Primal Fear is one of those films I felt I was the only one that liked it. So, when a brand new special edition release comes out on DVD and Blu-ray simultaneously with all brand-new featurettes it caught me a bit off guard. I felt there was no way these featurettes were going to be of any real substance. I mean, this is a film from 1996 and I never hear anyone talk about it. Yet, this is a release you must pick up if you are one of those closet fans and especially if you have never seen it because this film blows the doors off.
For those that don’t know this was Ed Norton’s first feature film and really served as a breakout role for Laura Linney who had been in a few films prior but Primal Fear ensured her status as a great actress. On top of those two, at the head of the snake is Richard Gere who fits perfectly into the role of self-absorbed lawyer Martin Vail, but it doesn’t stop there as you also have Frances McDormand, Alfre Woodard, John Mahoney, Andre Braugher, Maura Tierney and Terry O’Quinn. Honestly I believe this film has one of Woodard’s best performances and the same goes for Braugher. On top of that I have always been a fan of John Mahoney, he can really turn up the heat as a tough son-of-a-bitch when necessary and he does it oh so well in this one.
The film centers on the murder of a local Catholic archbishop and being the headline seeker he is Martin Vail (Gere) chases down the jailed suspect, an innocent looking altar boy played brilliantly by Ed Norton. Several twists and turns pop up all over the place as this film boils down to a couple of key scenes and the performance of Ed Norton and it never skips a beat.
Of course you could probably ask if Primal Fear is really a film needing a Blu-ray high-definition treatment to be great. To that I ask if Britney Spears needed to shave her head in order for you to believe she was crazy. The answer is no, but it definitely helps. The film looks great in high-definition and the sound is equally impressive, even though we are really talking about only a couple of moments where the soundtrack really gives the speakers a workout. It’s not a film that relies heavily on visuals and audio quality as this is more of an actor’s film, but like I said the quality of the presentation can only help it along the way.
As far as the features go I enjoyed them immensely but I feel a little biased in this case as they may be considered a bit bland for some. You get to hear a lot about the casting process and how Ed Norton was found almost as a needle in a haystack and how he never would have had the Oscar nominated role had Leonardo DiCaprio accepted the offer to play Aaron. Director Gregory Hoblit talks about how he had to fight to get Laura Linney in the cast and she says how she had to audition the entire role to get the part. On top of that, the story of how Ann Biderman got the job to rewrite the script just before Gere almost bailed on the project is pretty good. You will also hear about how the original cut of the film was three hours and 15 minutes and included an entire Virginia subplot as well as how Norton was the one that came up with Aaron’s stutter. The best part of it all is that the three featurettes are all brand new and include new interview footage including many from the crew as well as Norton and Linney.
One of the features looks at the legal aspect of it all and offers up an interesting tidbit with regard to the so often used “not guilty by reason of insanity” plea we see in so many movies and television shows. The fact that got me was when they said only about 1% of all cases use that as a defense and of that 1% only 1-out-of-4 actually win with that plea. I would love to see a stat based on movies and television shows.
The audio commentary is a bit bland as it doesn’t carry any of the stars with director Gregory Hoblit, writer Ann Biderman, producer Gary Lucchesi, exec producer Howard Koch and casting director Deborah Aquila. Some of the stories they tell, especially the one about why Deborah Aquila cried, are pretty good, but it is going to be a bit dry if you aren’t entirely enthused to listen. I didn’t even finish it entirely as I bounced around to hear their opinion on a few of my favorite scenes and that’s about it.
Obviously I love this film and think everyone should buy it, own it and watch it at least once a year. It has always been a favorite of mine and this new edition is just icing on the cake.
