Instinct (1999)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Fantastic!

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The whole problem with the film, if there is one, is not thematic or psychological or intellectual. It's technical. The film alternates between ear-splitting screaming and shouting, as Hopkins erupts into sudden violence -- and quiet, almost silent scenes as Gooding murmurs to Hopkins, or Sutherland whispers to Gooding, in oh-so-dramatic, hushed tones.Whispering scenes in movies are nothing new of course. Every actor thinks he's doing something profound when he does a whispering scene... speaking so softly that the performance just HAS to be great.But in "Instinct" the dialogue in these scenes is mixed so quietly that you need subtitles to understand what the hell these people are saying. So you crank the volume up just as far as it will possibly go, or even farther, and then MAYBE you catch a few words. Maybe.Then next thing you know -- BOOM! -- here comes another god-awful explosion of violence, noise, screaming, things smashing, drums pounding, Hopkins leaping around like an ape on PCP... and you have to race over to turn the damn thing down before it splits your goddamn eardrums wide open.Sound mixing has really gone down the tubes every since the wonder of Dolby and 5.1 mixes...

What is the main purpose of a movie? To entertain and amuse in one way or another, right? In other words, captivate your attention for the span of the movie's runtime. Great movies do this and something else – they inspire you and make you think; maybe even enlighten. That's the power of the art of film. My wife and I just watched 1999's "Instinct" and it does this, which explains my high rating.THE PLOT: Anthropologist Ethan Powell (Anthony Hopkins) goes missing in Africa for a couple of years; when he is found living with gorillas he kills a couple of rangers and injures others. After a year in prison in Africa, where he refuses to speak, he is extradited to a Florida prison and put in the mental ward. A young psychiatrist, Theo Caulder (Cuba Gooding Jr.), is assigned his case to see if he can get him to speak and learn what really happened in Africa. Meanwhile Powell's daughter (Maura Tierney) anticipates reconciling with her father, IF Theo can get through to him.There are some peripheral characters, but that's the gist of the story. Some people criticize it as a mix of "Gorillas in the Mist" and "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest," which is only valid on a surface level. I've seen the latter film (a great film) and "Instinct" stands on its own; in fact, it's quite unique, which is a sign of greatness. The movie stands or falls on Hopkins and Cuba Jr making the characters and their story come alive and seem real to the viewer. They succeeded for my wife and me. Within 20 minutes we found ourselves absorbed into the story and the characters.Some people, like Roger Ebert, criticized that the film takes on too many topics or messages, but I never got this impression, nor did my wife. There are the main themes—the limitations of freedom in conventional society and the abuse of controllers (or "takers")—and there are a few subthemes, like the flaws of our prisons and mental institutions. The film never confused us or gave the impression that it cut off more than it could chew. If you appreciate films like "Grand Canyon" and "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" you'll probably value "instinct." Some criticized one aspect of the climax, but it happens. There are documented examples in the USA and all over the world. Also, keep in mind that Powell was imprisoned in the mental ward of the prison, not the maximum security area.Is the story contrived to some degree? Of course it is; all movies are. Filmmakers have to tell a story and make their points within a limited time frame -- usually around two hours -- and so there are always contrived elements, coincidences, etc. The trick is to pull it off without seeming too phony or forced, which is sometimes hard to do and it takes good actors. Thankfully, "Instinct" does a respectable job on this front, perhaps mainly because it has a few great actors, although some viewers may roll their eyes at how the "ace of diamonds" subplot is wrapped up. Regardless, it's in the area of ideas that "Instinct" towers above most movies. BOTTOM LINE: "Instinct" is a psychological drama/thriller that entertains but also makes you think and ponder: How free are we really in society? Are you a giver or a taker? A blesser or an abuser? A liberator or a controller? How can you be freer? How can you escape the manipulations and shackles of others, of society, of "government"? How can you walk free of "the game"? And so much more, like the "doctor" learning from the patient and the humility it takes to learn from someone who's "under" you.The film runs 126 minutes and was shot in central Florida, Uganda and Jamaica.GRADE: A

I think the reason why there are so few who have given credit for this movie is that there are so few who have reached that level of self-awareness that this film requires to understand.This movie is very, very psychological. There are so many thoughtful, playful and subtle psychological hints, situations, story lines, and gestures that piece together the whole story that if you are not interested in behavior, or some form of deeper exchange in a movie-experience, then this is NOT a movie for you.However, for people who understand psychology, behavior, and norms, who are interested in social experiments, and who are interested in questioning human moralities, this film will simply be a masterpiece. This is one of the best movies I know. SEE IT! (Apologize for any grammatical errors, English is not my native language.)

