FINAL ANALYSIS
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1992 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Psychiatrist finds himself involved with the sister of a patient and her gangster husband. Too much of the script follows well-traveled paths for the turns to be much of a surprise. Gere is acceptable as a psychiatrist, though the best acting comes from two smaller roles--a gangster and a detective. Rating: low +1 (-4 to +4).
There is a crime committed about a third of the way into this film. I turned to Evelyn and said, "Now tell me the plot of the rest of the film." To the credit of FINAL ANALYSIS, it was only the plot of the next third of the film, but it was extremely predictable. By the final third of the film interesting things are happening right up to but not including the again predictable climax. Not that FINAL ANALYSIS is not a classy thriller, but far too much of the plot is like that of too many other films with very similar plot twists. Fans of classic thrillers, be warned.
Isaac Barr (played by Richard Gere) is a successful San Francisco psychiatrist often called upon to be an expert witness in legal proceedings. He makes what, having seen THE PRINCE OF TIDES, we might call "the Lowenstein mistake." That is, he has the professional ethics not to get emotionally or sexually involved with his patients, but he is not so careful with their family members. He is intrigued by the strange dreams of his patient Diana Baylor (played by Uma Thurman), but is downright enchanted by Baylor's sister, heather Evans (played by Kim Bassinger). Heather is married to Jimmy Evans, a sadistic and rabid Greek gangster (played by Eric Roberts). Barr would like to rescue Heather from Jimmy the Greek. Then things start moving.
Contrary to some reviews, Gere is perfectly acceptable as a successful psychiatrist. He does not act like Judd Hirsch in ORDINARY PEOPLE, but his manner is not so absurd for a psychiatrist either. Bassinger, on the other hand, us only a mediocrity as an actress--a dressed actress anyway. Perhaps the best acting is by Eric Roberts, whom one can easily believe is meaner than a junkyard dog. Keith David does a great job as an angry police detective.
Some comments should be made about the opening credits. They are in the Saul Bass tradition of setting the tone for the whole film, not just throwing names on the screen. Screen credit goes to Wayne Fitzgerald for the credit sequence. Director Phil Joanou does a competent job with the flawed script. I rate it a low +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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