Primal Fear (film)
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| Primal Fear | |
|---|---|
 Primal Fear film poster |
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| Directed by | Gregory Hoblit |
| Produced by | Howard W. Koch, Jr. |
| Written by | William Diehl (novel) Steve Shagan Ann Biderman |
| Starring | Richard Gere Laura Linney Edward Norton Andre Braugher John Mahoney Alfre Woodard Frances McDormand Steven Bauer Terry O'Quinn |
| Cinematography | Michael Chapman |
| Editing by | David Rosenbloom |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | April 3, 1996 |
| Running time | 129 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30,000,000 (estimated) |
| IMDb profile | |
Primal Fear is a 1996 motion picture which tells a story of a defense attorney (Richard Gere) who defends an altar boy (Edward Norton) charged with the murder of a Catholic archbishop. The movie is an adaptation of William Diehl's novel. Norton was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his career-launching role.
The film also stars Laura Linney, John Mahoney, Alfre Woodard, and Frances McDormand. It was directed by Gregory Hoblit.
[edit] Plot
- Tagline: Sooner or later a man who wears two faces forgets which one is real.
Martin Vail (Gere) is Chicago's most famous defense attorney, known for getting acquittals for the most unpopular defendants — and so jumps at the chance to represent Aaron Stampler (Norton), a young altar boy accused of murdering the city's sainted archbishop. At first only in it for the publicity, Vail actually begins to care about his emotionally damaged client when he uncovers some of the archbishop's dirty secrets, involving sexual abuse and worse.
Vail finds himself facing a much more difficult case. While confronting his client and saying that he is lying to him, Aaron breaks down, puts his head against the wall, and a new persona who calls himself "Roy" takes his place. Roy, unlike the meek Aaron, is psychotic and violent. He confesses to the murder of the archbishop and throws Vail against the wall, injuring his head. After the incident is over, Aaron has no recollection of it. The doctor examining Aaron believes Vail has a case: textbook "multiple personality disorder." However, as they are already in the middle of the trial, they cannot change the plea to "not guilty by reason of insanity."
Nonetheless, Vail and his defense team try their best to bring it to light. In one of the crucial trial scenes near the end of the film, Aaron is put on the stand and questioned by the prosecutor. After being harshly questioned, Aaron turns into Roy and charges at the prosecutor, assaulting her and threatening to snap her neck if anyone comes near him. Aaron is held down by the police and is rushed back to his cell in handcuffs. In light of Aaron's apparent insanity, which is now clear to the court, the judge dismisses the jury and remands Aaron to a mental hospital where he will remain under close evaluation, but will probably be released eventually.
In the final scene of the film, Vail confronts Aaron to tell him the great news. Aaron again has no idea what happened in the courtroom, as he "lost time." After hearing the news that it will be possible that he will be freed, Aaron hugs him with extreme gratitude. However, just as Vail is leaving, Aaron says to him, "Can you please tell Ms. Venable I'm sorry about her neck?" which is not something that Aaron should be able to remember if he "lost time." It is now apparent that Aaron has been pretending to be insane all along. However, the chilling twist comes when Vail asks "So there never was a Roy..." Aaron takes one disdainful look at him and says "There never was an Aaron, counselor," which reveals that Aaron was his pretend personality, and that he was really Roy all his life. Stunned and in disbelief, the movie ends with Vail walking out of the courtroom, with Roy calling his name from the cell.
