Instinct: people in the mist
In comic books, when you go live with the animals for a couple of years you come back a super-hero; in Instinct, that's half the case: 'Ape-man' Dr. Ethan Powell (silverback Anthony Hopkins) does come back from the Rwandan jungle with 'super' powers---an animal ferocity--but, as he's in the land of men now, society locks him up in a maximum-security prison. Caging the beast is what civilization's all about, after all. Of course, however, behind bars is exactly where we like to see Anthony Hopkins, too, simply on the off-chance that we might get a repeat performance of his Hannibal Lecter role. And we're not wholly disappointed: to a certain extent, there is some repetition going on--some of the quid pro quo we know and need--but it's not so much Silence of the Lambs-derived as it is simply a staple of the psychiatrist (interviewer, etc) / patient dynamic, as it's been hammered out in movies like Dead Man Walking, True Crime, or, getting out of maximum security for a moment, Good Will Hunting and Sixth Sense.
Perhaps most vital to that dynamic, too, is the 'surprise' reversal--that the doctor's really the patient here, that the patient knows more than the doctor, has whatever that doctor's been desperately needing. In Instinct, that doctor is Theo Calder ('Calder' as in caldera, volcanic, intense; Cuba Gooding, Jr.), a young, ambitious psychiatrist who sets himself the task of playing Doolittle to the Ape-man--getting Powell to break his Kong-like silence and talk, talk, talk. It can't be easy, though. Not only does Calder have to feel his way through Powell's various mental defenses, he also has to keep one hand free to fend off the prison bureaucracy, which doesn't really care who gets healed, so long as precious order is maintained. If this were a crime-movie, the warden and co. would be the police department, doing everything in their power to keep the honest detective from solving his case.
As far as set-up goes, all this is fine so far, but the thing with Instinct is that it never really gets past the set-up stage, never really establishes some problem that can be somehow resolved at the end of two hours. Which of course makes it all feel pretty muddled. And yes, Calder's mission to get Powell to talk is likely meant to be that problem, but A) Powell starts talking so soon; and B) as far as problems go, this one feels suspiciously not so much integral to the narrative as integral to the 'movie,' which is to say Calder's mission becomes simply a contrivance to get Powell's story on-screen. It is, however--and in spite of the sappy music--a touching story (Connery's Medicine Man morphing into a latterday Tarzan), but too, if you've ever seen Bambi you know how these idyllic flashbacks have to end. In addition, Instinct does have some nice Kurtz-stuff going on, with Powell leading Calder deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness, but it kind of gets muted by the Free Willy stuff that eventually comes into play (releasing the 'animal' back into the wild, etc). And the high points, as you expect and pay for, are of course everytime Powell goes Ape. Yes, Hannibal Lecter would likely eat Powell's liver with fava beans, but still, and in spite of his initial sideshow attraction, Powell is another good Hopkins performance, if only because he never goes Greystoke--never roars and sniffs the ladies--and thus Instinct, while occasionally muddled, is still watchable. And if the Bambi scene doesn't get to you, check your humanity, you may be running a little low.
©1999 Stephen
(c) 1999 Stephen Graham Jones, http://www.cinemuck.com
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