Cape Fear

At the time of its release, this Scorsese thriller left me unmoved. But today, I feel it’s the best “posthumous Hitchcock” there is. Bernard Herrmann’s music, the camera close-ups, the looks of Jessica Lange, whose character is, moreover, named Leigh... Marty is a devil, a chameleon who was able to build on the legacy of the Master, even spicing it up with a splendid psychopath played by Robert De Niro and a hint of enticing sexual perversion. This film seems to be an acquired taste. I almost gave it five stars, but in the end decided against it because it’s more of a momentary sensation than a long-resonating experience. (03/16/2010)

That Martin Scorsese knows how to create tension is a well-known fact. What's worse is that Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange here consistently choose weak moments, and everything thus ends up depending on the shoulders of the focused demon Robert De Niro. It is precisely in the shadow of his slow nervousness of the hated lawyer that the final catharsis on the ship seems clichéd and unnecessarily exaggerated. (03/10/2007)

Scorsese is indeed a master artist. He manages to extract the maximum from a simple premise, squeezing every bit of potential out of it. I haven't seen the 1962 original, and I'm not sure if I'll ever be in the mood for a film that's over half a century old, but I can say that I find it hard to believe that the original could surpass the remake. The standout here is Robert De Niro, who delivers an iconic performance as a maniacal lunatic with impressive ease (that slicked-back hairstyle might have added to the believability). Nick Nolte also delivers a strong performance, but De Niro maintains a slight edge and doesn’t let anyone surpass him. The revenge plot is fairly ordinary, but the execution compensates for that. The intense music and the suffocating atmosphere of the impending moments, where you have no idea what the slimy criminal will do next, were striking. De Niro’s emotionless face shots were especially unsettling. The only thing missing from a perfect score is a more developed ending; everything that survived bordered on fantasy. Still, it’s a well-executed film, and I give it 81%. (08/23/2018)

Already the opening shot of De Niro's tattoos on a chiseled body gives us a hint that we are going to see something interesting. Scorsese is back on his game and this remake easily surpasses its black and white predecessor. It's worth seeing, if only for the scene where De Niro as a supposedly bohemian teacher seduces Julliete Lewis – what she does is fabulous acting. I'd give it five stars, but the ending is unfortunately stupid, drawn out in the classic Hollywood way. (05/11/2003)

Martin Scorsese simply shows that this genre is not unfamiliar to him, just as Robert De Niro demonstrates his acting abilities, portraying a truly despicable scumbag in this case, someone you don't even want to look at for fear of him. It's quite interesting to see what Nick Nolte looked like then and what he looks like now. Acting-wise, he's not as strong as Robert De Niro, but he certainly doesn't drag the film down. (11/27/2015)