dead. Other than those, she's fallen off the wayside.

George Dzundza and Jeanne Tripplehorn round off the cast. They're both veterans of Hollywood and played their parts with convincing nature. It's films like this, when two prime actors are giving us the background, foreground and undercover info that we need, that the other players lose their light. In this film, these two were welcome breaks in between the Stone/Douglas relationship.

The script, for 1992, was daring. I will give it that. It had a neat intrigue, but, if you've ever read any James Ellroy, it reads too familiar. If you remember in LA Confidential, Kevin Spacey's character "Jack"... in the book, he's very similar to Douglas's character. Incredibly similar, all the way down to the tourist shooting.

Joe Estherhas wrote some ok films in the 1980's. Flashdance, Jagged Edge, Betrayed... Basic Instinct was a hyped up story with a lot of sex and blood. But it was very weak when it came to a larger more complex plot. Sure, the plot is involved... but anyone who's watched mysteries, thrillers and the such, would have been able to figure out most of the plot after the first act. The SEX gets in the way.

Esterhas went on to write a large group of terrible films, in a row. But, they were produced. So I guess I wrote an oxymoron... or Esterhas is. Nowhere to Run, Sliver, Showgirls, Jade, Telling Lies in America... I see no discernable talent here, especially in the dialog of the film. The scenes themselves were contructed around the sex... so that the audience wouldn't get bored with Douglas, as the detective, trying to fit the pieces that were in front of him the entire time.

The photography was, of course, incredible. Jan de Bont was, before he became a director, a genius behind the camera... as was Barry Sonnenfeld, who was the primary DP for most of the Coen Brothers films. de Bont has a long history with Verhoeven, the two work well together. He would go on to film a number of successful American films. Cujo, The Jewel of the Nile, Clan of the Cave Bear, Ruthless People, Die Hard, Black Rain, The Hunt for Red October, Flatliners, and Lethal Weapon 3. It was after LW3 that he would go behind the camera as a director. His first project was the very popular money-maker Speed. From there it would be Twister, from Amblin Entertainment and Michael Crichton.

But, he would make the colossul mistake of taking on a sequel... Speed 2: Cruise Control. de Bont really has no talent as a director. There is no discernable style when watching his films, save you get the flashy glimpses of his great photography from films like Die Hard and Black Rain. The Haunting was a terrible, terrible film, and it's no wonder he has yet to get behind the camera again. Instead, he is producing. in 2001 his films Strawberry Fields and Equilibrium will be out. I've heard nothing of these, but that doesn't mean they won't be good. We shall see how his producing abilities rival his directing talents.

One good thing is that Rob Bottin was brought on as the Special Effects guru that he is. There are some great blood shots, some excellent effects with gore in this film, and since the beginning of his career, Bottin has delivered.

All in all, a half suspenseful film with some great sex scenes. It also looks good, thanks to Verhoeven and de Bont. But, it's not a film to study or disect, especially when it comes to writing... unless you're writing soft-core porn films for Skinemax.

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