Fear
by James Foley
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Actor: Alyssa Milano, Amy Brenneman, Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon, William PetersenDirector: James Foley
Brand: NBC Universal
Cinematographer: Thomas Kloss
Editor: David Brenner
Producer: Brian Grazer
Producer: Karen Kehela Sherwood
Producer: Karen Snow
Producer: Ric Kidney
Writer: Christopher Crowe
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 97 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1998-10-27
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Pictures
DVD Reviews of Fear
DVD Review: Give Into 'FEAR'
Summary: 5 Stars
When Fear slipped in and out of our collective consciousness in 1996 with all the impact of a school board election, the critics' near-unanimous cry of "cheesy thriller" was followed by the sound of the cineplex door hitting the picture on the butt as it made its way to oblivion.
Well, yes, Fear is a cheesy thriller, and it's also formulaic, cliched, hysterical and even downright silly. But all of that misses the point. Unlike most formulaic, cliched, hysterical and silly movies, Fear has enough sex, swagger and thrills that you can still respect yourself in the morning after spending a lurid night with it.
Like any charming piece of trash, Fear is best appreciated if you decide at the outset to give wholly in to it (a prospect which shouldn't, in and of itself, disturb anyone who thought Independence Day was a major work of motion picture art). Giving in to the movie isn't just a matter of accepting that it's a hokey cross of Fatal Attraction and The Wild One, though that is undeniably part of the fun. Nor is it just a matter of finding out whether underwear model Marky Mark Wahlberg can act (which he can, some). No, giving in to Fear is a question of embracing the unthinkable, of considering the possibility that a remake of Cape Fear with Wahlberg in the Robert De Niro role and William Petersen standing in for Nick Nolte might actually be an improvement. Seriously. In large measure, Fear is more satisfying than Cape Fear because Wahlberg is a more cuddly villain than De Niro and Petersen a less likable putz than Nolte.
Where Nolte is dashing and able, Petersen is aptly wan as an architect whose career is accelerating a tad beyond his capacities, whose second marriage (to an innocuously cute Amy Brenneman) is crumbling, and whose teen daughter (Reese Witherspoon), the issue of marriage number one, is blooming sexually and increasingly eager to act on her new urges. Into this tenuous menage saunters Wahlberg, looking smashing as David McCall, a local hanger-out who's part altar boy and part psychotic. He literally seduces Witherspoon, and figuratively seduces her stepmom, her half brother and the family dog. Only Petersen, who understands David's predatory masculinity all too well, resists the guy's charms, and sets off a hair-raising rivalry, with Papa Bear trying to defend his little cub from the New Young Buck on the Block.
Thankfully, Fear glides along with a big dumb grin on its face, utterly unaware that it's about any such thing as male domination, and therein lies its appeal. This same blissful ignorance also makes Fear a better bet on video than it was a theatrical film. Go to a theater and watch Wahlberg stalk a suburban family and you might start wondering if someone's dosed your Pepsi; watch a Wahlberg film on video and realize that it's actually about something, and you feel pretty good about lying around the house in your sweats on a Saturday night. Don't get me wrong, of course. In the end, as Fear winds its way from moderately engaging psychological thriller to ludicrously over-the-top siege movie, you'll find yourself, howsoever absorbed, grateful not to have spent "E" ticket prices for what is little more than a mental kiddy ride.
The fact that Fear works as both pure cotton candy and intriguing horror show is attributable most of all to director James Foley, who's a frustrating talent as likely to produce pure crap (Who's That Girl?) or ponderous contrivance (Glengarry Glen Ross) as chilling drama (At Close Range) or compelling pulp (After Dark, My Sweet). This time, he's generally on the mark. He's got an appreciative, voyeuristic feel for teenagers (look at his 1984 directorial debut, Reckless, an archetypical young-teen-on-bike-gets-laid movie, for a similar pattern), and in Fear, Alyssa Milano is particularly piquant as Witherspoon's slutty best friend. But Foley's always been a guy's director with a knack for getting performances from young leading men: Sean Penn, Aidan Quinn and Jason Patric have all done solid work with him, and he gets some real moments out of Wahlberg (who has since stunned the world with further evidence of acting talent starting with BOOGIE NIGHTS and culminating in an Oscar nomination for THE DEPARTED. Go figure!)
So, sure, give in to Fear for 90 minutes or so of cheap pleasure, but don't expect it to be anything more than what it looks like: a Mark Wahlberg movie. Which isn't so much to say that it sucks as to register surprise that there's as much good in it as there is.
Description of Fear
First love can be innocent or intense, intoxicating...or insatiable. Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon and Alyssa Milano star in this riveting suspense-thriller about a passionate romance that soon becomes a deadly obsession. Nicole Walker (Witherspoon) always dreamed of being swept away by someone special - someone strong, sexy and sensitive who would care for her more than anything else in the world. David (Wahlberg) is all that and more: a modern-day knight who charms and seduces her, body and soul. But her perfect boyfriend is not all he seems to be. His sweet facade masks a savage, dark side that will soon transform Nicole's dream into a nightmare. Also starring William Petersen and Amy Brenneman, and featuring a killer soundtrack, this provocative thriller will lure you past the brink of terror and keep you on the edge of your seat! Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon, Alyssa Milano, William Petersen, Amy Brenneman Directed by: James FoleyBestsellers in DVD
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