Cape Fear

Taking it back to the old school...way back...well, not that way back...I heard that this was actually a remake...

Cape Fear. That movie with young Bobby De Niro in it. Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis, and Nick Nolte were in it, too. I kept expecting Eddie Murphy to come out and punch Nick Nolte in the face.

I remember a few years ago when the fellas told me to go and watch GLORY in all its glory. Problem is, by the time I saw that movie, I had already seen BRAVEHEART and GLADIATOR. Hard to watch an older war movie now when today's war movies have the benefit of all them special effects and CGI and $hit.

Then, the guys recommended THREE AMIGOS for a plethora of reasons. Again, humor changes through time, so by the time I saw this movie, I didn't think it was that funny. Maybe it was funny back then, but it was definitely not timeless like Eddie Murphy's DELIRIOUS.

In CAPE FEAR, I was expecting much of the same time lag deficiencies. However, to my surprise, this movie was, and still is, the bomb diggy, yo!!

Basically, De Niro plays this ex-con psycho with a f@cked-up accent who finally gets out of prison only to exact revenge on his defense lawyer for "burying" some evidence that could've been used at the time to keep him out of jail. Nolte's the lawyer/father, Lange is the wife/mother, and Lewis is somehow their teenage daughter.

The movie works 'cause De Niro is psycho, clever, smooth, and overly violent. He harasses them throughout the movie and it's disturbingly AWESOME!! You get to watch De Niro in his element. It's similar to Jack Nicholson playing crazy where you start thinking, "Is he really acting or just being himself?"

The only thing that bothered me was the cheesy, spooky soundtrack. You know, those incessant, irritating horns and violins where they keep playing the same thing over and over and over. Sounded like the same musician from THE SHINING.

This movie was made in '91 (I think). Some of the violence and profane dialogue would still be disturbing today. These types of movies are more suspenseful to me because it could really happen. It's the realness factor that brings me to the edge of my seat and nearly causes me to squid luau my shorts.

De Niro was chillingly awesome. Nolte's good at playing mad like in 48 HOURS. Jessica Lange always tries to play creepy sexy. Juliette Lewis, in that sense, succeeds in one-upping her. I swear that girl is the most successful SPED actress in the world. And she went out with Brad Pitt. Juliette Lewis...Angelina Jolie...That doesn't even compute. Maybe she's the top SPED BJer in the world, too.

Seriously, great movie. Classic suspense flick. Older horror movies are usually better than the SAW crap they've been putting out lately. I give this movie two WHITE CHICKS trying to be sexy when they're too old and too young to be doing so even though Robert De Niro is trying to shank-ooof them both...