Fear Not

I recently sat down and watched Cape Fear, Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake of the 1962 suspense thriller (which I've also never seen). I'd heard some good things about this version, particularly about Robert De Niro's performance, and thought it was worth a look.

Having now seen the movie, there's a lot about it I just don't understand. I don't get why it's so widely praised. Hell, I'm not even sure why Scorsese bothered to remake it.

Let's start with that last point. I did a little research and read up on the ways in which this remake's script differs from the original. The two versions aren't altogether different, but they're not altogether similar either. On paper, you can probably see "why remake this?", because the tone is a little darker, the "good guy" not so good, and so forth.

But then Scorsese took that script and proceeded to direct an 1960s movie, for all intents and purposes. The style is so brazen and self-aware, it's not hard to imagine you're actually watching some shot-for-shot remake of a classic film. There's arch camera angles, over-the-top music, strange editing choices (including bizarre cross-fades that use stark primary colors), and weird pacing.

And the actors are all coached to give performances to match this aesthetic. Full of outrageous emotion, heaving sighs, and awkward pauses, every actor seems to be using an acting style already three decades out of date when the film was made -- and even more antiquated today. I sort of expect these histrionics from Jessica Lange, and possible even Nick Nolte. But Juliette Lewis and Robert De Niro both got Oscar nominations for this, and I've frankly never seen either of them be worse in a movie.

It's hard to say that, because the former was tackling very harsh and mature subject matter at a very young age, and the latter -- well, he's Robert Freaking De Niro. And beyond his acting, much was made of his rather extreme physical transformation for this film. But both step brazenly across the line into soap opera territory, prompting unintentional laughter in more than one scene.

So, I have to ask, why "update" a film if, stylistically, you aren't really going to update it at all?

There is an interesting story at the core of this. The dialogue doesn't really do it justice, but it's still not boring to watch. It's just not particularly good either, and I almost started to wonder, "hell, it's been almost another 20 years... anyone up for a re-remake?"

I only give Cape Fear a D+. It was a real disappointment.