Product: Fear (LASER DSIC, NOT DVD) (1996)
Rating: 3.0
I Dated A Psycho Dirk Diggler
I'm on the fence with this one. It's certainly watchable but ultimately it's exploitation crap posing as an important cautionary tale. The film starts off promising enough with the nubile but virginal Nicole(Reese Witherspoon) falling for brooding grunge boy David(Mark Wahlberg) starting with whispering sweet nothings to more intimate contact on a rollercoaster. Daddy Steve(William Petersen) objects to David but can't exactly put his finger on it. Maybe it's the fact that David pummeled Gary, Nicole's platonic friend, and blackened Nicole's eyes in the process. Whatever subtlety there was in the film is thrown out the window with an extended siege by David and his grunge buddies of Nicole's house that plays like a junior version of "Cape Fear". It's a shame because this film has a pretty good pedigree with it's cast and director James Foley("At Close Range", "Glengarry Glen Ross") at the helm. The film can be recommended for some pretty good performances by Witherspoon and Wahlberg. Just be forewarned that this is thriller-lite.