Cape Fear (1991 film)

Cape Fear
Theatrical release poster by John Alvin
Directed by	Martin Scorsese
Screenplay by	Wesley Strick
Based on	Cape Fear by James R. Webb The Executioners by John D. MacDonald
Produced by	Barbara De Fina
Starring	Robert De Niro Nick Nolte Jessica Lange Joe Don Baker Robert Mitchum Juliette Lewis Gregory Peck
Cinematography	Freddie Francis
Edited by	Thelma Schoonmaker
Music by	Bernard Herrmann Elmer Bernstein (adaptation)
Production companies	Amblin Entertainment Cappa Films Tribeca Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	November 15, 1991 (1991-11-15)
Running time	128 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$35 million
Box office	$182.3 million

Cape Fear is a 1991 American psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese as a remake of the 1962 film of the same name which was based on John D. MacDonald's 1957 novel, The Executioners. It stars Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Joe Don Baker, Juliette Lewis, Robert Mitchum, and Gregory Peck in his final theatrical film role. In addition to Mitchum and Peck, Martin Balsam cameos in the remake; all three starred in the original film.^[2]

The film tells the story of a convicted rapist, who, mostly by using his newfound knowledge of the law and its numerous loopholes, seeks vengeance against a former public defender, whom he blames for his 14-year imprisonment because of the purposefully faulty defense tactics used during his trial.

Cape Fear marks the seventh collaboration between Scorsese and De Niro. The film was a commercial success and garnered positive reviews, receiving Oscar and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor (De Niro) and Best Supporting Actress (Juliette Lewis).

Plot[]

Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) is a lawyer living in North Carolina with his wife Leigh (Jessica Lange) and teenage daughter Danielle (Juliette Lewis). Max Cady (Robert De Niro), a former client of his, is released from prison after 14 years. Cady was tried for rape and battery of a 16-year-old girl and, appalled by the attack, Sam buried evidence of the victim's promiscuity, which might have lightened Cady's sentence or even secured his acquittal.

Bowden believes that Cady, who was illiterate at the time of his conviction, remains unaware of his purposefully botched defense. Unbeknownst to him, however, his former client is a naturally intelligent and single-minded psychopath; he learned how to read and studied law in prison, and even unsuccessfully appealed his own conviction several times. He tracks Sam down and begins to terrorize the Bowden family; he lurks near the property and the family dog is mysteriously killed. Sam attempts to have Cady arrested but the police have no evidence of a crime. After intentionally crossing paths with her in a bar, Cady rapes and beats County Courthouse clerk Lori nearly to death, who is in love with Sam. Despite Sam's advice, she refuses to press charges out of fear that their ongoing platonic flirtation become public, as well as unwillingness to be cross-examined and humiliated by her own colleagues. Sam hires a private investigator, Kersek, to follow Cady.

Cady approaches Danielle by impersonating her new drama teacher and feigning an unorthodox interest in her teenage angst. He lures her to the school theater, shares a joint with her, manipulates her libido and attraction to him and kisses her. Her parents find the joint in her schoolbook, and Danielle's coyness about the extent of Cady's seduction drives Sam to the point of desperation. He then agrees to Kersek's plan, which he had dismissed earlier, to have Cady beaten up. He also gives Cady a final warning, which Cady secretly tapes with a hidden recorder. Kersek's three hired thugs accost and beat Cady as Sam watches from afar, but Cady turns the tide on his attackers and viciously beats them instead. Cady then uses the recording of Sam's threat and an exaggerated display of his own injuries to file for a restraining order against Sam. Lee Heller ( Cady’s lawyer) also petitions the ABA Ethics Committee for Sam's disbarment, thereby triggering a two-day emergency meeting in Raleigh.

Kersek anticipates Cady's intention to enter the Bowden house while Sam is in Raleigh; the family fakes Sam's departure and hides in the house, hoping that Cady will break in, so that he can be shot in self-defense. Cady kills the Bowden's housekeeper Graciela and dons her clothing before murdering Kersek by garroting him with a piano wire and shooting him with his own pistol. Horrified after discovering the bodies, Sam, Leigh, and Danielle flee to their houseboat docked upstate along Cape Fear River.

