Primal Fear
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Year Released: 1996
Rating: 2.0
Smug defense lawyer Martin Vail (Richard Gere) eagerly takes on the case of altar boy Aaron (Edward Norton), who is accused of butchering Archbishop Rushman (Stanley Anderson), fully convinced he can clear him of all charges - there to meddle are prosecutor Janet Venable (Laura Linney) and slimy state attorney John Shaughnessy (John Mahoney). Operates as a standard procedural for the most part, with Gere's natural charisma a major blessing, but once it gets to this business about Multiple Personality Disorder and courtroom histrionics and Norton pulling out every acting technique he can think of ... it lost me completely. Hiding in this intentionally sordid and grim affair is a solid performance by a trembling Linney, who, by the conclusion, is the most affected by the goings-on. Three years later, Norton would perfect the split-personality approach in a much more subversive (and timeless) classic....
