Instinct

Rating:
Summary: Anthony Hopkins & Cuba Gooding Jr. great performance
Review: The story could be not all that, although it is still an interesting story.

But what I liked the most of this movie is the BRILLIANT speech of the characters... oh both Anthony Hopkins & Cuba Gooding Jr. were so good.

Rating:
Summary: Never moves past the obvious
Review: For me, this movie was very disappointing. I too, am a fan of the actors in this film, and had looked forward to seeing it. Unfortunately, the filmmakers were so afraid that their subject matter was too complicated for the average movie goer that they felt it necessary to review the same obvious conclusion over and over. This is demonstrated by their refusal to even vary the language, lest we be confused about who the 'takers' are. Had this movie assumed the audience is capable of following rational thought, it could have provided some unique insight and commentary regarding issues of society and control in general. Instead, the movie never moves beyond conclusions reached in the first 30 minutes, which overall, makes it little more than a very average, very boring film.

Rating:
Summary: Unbalanced effort
Review: The casting of Anthony Hopkins and Donald Sutherland as the human equivalent of silverback male gorillas was brilliant, and they (Hopkins and Sutherland, not the silverbacks!) did a superb job, as did Cuba Gooding, Jr, the real star of the film. But a large part of Instinct is a suspense story, as a young hot-shot psychiatrist tries to find out why Hopkins' character murdered two park rangers in Africa, and frankly, it wasn't suspenseful at all. I thought surely there would be some twist from the obvious explanation, but it never came. Still, the movie maintained interest in the characters, and for that it is worth seeing. I couldn't help feeling that I was seeing a cross between One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Gorillas In the Mist, and Silence of the Lambs. If that sounds like an intriguing blend to you, you will likely find that this is a movie worth seeing. The music by Danny Elfman was quite good (although unobtrusive) especially that of the opening credits. Special effects by the giant Stan Winston consisted of gorilla costumes, and were not particularly noteworthy.

Rating:
Summary: POWERFUL FILM WITH A FEW WEAKNESSES
Review: Beginning with the film's down side, Donald Southerland's character was unattractive and improbable. Throughout INSTINCT, Southerland portrays a cynical, leering, authoritarian psychitarist Dr. Ben Hillard. "Ben" eggs on one of his star underlings, Dr. Theo Calder, very well played by Cuba Gooding Jr., to further his career. Psychiatry is the branch of medicine that is about helping people to maintain good mental health or to restore mental normalcy to those with mental diseases. The screen writer is responsible for what Southerland says (and Director Jon Turteltaub how it is said .... he also made, Sandra Bullock's," While You Were Sleeping" and John Travolta's "Phenomenon"). Alas, Ben Hillard is played a cartoon version of a world class psychiatrist amid bigshot doctor clichés.

Now, the good news. Characteristically, Anthony Hopkins spectacularly plays the guilt ridden anrthopologist Dr. Ethan Powell. Origianlly there to study them, Powell is adopted and cared for during two years by a group of silver back gorillas in the wilds of Africa. However, Dr. Powell attacks a group of African forest rangers when they viciously hunt down and wipe out his adopted "family." Because of having killed two of the rangers, Powell is transferred to a prison for the criminally insane. It becomes the young Dr. Calder's job to determine whether or not Powell's mind has completely gone, and if he is a menace to society. As the story moves on, Powell becomes Calder's teacher and ultimately a friend. Politically, this film explores the meaning of a modern civilization that permits itself vigorously destroy natural life on earth: In prison, Dr. Powell names us "takers."

Some inmates and scenes in the psychiatric wing of the prison resemble similar ones in Milos Forman's "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest." And indeed there are some intersting plot similarities between "Cuckoo's Nest" and INSTINCT. Be that as it may, the plot is quite good and throws quite a few emotional punches at we the viewers.

Maura Tierney (who co-stars on television's E.R.) plays Dr. Powell's daughter Lynn Powell. This is a very challenging role, calling for the talented Tierney to undergo a change in character (attitude) that complements the changes in Powell, shackled and confined in prison. Her portrayal of a long suffering daughter longing to get her father back is very convincing as are her various interactions with Dr. Calder. He needs her help to effectively deal with Dr. Powell. By and large, the film exposes us to a lot of despair. But it is ultimately uplifting without resorting to sentimentality.

I liked the movie. It confronts us with many contemporary moral issues but not at the expense of good theater. While Southerland's leering character, Ben Hillard kept distracting me it wasn't enough of a presence to dilute the dynamics and emotional intensity of this interesting and entertaining film.