Cady, who has followed the family, attacks Sam and prepares to rape Leigh and Danielle while making Sam watch. Danielle sprays Cady with lighter fluid as he lights a cigar, engulfing him in flames and causing him to jump off the boat. However, Cady clings to a rope and pulls himself back on board. As the boat is rocked by a violent thunderstorm, a badly burned and deranged Cady confronts Sam, putting him on a mock trial for his deliberate negligence 14 years ago. Despite Sam's insistence that Cady bragged about beating two prior rape charges and that his crime was too heinous for the promiscuity report to be taken into account, Cady berates him for failing to do his duty as a lawyer.

The storm eventually knocks Cady off his feet, allowing Sam to gain the upper hand once the women jump off the boat and make it to shore. Sam uses Cady's handcuffs to shackle Cady to the boat. When the boat hits a rock and is destroyed, the fight continues on shore, but a raging tide carries Cady away and he drowns speaking in tongues and singing the hymn "On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand". Sam washes the blood from his hands before he rejoins Leigh and Danielle, who realizes that things will never be the same again for them.

Cast[]

Production[]

The film was adapted by Wesley Strick from the original screenplay by James R. Webb, which was an adaptation from the novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald.

It was originally developed by Steven Spielberg, who eventually decided it was too violent and traded it to Scorsese to get back Schindler's List, which Scorsese had decided not to make. Spielberg stayed on as a producer, through his Amblin Entertainment, but chose not to be credited personally on the finished film.^[3]

Despite having worked with Nolte in New York Stories (1989), Scorsese did not have him in mind to portray Sam Bowden and wanted Harrison Ford to play the part instead. Ford, however, agreed to do the film only if he was going to portray Max Cady. Nolte, who was interested in portraying Bowden, managed to convince Scorsese to cast him for the part. In addition, Drew Barrymore and Reese Witherspoon both auditioned for the part of Danielle Bowden and Spielberg reportedly wanted Bill Murray to portray Cady.^[4]

The 6'1" Nick Nolte is taller than the 5'9" Robert De Niro, but for the movie, Nolte lost weight and De Niro developed muscles until he appeared to be the stronger man. De Niro also paid a doctor $5,000 to grind down his teeth for the role to give the character a more menacing look, later paying $20,000 to have his teeth restored after the film production was over.^[5]

The work of Alfred Hitchcock was also influential on the style of Cape Fear. As with the 1962 film version, where director J. Lee Thompson specifically acknowledged Hitchcock's influence, strove to use Hitchcock's style, and had Bernard Herrmann write the score, Scorsese made his version in the Hitchcock manner, especially through the use of unusual camera angles, lighting, and editing techniques. Additionally, Scorsese's version has opening credits designed by regular Hitchcock collaborator Saul Bass, and the link to Hitchcock is cemented by the reuse of the original score by Herrmann, albeit reworked by Elmer Bernstein.^[6] Portions of Bass's title sequences are reused from the unreleased ending to his film Phase IV.

Reception[]

Box office[]

The film was a box-office success, making $182,291,969 worldwide^[7] on a $35-million budget.

Critical response[]

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 73% based on 52 reviews, with an average score of 7/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Smart and stylish, Cape Fear is a gleefully mainstream shocker from Martin Scorsese, with a terrifying Robert De Niro performance."^[8] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[9] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.^[10]

Roger Ebert gave the film three stars, commenting:^[11]

Cape Fear is impressive moviemaking, showing Scorsese as a master of a traditional Hollywood genre who is able to mold it to his own themes and obsessions. But as I look at this $35 million movie with big stars, special effects and production values, I wonder whether it represents a good omen from the finest director now at work.

