Primal Fear (film)

Primal Fear is a 1996 American legal mystery crime thriller film directed by Gregory Hoblit, based on the 1993 novel of the same name by William Diehl, written by Steve Shagan and Ann Biderman. It stars Richard Gere, Laura Linney, John Mahoney, Alfre Woodard, Frances McDormand and Edward Norton in his film debut. The film follows a Chicago-based defense attorney who believes that his client, an altar boy, is not guilty of murdering a Catholic bishop.
The film was a box office success and received positive reviews, with Norton's performance earning critical praise. Norton won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
Martin Vail is an arrogant Chicago defense attorney, known for defending undesirable but high-profile clients, including doctor (and alleged mob boss) Joey Piñero. Vail was previously a state prosecuting attorney, but after finding it to be a dead-end career, he became a defense attorney. Fond of the spotlight, Vail is profiled for a magazine cover story, then attempts to rekindle a casual relationship with former colleague, prosecutor Janet Venable.
Publicly beloved Archbishop Rushman is found murdered and mutilated in his bedroom. Aaron Stampler, a 19-year-old altar boy from Kentucky, is caught fleeing the scene covered in blood and subsequently charged with murder. Vail offers to defend him pro bono. The meek, stuttering Aaron claims to be innocent, but is prone to amnesia and unable to remember what happened about the murder. He claims a third person was in the room. Vail believes Aaron, while the state's attorney, John Shaughnessy, assigns Venable to prosecute the case and pursue the death penalty.
At Aaron's apartment, Vail's investigator Tommy Goodman is attacked by another altar boy, Alex, who flees. Neuropsychologist Dr. Molly Arrington interviews Aaron about his difficult childhood, his memory lapses, and his missing girlfriend, Linda. With help from Piñero, Vail discovers that powerful civic leaders, including Shaughnessy, lost millions in real estate investments due to Rushman's decision not to develop church-owned land, which includes a pro bono clinic owned and operated by Piñero.
A passage linked to The Scarlet Letter was carved into Rush's chest:
The police interpret the passage as the murder motive and denouncing the archbishop as "two-faced".
Vail and Goodman find Alex, who claims he was searching for an incriminating VHS cassette in Aaron's apartment. Removing the tape from the archbishop's closet at the crime scene, thus not properly entering it into the chain of custody, Vail and his team discover multiple footage filmed by the archbishop in which he coerces Aaron, Linda, and Alex to engage in sexual acts. Vail and his team assume that Rushman threatened the youths with eviction from their group home, providing a motive for Aaron to murder Rushman.
Vail angrily confronts Aaron about concealing information, but Aaron denies the accusations, becoming increasingly distressed as Vail continues to press him. Aaron's demeanor abruptly shifts from deferential to aggressive, and he chastises Vail for "scaring off" Aaron. This violent personality, calling himself Roy, admits to killing the archbishop but threatens Vail not to introduce the tape at trial. Suddenly, he reverts back to Aaron's docile personality, with no recollection of the episode.
Dr. Arrington concludes that Aaron has dissociative identity disorder caused by years of abuse by his father and, later, Rushman. Vail grows conflicted, knowing that he could acquit his client via an insanity defense, but he cannot legally change his strategy mid-trial. He delivers the evidence anonymously to Venable, forcing her to use the tape as proof of Aaron's motive, at the risk of tarnishing the archbishop and generating sympathy for Aaron. Shaughnessy demands that she destroy the evidence, but she refuses and introduces it in court.
Piñero is discovered murdered, and Vail surprises the court by calling Shaughnessy as a witness. Vail suggests Shaughnessy resented the archbishop for stopping the $60 million land development deal, and accuses him of concealing previous evidence of the archbishop's sexual predation, and being complicit in Piñero's death. The judge intervenes and fines Vail for using the courtroom for his personal vendettas. She also dismisses Dr. Arrington's testimony as it leans too close to an insanity plea. Vail calls Aaron to the stand, intentionally triggering Aaron to become Roy, who screams obscenities and assaults Venable. The judge dismisses the jury in favor of a bench trial to declare Aaron not guilty by reason of insanity.
Vail informs Aaron that he will be remanded to a psychiatric hospital for treatment and likely released. When Aaron expresses remorse for injuring Venable's neck, Vail realizes Aaron was aware of his actions during the attack. Aaron commends the attorney for his insight; he brags he murdered Linda and Rushman without remorse and faked having multiple personalities. He reveals there was never an "Aaron." Vail leaves the courthouse, stunned and disillusioned and discreetly exits through a back entrance to avoid the media waiting outside.
Several Chicago television news personalities made cameos as themselves as they deliver reports about the case, including WLS's Diann Burns and Linda Yu, WBBM-TV's Mary Ann Childers, Lester Holt and Jon Duncanson, and WGN-TV's Bob Jordan and Randy Salerno.
Pedro Pascal auditioned for a role in the film. Paramount wanted Leonardo DiCaprio as Aaron Stampler; he was offered the role but declined as he found the script "problematic". Casting calls were set in California and England where 2,100 actors were seen for the role of Aaron, including Matt Damon and James Van Der Beek. Connie Britton auditioned for the role of Naomi, which eventually went to Maura Tierney.
The soundtrack includes the Portuguese fado song "Canção do Mar" sung by Dulce Pontes.
The film was released on April 5, 1996 and opened in the #1 spot, remaining there for three consecutive weeks. It grossed $56.1 million domestically and $46.5 million internationally for a total worldwide gross of $102.6 million.
The film was released to VHS and LaserDisc on October 15, 1996. On October 21, 1998, it was released to DVD.
Paramount released Primal Fear on Blu-ray on March 10, 2009. The Blu-ray includes an audio commentary track by director Gregory Hoblit, writer Ann Biderman, producer Gary Lucchesi, executive producer Hawk Koch, and casting director Deborah Aquila, as well as the featurettes "Primal Fear: The Final Verdict", "Primal Fear: Star Witness-Casting Edward Norton", and "The Psychology of Guilt".
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 77% based on 48 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Primal Fear is a straightforward, yet entertaining thriller elevated by a crackerjack performance from Edward Norton". Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, lists the film with a weighted average score of 47/100 based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore awarded the film an average grade of B+ on an A+-to-F scale.
Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that the film has a "good deal of surface charm" but "the story relies on an overload of tangential subplots to keep it looking busy". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded Primal Fear three and a half stars, writing that "the plot is as good as crime procedurals get, but the movie is really better than its plot because of the three-dimensional characters". Ebert described Gere's performance as one of the best in his career, praised Linney for rising above what might have been a stock character and applauded Norton for offering a "completely convincing" portrayal.
The film spent three weekends at the top of the U.S. box office.
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: