RAISING CAIN
A film review by Andrew Hall
Copyright 1992 Andrew Hall
After several years trying his hand at various types of films, Brian De Palma is back in suspense business.
RAISING CAIN, De Palma's first suspense film in several years, opened at theaters last weekend. The film stars John Lithgow as Carter, a crazed psychologist, and Lolita Davidovich (recently the psychologist in BASIC INSTINCT) as his wife. De Palma also wrote the screenplay.
The film is full of suspense, but the first half of the film is muddled. Characters are introduced without much explanation. Who are they? It takes a while to figure that out.
Although we don't see the film through the eyes of any one character, reality in RAISING CAIN is often distorted, perhaps to show the state of the characters. Much of the film is a swirling of dreams, flashbacks, and character delusions. Sometimes (perhaps De Palma's intention), we have trouble figuring out what's real and what's not, even after the fact.
The plot is unpredictable, and there are some great twists (of course, sometimes it's hard to follow). De Palma plays with the audience quite a lot, too; several times, he plants information to make you expect something and then does the opposite or does nothing. For example, I expected the "wrong man" theme but it fizzled out.
De Palma once again pays homage to the Alfred Hitchcock; RAISING CAIN strongly parallels Hitchcock's PSYCHO. Though Carter isn't "mother", his character is similarly disturbed (forgive the vagueness; I'm trying not to spoil it for you). One scene in the film is DIRECTLY lifted from PSYCHO--Hitchcock fans will know it instantly. I was thrilled--I almost cheered when I saw it.
And De Palma continues to use some of his own trademarks. Look for the *long* take in the middle of the film--through several floors of a police station, through elevators, etc--that must have been technically challenging (are you *sure* there wasn't a cut in there somewhere?) I liked the slow-motion climax less (similar to the "baby carriage scene" in THE UNTOUCHABLES)--I think it could have been done better in full motion.
Lithgow is pretty good as Carter--the character has many, many dimensions (you'll see) and Lithgow plays them all well, sometimes comically.
Although the movie started kind of slow and I found several plot holes, the suspense sucked me in once it got moving. Several scenes sent chills up my spine.
There was also a refreshing refrain from excessive on-screen blood and gore; most of the extreme violence takes place off-screen (unlike recent slasher/thrillers like BASIC INSTINCT). Thank you, Mr. De Palma.
The ending is incredible--I loved it! You may not, but I think it was the best ending I've seen in a long time.
If you like straightforward, typical suspense thrillers (UNLAWFUL ENTRY), avoid RAISING CAIN. If you like good suspense films that are a little off-beat, go see RAISING CAIN. It's not a masterpiece, perhaps, but worth seeing.
- Andrew Hall
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