INSTINCT was an obvious bit of attempted Oscar bait from director Jon Turteltaub back in 1999. Turteltaub is the man responsible for such generic adventure fare as the NATIONAL TREASURE movies and generic family fare as THE KID. So what better man to direct a generic wannabe award winner? INSTINCT has all of the ingredients to be a critical favorite but it's missing that one crucial element: being a good movie. I'm not saying it's a bad movie because it's actually not. It's just forgettable. You probably won't feel let down after spending two hours watching this movie, but it won't take much longer to forget that it existed. INSTINCT wants to be tense. It wants to be inspirational. It wants to tug at the heartstrings. But it doesn't, because it's so transparent in its intentions. Or at least, I thought so. The movie follows an aspiring psychologist named Theo Caulder, played by Cuba Gooding Jr. He's assigned to a unique case by his mentor (Donald Sutherland) and sees an opportunity to jump-start his career with a bestseller. Accomplished anthropologist Ethan Powell (Anthony Hopkins) has been transferred to a prison in the US from Rwanda, where he was doing time for murdering men after disappearing into the jungles for nearly two years. Upon Powell's return to civilization, he is a changed man. Feral and refusing to speak, Caulder dedicates his time to Powell, determined to find out what happened in those jungles, why he disappeared, and what drove him to murder.What bothered me about this movie was that it couldn't decide what it wanted to focus on. There are two main through-lines in this movie, running at the same time. There's, of course, the main storyline with Caulder and Powell and the story of their interactions, and then there's an entirely different unrelated subplot of how the prison that Powell is transferred to is a miserable place where the guards abuse the mentally handicapped and the prison shrink does nothing for his patients. In my opinion, these are two different movies and conflict with each other. Once you finally get involved in the Powell/Caulder interviews, it rips you away from that to show how Caulder is inspired to reform the prison's system for handling its mental patients. And it bounces back and forth so often that I just didn't care as much as I should for either storyline. Subplots are OK, but they don't generally get equal screen time with the main story because it detracts from it. Besides, we've already got movies that handle uncaring mental health care in bigger and better ways (e.g. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST). I watched this movie because I wanted to see Hopkins and Gooding Jr. to engage in a mental game of cat and mouse. I wanted a good, tense psychological drama and I got it…in bits and pieces. Each story was entertaining enough but the entire movie ends up leaving you (well, I suppose it left me anyway) unfulfilled.Another issue I had with the movie is that it's populated with characters we've already seen before. No one in the movie feels like an original creation. The obvious example is Anthony Hopkins as Ethan Powell. In this movie, he's just a toned down version of his more famous (and more interesting) Hannibal Lecter. He was probably the worst choice for the role because of the obvious parallels, unless the filmmakers were counting on people to make that connection and hoped it would add to it. Cuba Gooding Jr. is every movie psychologist you've ever seen rolled up into one man as Caulder. He does well enough, as this was back before he thought SNOW DOGS was a smart career move. But, come on…we've seen this shtick before and he isn't bringing anything new to it. His optimism is meant to be inspirational...he IS going to reach this troubled man! He IS going to make this horrible prison a better place for it's inhabitants! Blah. The rest of the cast fails to make any sort of impressions as shallow caricatures. There's the disillusioned prison psychiatrist who's given up hope…the evil guard who finds entertainment in turning the strongest of the patients against the weak. There's Powell's daughter, long since given up on her absent father. It's just all so…been there, done that. If they'd focused on one story (the Powell/Caulder one, naturally) and fleshed out their characters into real people, this movie might've been what it was blatantly aspiring to be. Instead, it's good enough for a quiet evening but don't go in expecting the inspiring tale they're trying to sell.