Product: Fear (LASER DSIC, NOT DVD) (1996)
Rating: 4.0
Surprisingly Good for a "Teen movie"
Fear is an interesting twist on the typical teen love story. Boy meets girl, girl falls in love with boy, girl finds out that boy is crazy for her. Literally...crazy...for her. Reese Witherspoon plays sweet teen girl Nicole Walker who falls for handsome and intensely romantic David McCall played by former rapper Mark Wahlberg. At first David seems to be every bit a perfect boyfriend, handsome, considerate, and intensely sexy. Things turn ugly when David explodes into a jealous rage when he sees Nicole giving a friendly hug to a male friend. From there, Fear turns into a frightening story of obsession and violence. Reese does a very credible job of playing the teen girl trapped by a romantic psychotic. Mark Wahlburg does a great job of combining the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde sides of David's character. Fans of Walhburg will enjoy the sight of Mark flexing both his acting and pectoral muscles. Balancing the mix is Nicole's slightly overprotective father played by James Foley who sees through David's perfect gentleman act and becomes a target for David's increasingly maniacal acts. Despite being classified as "teen horror", Fear is surprisingly good. No Oscar performances to be sure, but overall it's an engaging suspense story with well-done performances.