Raising Cain (1992) 91m
After feeling compromised during the production of his flop BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, Brian De Palma went back to his roots and set to work on what was essentially a home movie. This unabashed reworking of his earlier thrillers and horror films was basically a 'Brian De Palma' film for a 'Brian De Palma' audience. It's silly but also one of his more enjoyable outings. John Lithgow, who has played nice guys and villains in other movies (including De Palma films), gets a shot at both this time around: he's Carter Nix, a self-effacing doctor, husband and father, and Cain, his evil twin. Just to round it off, he's also his father, a Norwegian scientist disbarred for doing unethical research on split personality. But wait - does Carter really have a brother or is he just letting a dissociated part of his personality get away with murder?
You can spot the twists coming most of the time in this movie, but De Palma throws in so many that it doesn't seem to matter. It's not as if he's giving you too much time to figure it all out anyway - the story starts moving right from the opening minute and doesn't slow down until his obligatory exposition scene in which a doctor delivers a long explanation to tie up most of the loose ends. RAISING CAIN doesn't waste time with any supporting characters - everyone who appears in this film is an integral part of it, and they are introduced one by one as the tricky storyline unfolds. De Palma keeps the pace of the film from flagging by using not only the flow of new characters but also diverse stylistic trademarks such as dream sequences, flashbacks, red herrings, slow motion sequences, shock appearances of characters into the frame and one of his lengthy one-take tracking shots (but not his usual split-screen effects which would be quite appropriate in this story!). And inevitably, there is a PSYCHO ripoff, although this time it isn't the shower scene (which he'd already done in three other films) but the sinking of a car containing a body.
Many of De Palma's regular viewers objected to RAISING CAIN, considering it lightweight, clichéd and unambitious. I think it's a very approachable film that works both as a valentine to the director's fans and as a user-friendly introduction for audiences unfamiliar with his earlier work. I'd hate to think that the reason for its dismissive reception was only because it was lacking in the nudity, sexism or bloodletting that often (but not always) marred De Palma's previous efforts. But then, De Palma is a director who has managed to annoy as many people as he's won over, so why should this movie be any different? RAISING CAIN's climax is a multiperspective sequence that stands out as the film's highlight even though it lasts less than a minute (when I first saw this in a theater the audience laughed and applauded). Unfortunately, it just doesn't work as well on television. Although it might help if you collected a batch of like-minded friends to form your own 'Brian De Palma' audience.
sburridge@hotmail.com
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