Review of Basic Instinct

It's sad to say that sex sells. Basic Instinct without a doubt sells, but it's just a sexy thriller that's got plenty of libido but not nearly as much brains as it thinks it has. It's extremely misogynistic and is very predictable. I was very disappointed with the whole movie, and had figured out the murderer within about 30 minutes into it. It's titillating, even exciting at times, but ultimately collapses under the weight of its own stupidity. The movie contained a lot of graphic sexual acts throughout the movie that makes it more of a soft porn movie in disguise & less than a film noir. It could have been better, if it cut down on the exotic a bit, and focus more on the story and give us a challenge. In the film's opening, Rockstar Boz is stabbed to death by a blonde woman with an ice pick during sex. We never see the woman's face -- just her blonde hair and, of course, most of her lust-inducing body. By just looking at the body of the killer, you can pretty much know who did it. The police find the dead body, and Det. Nick Curran, (Michael Douglas) was put on the case whom slept with his police-appointed shrink Dr. Beth Garner (Jeanne Triplehorn). Rather than getting a DNA test on the number one- suspect, Boz's girlfriend, Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone), a famous crime novelist, the cops interview her. I know DNA testing was still in its early stages in the early '90s but convicting using DNA evidence alone has been proved fact since 1988, four years when the film was set. Well, Catherine use the interview to make fools out of them. The way she manipulates psychology was superbly awesome. Without Sharon Stone as femme fatale, this movie is nothing. Still, most people would remember from this scene just the famous leg switching, and not the acting. Although, the detectives were too stupid to realize that there is something about her that doesn't add up. We sees Catherine using it to break ice during the film. She even mentions how her book is about a detective falling for the wrong woman and that she kills him. Isn't it very clear who the killer is? Sooner than later, Nick get into Catherine's sex life. The movie moves with the suspense involving Nick and Catherine. He's supposed to be following this woman as a suspect but is actually falling for her deadly charm since Nick is dumb like the other cops. Clearly this film points out the men are just horny dumb pervs who slept before duty. The film tries to do a lot of dumb red herrings such as Beth is revealed to have had a past sexual encounter with Catherine, that according to Catherine developed an obsessive fixation on her as Beth copy her. The audience is suppose to wonder whether Beth killed Boz as is described in Catherine's book to frame her. Not once in the film, does Beth show any bit of bi or lesbians feelings. Catherine does with a girl name Roxy (Leilani Sarelle). The film was strongly opposed by gay rights activists, who criticized the film's portrayal of bisexual women as a murderous sociopaths. The featurette Blond Poison reveals the uproar the film caused during the San Francisco filming. They deplored it as being "anti-gay" and a reinforcement of Hollywood homophobia due to typecasting particularly lesbians as twisted and evil, or just act lesbians to get men's horny. I think the heterosexuals can also be equally offensive, as some feminists like Camille Paglia starts breaking things down to banal symbolisms, the opening killing with the ice pick is interpreted as, "Woman steals man's penis and uses it against him." men find themselves involuntarily cringing. Freudian Pscyhoanalysts have retained the term instinct that the film refer to human motivational forces (such as sex and aggression), sometimes represented as Eros - life instinct and Thanatos- death Instinct, but the real term is motivational forces or drives to correct the original error in the translation of Freud's work. Psychologist Abraham Maslow argued that humans no longer have instincts because we have the ability to override them in certain situations. For Maslow, an instinct is something which cannot be overridden, & therefore while the term may have applied to humans in the past, it no longer does. So the film should be title 'Basic Drives". It's clear why Joe Eszterhas was paid 3-million bucks for his script with its clever plot construction. Still there are pointless sequences like where Nick and Catherine engage in a car chase for no discernible reason other than to serve as a dire attempt to jack up the energy level. The film also has unlikeable characters. The hero Nick viciously rapes Beth in one scene. They're perfectly acceptable in the art of film, but Basic Instinct did go a little overboard with that sex. The film does good with its abstract images, the way it's shot from different angles, made it a little more elliptical, a bit less direct. The eerie Jerry Goldsmith theme gives the film a creepy tone. Basic Instinct was to transfers Mr. Verhoeven's flair for action-oriented material to the realm of Hitchcockian intrigue, but the results are so-so. Following the success of the film, Ezsterhas & Verhoeven went on to collaborate on Showgirls. (Another horrible mess). Since release, the blue-ray version add more graphic violence & sex into the film.This film is an affront to taste. It's an over-baked mind control fantasy, brought to life by a horrible script, and relieved of meaning by a hair brained plot. It's all Tougue in cheek really like a perv. It's depends on your kicks.