Basic Instinct

The beginning is a rough combination of intercourse, nudity, and violent ice pick damage as retired rock star Johnny Boz, played by Bill Cable, is murdered by a blonde woman. San Francisco Police Detective Nick Curran, played by Michael Douglas, gets the homicide investigation, which must be handled carefully, as Boz was a civic-minded sponsor to the mayor’s election fund. Curran immediately investigates the girlfriend, Catherine Tramell, played by Sharon Stone, who is cruelly sarcastic, tricky, charming, overconfident, and a professional at mind games and pulling strings. Mike Massie said in his review, “But Curran is determined to uncover her secrets, and he’s certain that his sauce-riddled, alcohol-fueled, accidental tourist-shooting, internal affairs-muckraked past won’t get in the way.”

Tramell soon becomes the only suspect, especially when they find out that she wrote a book the year before about a rock star who is murdered by his girlfriend…with an ice pick. Massie noted, “A simple ride from her house to the precinct for a routine interrogation reveals her incredible control over words, her psychological prowess with cat-and-mouse games, and her ability to beat a lie detector test. She’s cold, calculating, and mysterious; whether or not she’s a psychopathic obsessive or a vicious killer with the perfect alibi, all the clues point in her direction alone.” As nick works over his difficult past, his unstable relationship with departmental therapist Beth Garner, played by Jeanne Tripplehorn, and an increasing obsession with Catherine, he learns of her teaching at Berkeley and the death of a professor there who was, quite creepily, stabbed to death with an ice pick.

Massie mentions, “If it’s 1992, why does everyone have giant blocks of ice and picks in their homes? Michael Douglas turns in one of his finest performances as the bewitched detective, with convincing expressions, natural delivery, and a range of startling emotions. Stone is just as effective, despite appearing a touch contrived with her conspiratorial approach to allurement and fast-and-loose attitude towards her opponents. The main source of intrigue, however, comes from writer Joe Eszterhas’ tricky dialogue – a screenplay that was apparently written in just a few days and sold for an unheard-of $3 million. Jerry Goldsmith’s suspenseful, noirish score compliments every aspect just as sharply, and would pick up an Academy Award nomination for its significance.”

Everything in “Basic Instinct,” released in 1992, is a little much, from the blood-spilling violence to the revealing nudity (including the infamous scene of Stone uncrossing and crossing her legs, showing what was then assumed to be too risky for an R rating) and even to the romance. Obviously, this excessiveness is a trademark of director Paul Verhoeven. Massie mentioned, “Like the jagged surfaces of freshly cracked ice chunks, all of the details of the characters and their relationships are rough around the edges, muddied up to prevent anyone from being undesirably clean cut.”

Verhoeven is skillful at psychological thrillers with role reversals, mysterious camerawork duplicating previous shots, and tortuously complex plot twists. Massie said, “Even while he’s pushing buttons and stretching the boundaries of conventionality, he still incorporates artsy filmmaking techniques.” Changing from his previous two films, “Robocop” and “Total Recall,” both equally playing with the censors despite being very intelligent science-fiction films, this fearless director has created a huge controversial, huge erotic murder/mystery that has become an architype of the genre.

I remember years ago on YouTube; I saw WWE spoof the infamous interrogation scene for a promo to WrestleMania. I did see the actual scene on YouTube later, but never saw the film until years later when I was exercising. This is not what I was expecting from this film, but it is one that has to be seen to be believed. Currently, this is streaming on MGM+ and Paramount+, so you can see it on there, if you want to. If you want to see this, make sure that there are no children or your parents in the room, given how risky of a film this is. This film was going to be given an NC-17 rating, but because of some scenes that were removed due to the MPAA, it was given an R rating.

Next week, I will review a film that I remember seeing my brother watching when I was a kid, forgot about it, then looked up the film and saw it on YouTube, which is an emotional one that everyone should see, in “Sharon Stone Month.”