Instinct (1999)

Directed by Joe Turteltaub
Written by Gerald DiPego, suggested by the novel Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
Starring Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding Jr., Maura Tierney, Donald Sutherland, John Ashton

My Advice: Wait for Cable.

Dr. Ethan Powell (Hopkins) went missing for two years.  When he was found in the jungles of Africa, living among a family of gorillas, he thanked his discoverers by killing two and injuring three more.  Brought back to the USA for trial, a young ambitious psychiatrist, Dr. Caulder (Gooding) talks his way into handling his psych evaluation.  However, it goes without saying that he gets more than he bargained for.

When this movie started surfacing, a lot of naysayers dubbed it One Flew Over the Silence of the Gorillas in the Mist.  And, well, they were right.  Hopkins is indeed in tired Hannibal mode for most of the film.  Gooding does the best he can with really bad material.  There's nothing like a cinema house full of people snickering during the Heart-Wrenching Goodbye SceneTM to let you know somebody screwed up somewhere.  And with these two talented actors in the fold, they still only manage to tear it up in one scene regarding "illusions."  I lay the blame on DiPego and Turteltaub, because any movie that says it's "suggested by" a novel is almost always doomed to bring disappointment.  And the main disappointment is this: I didn't believe any of it.  The relationship that develops between Hopkins and Gooding--didn't believe it.  The relationships between the Stan Winston-created apes were more credible.  Credit should be given, however, to supporting players Donald Sutherland as Caulder's mentor and the always reliable Maura Tierney as Powell's daughter. 

And if the fact that every development in the film is telegraphed so you can see it coming a mile a way isn't bad enough, there's an entire subplot regarding how all of us humans are evil takers and won't give up our dominion over the earth.  I'm not saying I disagree, but there's no need to put Hopkins in a pulpit for it.  Not to mention the fact that there's shades of the Mighty Joe Young remake in this thing, God help us all.  And, since I can't seem to say enough bad things about the film, let's add to that the fact that the bloody trailer gives away the entire plot and ending.  Somebody please tell the studio to cut that crap out.  And I'm telling you...save this for HBO time.

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