Richard Gere Movie:

Editorial Review:
Newcomer Edward Norton became an instant movie star in 1996 with three amazing performances in Primal Fear, The People vs. Larry Flynt, and Everyone Says I Love You. Make that four amazing performances, because in Primal Fear he plays a young man named Aaron Stampler whose personality seems to be divided in two: one tough and cynical, the other shy and fearful. Richard Gere plays Martin Vail, the slick Chicago attorney who defends Aaron on charges of brutally murdering an archbishop who may have sexually molested Aaron and other boys in his parish. The courtroom suspense is nail-biting as the jaded hotshot Vail comes to care about the case and the defendant. This is one of the better legal dramas of recent years, with plenty of juicy twists and turns. Frances McDormand (who was soon to win an Oscar for Fargo) plays a psychiatrist. --Jim Emerson

Primal Fear [Region 2] Reviews:
Couldn't peel my eyes from the screen
2009-07-13 - Primal Fear is an excellent legal thriller movie, with outstanding performances from Richard Gere, Laura Linney, and especially Edward Norton (in his first movie role, and one of his best), who steals almost every scene he appears in.

The excitement goes from start to finish, with many plot twists to keep you in suspense, the biggest of these right at the end of the film, when you least expect it...

If you're a fan of legal/thriller movies (or even if you just like Edward Norton), don't miss out on this one! I would have seen it sooner if i'd known about it.



Shocking Film Brings Out Acting Talents Of All
2009-04-15 - I'll always think of this movie as the one which introduced us to the acting talents of Edward Norton. In other words, this movie made him a star, as the cliché goes.

But Richard Gere should be credited, too, with another fine acting performance. For quite awhile there, Gere acted in one good movie after another and I believe this was one of his best efforts. Sometimes his "pretty boy" image masked the fact that he has been a pretty darned good actor in a number of film.

Not only is the acting superb in here - by everyone - but the story is very involving, too. I remember being riveted to the screen while seeing this in the theater. Some of the scenes are quite shocking, particularly when we discover the real "Aaron Stampler" (Norton). If you wait awhile (at least five years) and see it again, it's still shocking even if you vaguely remember a few things.

The bad side of this - to me, not to most people, is the overuse of the Lord's name in vain in here (mostly by Gere, who is ridiculous in this role in that regard) and the obvious anti-Roman Catholic bias in here (and I'm not Catholic). I also didn't find Laura Linney's character, "Janet Venable" to be entertaining, just annoying. There's something about Linney's smug looks that really turn me off.

Overall, if language or Catholic-bashing doesn't bother you, this is a super film. Even if it does, it's a pretty intense crime movie and certainly entertaining.


One of the best performances by Gere and Norton
2009-03-22 - Drama, suspense, romance, comedy, this film has it all along with a twist that will have you second guessing throughout the whole film. Not forgetting to mention that Gere and Norton are in this film. Two of the most acclimated actors to ever cross Hollywood's path.

Primal Fear
2009-02-08 - I have watched this movie many times and it still captures my complete attention. The chemistry between Richard Gere and Edward Norton is absolutely explosive.

IT WAS ME BOY, IT WAS ME!
2009-02-04 - Primal Fear is my most favorite thriller of all time and we have two wonderfully talented performers, Richard Gere and Edward Norton to thank for that. They really brought these characters to life big time on the screen. Originally they wanted Leonardo DiCaprio for the role of Aaron/Roy Stampler but apparently DiCaprio turned it down and Edward Norton took over the role and I must say he was the best!!! No other actor could have played that role to powerful perfection the way Norton did. Same goes for Richard Gere as big time defense attorney Martin Vail. He was the best for that role too. You could see the chemistry right there between Gere and Norton in that movie. They certainly were "A Great Team" as Roy puts it at the end of the movie. It certainly was him, boy! It certainly was him!!! And that is the first biggest twist of the movie, when we are lead to believe that Aaron has multiple personality disorder and has the Roy side to him that comes to his rescue whenever Aaron feels threatened. The biggest twist shocker is at the end when we find out that there never was an Aaron side to this criminal and that the Roy side of him existed all along and he faked the multiple personality disorder syndrome to get away with the crime by being declared insane. This was an absolute 10 star well done shocker! I own the movie after seeing it back in 1996 and have enjoyed watching it all these years and still look forward to watching it many more years to come. I hope Edward Norton will do another surprising psycho role like his Aaron Stampler character in the future. His stuttering and acting was indeed priceless and au natural in this flick. A highly recommended numero uno thriller.