Entertainment
Tense 90s Thriller With A-List Cast Is A Certified Fresh, Career-Defining Classic
By Robert Scucci
| Published
What do you get when you combine the case of a lifetime, a morally dubious murder suspect prone to “losing time” through blackouts, Catholic corruption at the highest level, and a young and eager Edward Norton dominating the screen in his film debut? You get 1996’s Primal Fear, a legal thriller that one could anachronistically call generic after so many cheap imitations tried to cash in on its success. Looking back, it feels familiar, but upon release it made waves thanks to its strong lead and supporting actors, tight screenplay, and gut punch of a twist ending that leaves your jaw on the floor.
If Primal Fear was a blind spot for you in the 90s, I urge you to watch it with fresh eyes and without cynicism. Since its release, we’ve seen countless carbon copies, including 2010’s Stone, which features Edward Norton playing a nearly identical role opposite Robert De Niro in an attempt to recreate a strikingly similar story structure. If you felt like Stone was a solid effort, that’s fine. I did too. Having never seen Primal Fear as an adult until it recently showed up on my queue, I fired it up because I felt like I’d already watched this movie thanks to its many copycats, and I have… dozens of times.
Primal Fear is the OG as far as I’m concerned because it set the tone and pace for every legal thriller that followed. For that alone, it earns its place. For Edward Norton and Richard Gere’s performances, it deserves to be celebrated as the trailblazer that it is.
An Arrogant Lawyer And An Innocent Man
Richard Gere portrays Martin Vail in Primal Fear, a successful yet extremely arrogant defense attorney who often needs to justify his client base to his cohorts. Believing that everybody deserves the “innocent until proven guilty” treatment because sometimes good people get backed into terrible situations, Martin jumps at the chance to represent Edward Norton’s Aaron Stampler, a young man and former choir boy who seems dead to rights.
Aaron was apprehended fleeing the scene covered in blood after Archbishop Rushman was murdered in his bedroom. Any reasonable person would see the situation and the circumstantial evidence and refuse to take the case. Martin, chasing headlines and glory, decides to represent him pro bono because it’s the case of a lifetime.
Prosecutor Janet Venable (Laura Linney), a former colleague and implied romantic interest, pushes for the death penalty. Martin, who is quickly charmed by a soft-spoken, well-mannered Aaron, starts digging in because the kid has no prior record and genuinely seems innocent. Aaron experiences time loss and blackouts under severe stress and claims another man was in the room during the murder. Panicked and blacked out when it happened, he insists he isn’t capable of murder, and Martin is inclined to believe him.
The First Twist Of Many
After consulting Dr. Molly Arrington (Frances McDormand) for a psychiatric evaluation in Primal Fear, Martin has reason to believe Aaron becomes an entirely different, rage-filled person during his blackouts. The running theory is that Aaron’s body committed the crime, but his mind wasn’t present, complicating things in the courtroom.
Operating on his hunch, Martin takes extraordinary measures to convince a jury beyond reasonable doubt that Aaron is an innocent victim caught in a much larger conspiracy involving State Attorney John Shaughnessy (John Mahoney) and his real estate dealings with the Catholic Church in a low-income neighborhood.
With an innocent man hanging in the balance as a potential fall guy, Martin feels it’s his civic duty to see the case through, even though his counsel insists he’s losing the plot as trial progresses.
Predictable In Hindsight, Groundbreaking In The 90s
Looking back 30 years at Primal Fear with full knowledge of the beats we expect today softens its impact, but at the time it took audiences on an emotional roller coaster that cannot be overstated. Each twist and turn as the conspiracy unfolds builds to a climax and resolution that rivals M. Night Shyamalan’s 1999 masterpiece, The Sixth Sense. Even if you feel like you’ve seen it all by now, Edward Norton’s performance is hungry, meticulous, and thoughtful. Richard Gere is perfectly arrogant and cocksure, making Martin one of the scummiest pre Saul Goodman lawyers you still want to root for because in his own twisted way he believes he’s on the right side of the law while taking on such a polarizing case.
Most definitely a product of its time, Primal Fear may seem old hat by today’s standards, but I recommend it to anyone who loves a great legal thriller that isn’t afraid to twist the knife just when you start getting comfortable. As of this writing, you can stream it on Paramount+.
