Primal Fear is probably best known as the film that launched the career of the then unknown Edward Norton. Since Primal Fear’s release in 1996, Norton has gone on to a variety of eye opening projects and award winning roles. He has taken risks with films like American History X, where he played a reformed Neo-Nazi skinhead, he has taken a shot a directing with 2000’s Keeping the Faith and made a few bonafide Hollywood blockbusters, with films like The Incredible Hulk (2008).
Primal Fear also marked the big screen directorial debut of Gregory Hoblit after more than a decade of TV work. Hoblit would go on to direct several other notable films including Hart’s War, Untraceable and Fracture. Primal Fear stars Richard Gere as Martin Vail, an arrogant but smart defense attorney. He’s not above representing a mobster if it pays him well. When a mild-mannered altar boy named Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton) is accused of killing a revered archbishop in Chicago, Vail sees the case as the perfect opportunity for a little self promotion. Vail figures all he has to do, is raise the possibility of reasonable doubt in the mind of one juror to get an acquittal. However, the District Attorney (John Mahoney) thinks the prosecution has an open-and-shut case; the police caught Aaron running from the scene of the crime, covered in the Archbishop’s blood. Still, Vail likes his chances.
The D.A. assigns Vail’s former business associate and onetime girlfriend, Janet Venable (Laura Linney), to prosecute the case, and she is every bit Vail’s equal. If anybody can beat him, she can. Aaron claims he didn’t commit the crime. Initially, Vail doesn’t really care either way, saying it just his job to get him off the hook. However, as the trial proceeds, Vail comes to truly believe in Aaron’s innocence.
It soon becomes clear that the Archbishop may not have been the paragon of virtue most had assumed. The man’s financial affairs seem to implicate him and other powerful city officials in dealings of a shady sort. And most surprisingly, the Archbishop may not have been conducting his private life in a way a man of his stature is expected to.
As it turns out, the Archbishop may not be the only person who wasn’t what he appeared to be. Vail is more complex than the arrogant showboat he seems to be; and Aaron may or may not be all he seems, either. Aaron claims to not remember a thing after encountering the crime scene; though he does remember seeing a third person there, before running for his life. The film even raises some doubts about the D.A., so it’s hard to know who to believe.
While Primal Fear is a solid courtroom drama, all of the twists and turns make the film a real brain teaser. Just when you think you have the whole thing figured out, another question is raised that brings you back to square one. Plus, the acting here is great. Gere shows mixed emotions and vulnerability. Norton transforms his character into such an enigma, it’s fascinating to watch. It seems like Laura Linney is excellent in everything she does and here is no exception. Kudos also to Francis McDormand as a psychiatrist Vail hires to investigate Aaron’s personality.
You might guess the outcome of Primal Fear well before the ending, but you’re not likely to forget the characters. Or, who knows, you might find yourself guessing to the very last and being surprised. Either way, Primal Fear is well worth a look.
There are moments when Primal Fear’s 1080p AVC encode pops with rich detail and strong dimensionality, while there are others where it looks somewhat noisy. The 1.78:1 image (expanded a bit from its 1.85:1 original ratio) has that mid-to-late ’90s gloss about it, taking it right along that line between modern-style shine and a more pedestrian, flat appearance. Flesh tones and texture are competent throughout, showing off the disc’s capacity to render strong details where it counts. It even handles minute details, like the myriad of wood grains in the architecture, with surprising detail, as well as keeping strong preservation of any lighting effects used on set.
But many backdrops, walls, and more stable-colored elements in the image push passed film grain and move into digital noise, all creating some rather fuzzy environment renderings (especially in the pool table/bar scene) and a noticeable haze about the image. Contrast also has a few issues here and there, making shadows seem a little grayer than they probably should and causing grass to come off a little on the blatantly green side. Primal Fear still looks fine — and seemingly distortion/enhancement free — with only a few hints of noticeable print damage, all of which build it into a moderate, no-frills high-definition image.
For the audio treatment, we’ve got a durable Dolby TrueHD track that delivers exactly where it needs to — in verbal clarity. Musical accompaniment rings true just fine and the scant sound effect htat occur. Most of the action stays to the front of the soundstage, only passing to the back in the rare occasion where an ambient effect might add just a boost to the atmosphere or during music-heavy scenes. However, the depth of Norton’s lower-pitched vocal moments and the highpoints of Linney’s vocal strength all stay audible and clean, keeping crisp all the most important audio elements in Primal Fear. French, and Spanish 5.1 tracks are also available, as are subtitles in English, English SDH, French, Spanish, and Portuguese options.
The Blu-ray edition of Primal Fear includes all of the supplements set to appear on the concurrently-released Hard Evidence Edition DVD. While there aren’t any extensive documentaries to get excited about, Paramount has encoded the disc’s video content in high definition.
• Filmmakers’ Audio Commentary: Director Gregory Hoblit, Writer Ann Biderman, Casting Director Deborah Aquila, Executive Producer Hawk Koch, and Producer Gary Lucchesi sit down for a rather unfocused, tangential discussion about the development of the project, the production, the actors’ performances, and the particulars of the film’s twists. The track is rarely burdened by lengthy technical dissections, but it also rarely feels like a cohesive examination of the themes presented in the story.
• The Final Verdict (18 minutes): A talking-heads EPK from start to finish, this mediocre behind-the-scenes featurette offers a lot of solid information without really delving into the meat of the production. Still, the cast members have plenty of insight to share.
• Star Witness (18 minutes): This secondary follow-up hones in on Edward Norton’s casting, performance, and commitment to his role.
• Psychology of Guilt (14 minutes): An all-too-short look at the disorders, behaviors, and mental illnesses portrayed in the film..
• Theatrical Trailer (2 minutes)
