Robert De Niro plays Max Cady, an illiterate criminal who has been imprisoned for fourteen years on rape and battery charges. Nick Nolte plays Sam Bowden, Cady's lawyer who intentionally buried a valuable document, which may have allowed Cady's prison sentence to be significantly shorter. Cady learns to read while in prison. He starts with 'See Spot Run,' then proceeds to study law books. Cady's rage and desire for revenge grows with each additional day that he is in prison. Although Cady's original prison sentence was only eight years, it is increased to fourteen years due to battery of another inmate. He memorizes the Bible and tattoos his body with scripture referring to vengeance. When Cady is finally released from prison, he immediately seeks out Bowden and his family. Cady has become a scripture slinging psychopath hell bent on revenge. The director Martin Scorsese is attempting to prove that everyone has skeletons in their closet. Bowden might appear to be a terrific lawyer and loving family man on the surface, but underneath the perfect image lies a cheating husband and corrupt lawyer. Scorsese also shows how powerful the emotion of revenge can be and how it can distort ones version of what is right and wrong. Scorsese demonstrates this by showing Cady's knowledge of scripture and his acceptance of the terror that he is inflicting on the Bowden family. Scorsese's use of cameo appearances by Robert Mithcum and Gregory Peck was brilliant. The fact that they played such opposite roles in the original film was an interesting twist. I enjoyed the original 1962 version more than this remake, but I feel that the blood being in color definitely added to the terror that this film inflicts.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Cape Fear
(1962)
In The Presence Of Vengeance
27 February 2003
Robert Mitchum plays Max Cady, a lowlife criminal who has been imprisoned for assault and battery of a woman. Gregory Peck plays Sam Bowden, a lawyer who has witnessed the crime and testified against Cady. Due to his prison sentence, Cady's wife leaves him. She also does not allow him any type of contact with his child. Cady blames this and his imprisonment on Bowden. He begins spending day after day contemplating how to ruin Bowden's life and cause him the same pain he has suffered. While in prison, Cady studies the law enough to know what rights he has and just how far to push the boundaries. After eight years in prison, Cady returns with full intent to have his revenge. The director J. Lee Thompson is trying to convey to the viewers that just because a criminal is tried, convicted, and served his sentence it is by no means to suggest that they are reformed into model citizens. In some cases this is possible, but revenge is a powerful emotion that can consume a person. Revenge can be so strong that it becomes a person's only reason for living, like in the case of Max Cady. Thompson has demonstrated that Cady was willing to break every law and commit any crime to satisfy his need for revenge. Thompson does an excellent job of making the viewers use their imagination. He implies to the audience what Cady will do to the Bowden family without giving a detailed description. Thompson urges the viewer to think the worst, but keeps things morally acceptable for the 1960s. The storyline had me on the edge of my seat trying to anticipate Cady's next move. I feel that the fear factor would have been lost had the film been done in color. This was a remarkable thriller.
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