INSTINCT A film review by David N. Butterworth Copyright 1999 David N. Butterworth
** (out of ****)
Subtlety is not one of Jon Turteltaub's strong suits.
In his previous outing, "Phenomenon," the director proved guilty of beating us about the face and neck with heavy-handed metaphors. For his latest film, a psychological thriller with the curiously unmemorable title "Instinct" (perhaps "The Silence of the Gorillas in the Mist" would have been more appropriate), Turteltaub has toned the meaningful allusions down some, but he still doesn't miss the opportunity to close in on his actors the minute their eyes well with tears. This happens not once but twice in "Instinct," and by the second time it's clear that Turteltaub still favors sledgehammer manipulation over nuance.
That's not the only problem with "Instinct." Perhaps its biggest failing is that it's just not very interesting. Whatever potential there was in Daniel Quinn's book remains unrealized by the director, the writer, and the actors--hard as they may try.
Dr. Ethan Powell (the reliable Anthony Hopkins) is an anthropologist who disappears for two years after studying gorillas (courtesy Stan Winston) in the African bush. He surfaces in a Rwandan jail, found guilty of killing two game wardens and injuring three others. Following Powell's transfer to a Florida penitentiary, an ambitious University of Miama psychiatry resident called Theo Caulder (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) takes a crack at evaluating the intriguing primatologist, who hasn't spoken a word in over a year.
Caulder's goal is to determine what turned Powell into a killer, but the deeper he digs into his patient's psyche, the stronger becomes his determination to win the man's freedom.
One of the catches behind Caulder's assignment is that he's required to serve as the staff psychiatrist at the ironically-named Harmony Bay Correctional Facility for the duration of his appraisal. Imagine a sharp-dressed Cuba Gooding, Jr. surrounded by the scum of society and you might anticipate some humor in the situation. The filmmakers, however, choose to milk this situation of its "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" parallels, with the stubborn Caulder fighting to change the maximum security prison's rules by giving the mild-mannered felons a fair shot at privilege against the big gorillas holding all the aces.
All while dealing with Powell, whom he slowly reaches and befriends.
It's hard referring to the film as a thriller since what few thrills there are culminate in a real bonehead of a revelation. In addition, the prison officials are depicted as one-dimensional caricatures--the brutal cell guard, the insensitive warden, etc.--and the inmates are even more clichéd. This subtracts from the drama, and provides an embarrassing backdrop to all the anthropological philosophizing.
Hopkins, however, does a fine job as the troubled "ape man." With his flowing white hair and disheveled appearance, our first sighting of him is a throwback to Sean Connery's character in "The Rock," shuffling, manacled, and badly in need of a barber. Or, come to think of it, Anthony Hopkins' character in "The Mask of Zorro"! Over the years, the 61-year-old Hopkins has fine-tuned his ability to exhibit power and emotional depth simply with his eyes and his softly-spoken delivery. This isn't a performance on a par with, say, Hannibal Lecter, but it's got its fascinating moments. Gooding, Jr. proves a satisfying complement to Hopkins, but Maura Tierney ("Forces of Nature"), who plays Powell's estranged daughter, isn't given much to do.
Except to tear up in close-up, that is.
Rather than dealing with serious psychological or celestial issues like those in "Instinct" and "Phenomenon," Turteltaub might do better by returning to lighter, "While You Were Sleeping"-type fare.
-- David N. Butterworth dnb@dca.net
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