Awards and honors[]

In popular culture[]

The film was parodied in the 1993 Simpsons episode "Cape Feare", with Sideshow Bob in the role of Cady. They also pay homage to another Robert Mitchum film The Night of the Hunter in which Sideshow Bob's knuckles (scaled down for a cartoon character with one fewer finger on each hand) say "Luv" (Love) and "Hāt" (Hate, with the diacritical mark providing the long vowel). This parody was itself the basis for Anne Washburn’s play Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, which imagines post-apocalyptic theatre troupes attempting to recreate the episode, and by extension the two films and the novel.

In 1995, professional wrestler Dan Spivey made his WWF (now WWE) debut under the ring name, Waylon Mercy, with his gimmick based on De Niro's portrayal of Max Cady. However, he only lasted a few months with the company, as Spivey was forced into retirement due to a buildup of previous injuries, and the character was abandoned. In 2013, WWE debuted Bray Wyatt, another character partly based on not just De Niro's portrayal, but also Waylon Mercy.^[13]

In the Seinfeld episode "The Red Dot", Elaine says "It's Cape Fear!" as her boyfriend rampages through her office to get revenge on Jerry for making him lose his job. In another Seinfeld episode, “The Bookstore”, after Jerry rats on Uncle Leo for shoplifting in a bookstore, Jerry has a nightmare which parodies the "Love" and "Hate" prison scene from Cape Fear.^[14]

In the Rick and Morty episode "Ricksy Business", Lucy, the deranged maid who tries to rape Jerry, is shown clinging to the underside chassis of their car as they drive home, maniacally shouting "Ha, I'm doing like in Cape Fear!"

In the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode “Mac and Charlie Die part 1”, a scene in which Luther, Mac’s father, is released from prison is based on the scene in which Robert De Niro's character is released.

In the South Park episode "Pre-School" Trent Boyett's character and his quest for revenge and the weight lifting scenes are both references to Cape Fear.

The film was parodied as Cape Munster in the premiere episode of The Ben Stiller Show, with Ben Stiller playing an adult Eddie Munster.^[15][16][17]

Cultural references[]

• In the film, Danielle is pictured reading Thomas Wolfe's 1929 coming-of-age novel, Look Homeward, Angel.
• Kersek tells Sam he saw Cady at the public library reading Friedrich Nietzsche's classic philosophical novel Thus Spake Zarathustra.
• Pretending to be Danielle's new drama teacher, Cady calls Danielle on the phone. After a short conversation, he plays Aretha Franklin's single "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man".
• Alone with Danielle in the school's theater, Cady alludes to Henry Miller's trilogy The Rosy Crucifixion, which contains the books Plexus, Nexus, and Sexus. Danielle says she read parts of Tropic of Cancer.
• Cady tells Sam he will teach him "the meaning of commitment". He tells Sam to "check out the Bible, counselor. Look between Esther and Psalms." After staging his departure at the airport, Sam returns home covertly with Leigh and Danielle, and later discovers Cady was referring to the Book of Job.
• Cady alludes to Dante's Inferno, saying he is Virgil guiding Sam through the Ninth Circle of Hell, the last and lowest circle, reserved for traitors.

Cady quotes a translation of the 17th century priest, physician, mystic, and poet, Angelus Silesius, saying:

I am like God, and God like me.
I am as Large as God, He is as small as I.
He cannot above me, nor I beneath him, be.

However, the context of this line in the film does not match the context intended by Silesius. Cady uses it to emphasize dramatically to his intended victims the power of his individual will and his god-like ability to exact a violent vengeance. The context intended by Silesius was of man's realization through his spiritual potential for perfection that he was of the same substance with God in the sense of the mystical divine union or theosis.

See also[]

• List of films featuring home invasions
• List of 1991 box office number-one films in the United States
• Night and the City, another remake also starring De Niro and Lange

References[]

Further reading[]

• Thain, Gerald J. 2001. "Cape Fear, Two Versions and Two Visions Separated by Thirty Years." Law and Film: Representing Law in Movies, edited by S. Machura and P. Robson. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-631-22816-0.

External links[]

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