Probably one of the most watched and widely discussed movies of our generation, Basic Instinct is, in my opinion, nothing more than a modern day “Kamasutra” set against the backdrop of baffling murder mysteries. What contributed to the enormous success of the movie were three factors – Violence, Action and Sharon Stone (not necessarily in that order), with the third factor probably outweighing the other two in the ratio 3:0.
It makes eminent sense for me not to repeat the whole story as that would only tantamount to a considerable waste of time. Readers may therefore excuse me for the same.
The movie lacks on several fronts...for one thing, it certainly had something called a “Good Storyline” which, coupled with the fine performances put in by the lead and supporting cast would have guaranteed a sure-fire hit. However, Paul Verhoeven, it appears, is always in the habit of trying out something “different” in each of his movies (remember “Showgirls”?) which results in him making a muck out of all his movies. Continuing the same trend, Verhoeven converts what could have been a superb murder mystery into something more banal.
As a thriller, the movie is a game of planting red herrings and false leads. Sharon Stone’s blend of mind-games and sex-games is not beguiling but it is intriguingly tortuous. To its credit, Basic Instinct has several striking scenes, good sets, some dazzling photography by Jan De Bont (director of “Speed”), a sinister background score by Jerry Goldsmith, riveting performances, all backed by a largely good direction which occasionally tends to lose its bearings here and there. Somewhere in between, we also have some ribald characterization of strange characters without which the movie would have been a few shades better than what it eventually turned out to be.
The movie is damnably bloody, disgustingly homophobic and massively stacked in favour of masculinism...and that is putting it a tad too mildly. Voyeurs might disagree with me citing all the sensuously lit sex scenes, thrilling vehicular chases and the adroit direction. However, it is also carelessly plotted and clearly made with the intention of provoking visceral reactions among that category of viewers for whom it was meant. The general populace might have shelled out money to watch for all the on-screen titillation. At the same time, it is not a valid enough reason for neglecting the thriller elements that go into the making of true movies of its genre - those that draw the line between ’’Instinct’’ as soft porn and ’’Instinct’’ as an erotic cliff-hanger.
The sleuthing procedures employed by Messrs. Douglas and Co. and the handling of the suspense scenes by the director are by and large incoherent as the game-playing tactics between Stone and Douglas reach such levels of digression that the viewer stops following as well as caring for both.
What one is left with is at the end of it all is the incredulous bonus meted out by all those eye-popping “special effects” performed by Douglas and Stone. The movie is definitely not worth drooling over...it’s just about worth a cursory watch.