In 1992, the thriller, Basic Instinct, became that year's top grossing box office hit because of one thing and one thing only . . . it was brilliant! This steamy action thriller redefined the Film Noir genre while paying homage to its rich past. Set in San Francisco, director Paul Verhoeven acknowledges the giant who came before him by mimicking Alfred Hitchcock's classic, "Vertigo," which was shot in that same city over thirty years before. Just take the opening scene, it's uncanny really, a faceless blond ties up her lover in bed and rides him like Seabiscuit! She does this until right before he ejaculates, at which point she drives an ice pick into his throat repeatedly. I sat through this little slice of heaven and could have sworn that Hitchcock had risen from the grave to direct another masterpiece. Verhoeven's integrity and decency transcends throughout every detail of this film. His classy standards in film-making are the likes of which any director of good taste would hope to aspire to. And how could he fail with a leading man like Michael Douglas. Douglas proves his worth by once again delivering a flawless performance, this time as Detective Nick Curran. I believe Douglas's sensitive portrait of Curran's controlled rage had a profound influence on Al Pacino, and has led to his subsequent nuanced work. The subtly is quite breathtaking!

Detective Curran finds himself in the middle of a murder case involving a writer/psychologist named Catherine Tramell, that has him picking up old habits and questioning whom he can trust. This was the break out roll Sharon Stone was born to play. Not so much for Mrs. Stones' acting or look, but more for her . . . presents . . . yes that's no spelling mistake, her presents. Those presents are what put her on the map.

Basic Instinct is your classic murder mystery where the detective falls for the temptress he's not entirely sure he can trust, and then he later learns that his ex-girlfriend is a former lover of said temptress, both of whom have degrees in psychology, and both want to screw with his head. Clearly a traditional Film Noir format. This who done it has so many twists and turns it will have you guessing up until the very end. Even then you still might not care who did it.

3 Hamlin Grade: 3

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