Rating:
Summary: Baffling how or why this was made.
Review: I knew I was in trouble when the opening credits of the film said it was based on the book "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn, which is a new age guide to living in fiction form about a talking ape imparting the wisdom of the world to the protagonist. (No, really! Look it up in the book section here at Amazon.)

How does this relate to a movie about a psychologist helping prisoners and a biologist accused of murder after he apparently spends too much time with great apes? Good question.

If I had to guess, I'd theorize that the screenwriter who originally sold this script had a probably very good script about a prison psychologist that he couldn't get sold -- those segments of the film, in fact, are what make it barely watchable. But after getting it turned down, time and again, he must have encountered someone who was a fan of the "Ishmael" book and perversely decided to rework his script into a very, very, very loose adaptation of that work in order to get his prison story on screen.

But this film is a train wreck. The prison scenes float in isolation, surrounded by ridiculous acting by characters we can't identify as being remotely human, given how underwritten they are. Gooding's character's eventual reaction to the lessons he learns from Hopkins' character seems to come out of nowhere, unless you know that the book actually had a lot more being imparted. Otherwise "it's bad to kill mother gorillas" is hardly a profound conclusion.

Don't even bother renting this turkey. This is something to watch, briefly, when it's on TV for free. There are loads of better films about psychologists and prisons. Watching this in lieu of "The Shawshank Redemption" would be a crime.

Rating:
Summary: A movie that totally Grasp me!
Review: "Instinct," is one of the most emotional and powerful movies ever made. I can't think of any others that even come close to the emotions that it has. It is emotional and thought provoking. Teaches us the meaning of control and what civilization really is. Anthony Hopkins the ability to a typical drama or suspense movie feel like a compelling adventure. This movie is not an action-packed movienct. But it will deliver drama with a lot of suspense. It is a movie where ever word must be listen too in order to truly appreciate....but worth ever second of time spent on it.

Rating:
Summary: My instinct says this one could have been much better
Review: Don't expect to see Hopkins playing Hannibal Lector here. It has it's moments and generally a good plot, but this movie seems to be lacking something that's not clearly identifiable. Hopkins is an anthropologist and societal outcast (by choice) brought back the US from Africa after committing murders for which he had his motives (I can't spoil the plot). Upon his return, he becomes the subject of psychological scrutiny by newbie psychiatrist Cuba Gooding Jr who attempts to build a "therapeutic" rapport with his character to unravel the motives of the murders.

The real irony is the way Hopkin's character protected that which he studied while neglecting his own offspring. A thought provoking look at human nature, "civilized culture" and the reality (or illusion?) of "freedom". Hopkins saves this movie and delivers his usual great performance. Although I like Gooding's acting in general, he just doesn't cut it as the psychiatrist in this one. His cathartic outburst at the end is laughable.

Rating:
Summary: It's great, not at all what I expected
Review: Based on the previews I had seen, I had decided, this was not a movie I was interested in. It seemed some movie about a man becoming one with the apes. It most certainly was not that type of movie at all.

I should have known, Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding Jr. have yet to dissappoint me.

The story is about an anthropologist that has been charged with when considered missing, killing several park rangers. He is sent back to the states and imprisoned. They assume he is insane. It appears he was missing because he was living with the apes for 2 years.

A young up and coming psychiatrist in training, chomps at the bit to find out what makes this man tick. Of course he rocks the boat in the daily grind of a prison system. The tricks and compromises of a established prison system dealing with deranged prisoners is medieval in the eyes of a newcomer.

This young psychiatrist is charged with finding "What happened?" to this noted professor. Why did he kill those rangers, what was he doing with the apes? Things progess a bit more rapidly than reality would probably dictate, but you get the answers Cuba Gooding Jr.'s character is looking for. They might not be what you expected.

I thought the acting was magnificent. They are a wonderful counterpoint to one another: Anthony Hopkin's intensity and Cuba Gooding Jr.'s exhuberance.

As Anthony Hopkin's character is a fairly learned man, his examination of the problem is a global one. His own person solution is to say unique.

Thought provoking and entertaining movie.

Rating:
Summary: Hello
Review: I recently read a review commenting on the movie Instinct and saying that it was not complelling. I watched the movie and found it riveting and exciting and very interesting and would recommend it to anyone who likes this type of movie

Rating:
Summary: Instinct
Review: Wow! This moved me in so many ways. I am 16 and now have a completely different perspective on life. I loved it so much, I got the book it was based on too. I think if everybody in the world say this... there's wouldn't be wars, or another Woodstock 99!