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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Primal Fear
Paramount Pictures


7.2

based on 18 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 7 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: R for brief grisly violence, pervasive strong language and a sex scene

Starring Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Edward Norton, John Mahoney, Frances McDormand, Alfre Woodard, Andre Braugher, and Steven Bauer

Guilty? Innocent? Those questions aren't for high-powered Chicago attorney Martin Vail (Gere) to decide. His job is to defend - especially if a case will put his name in the headlines and further his career. When Vail hears that a penniless altar boy (Norton) is accused of murdering the local archbishop, he snaps up the case, eager for the media spotlight. Little does he know that it will uncover a viper's nest of corruption, pit him against a prosecutor (Linney) who's his ex-lover, and test all his skill, judgement and even his win-at-any-cost attitude. (Paramount)

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	William Diehl (novel) Steve Shagan Ann Biderman
DIRECTED BY:	Gregory Hoblit
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: October 20, 1998 Video: May 6, 1997 Theatrical: April 3, 1996
RUNNING TIME:	129 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

Edward Norton picked up an 1997 Acacemy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role in this film.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

Riveting.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The plot is as good as crime procedurals get, but the movie is really better than its plot because of the three-dimensional characters.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

A crackling courtroom drama with more twists than O.J. had alibis.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

A tight courtroom melodrama that serves up twist after twist like so many baffling knuckle balls, this film handles its suspenseful material with skill and style.

USA Today Mike Clark

As a forum for its actors and for the big-screen directorial debut of multi-Emmy winner Gregory Hoblit, the film is up to the job.

San Francisco Examiner Barbara Shulgasser

This is the sort of movie that doesn't become irritating even when it's predictable.

Entertainment Weekly Ken Tucker

Gere taps into his charismatic-weasel mode, but director Gregory Hoblit fills the big screen with excellent TV actors (Andre Braugher, John Mahoney, Maura Tierney) and then gives them nothing interesting to do.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Despite high production standards and a slick advertising campaign, Primal Fear is as trite and routine as any made-for-TV courtroom drama.

Variety Todd McCarthy

The major jolt is saved for the very end but, like much else in the film, it is overexplained and underlined when more simplicity and quiet would have provided the revelation with the power of a depth charge.

Austin Chronicle Alison Macor

Norton's performance and the well-paced tension preceding the movie's climactic sequence provide an entertaining if slightly predictable thriller.

TV Guide Staff (Non Credited)

The sky-high sleaze quotient -- lascivious priests, amateur porn movies, teenage hustlers and institutionalized corruption of every kind -- ought to guarantee fun for all, but heavy messages keep poking through and spoiling everything.

Time Richard Schickel

Diverting without being fully absorbing, this is a film best appreciated as an exercise in--shall we say it?--Primal Gere. [15 Apr 1996, p.100]

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Semiabsorbing.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

Pared down to a farfetched plot and paper-thin motives, the story relies on an overload of tangential subplots to keep it looking busy. [3 Apr 1996, p.C15]

Washington Post Desson Thomson

The special twist-which Paramount Pictures has implored critics not to divulge-redefines the story completely. It also ruins everything.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The violent story is long on nastiness, short on credibility.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

You'd get more of a jolt from Angela Lansbury on "Murder, She Wrote" and more intellectual stimulation from a cozy game of Clue.

Salon.com Andrew Ross

It should have been sent straight to video. As a courtroom drama, it stumbles from one ludicrous howler to another. Were the movie's "legal technical advisers" on another planet while the rest of the world was learning about legal procedure courtesy of the O.J. trial?

The average user rating for this movie is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

R JG gave it an8:
Don't be mislead by the 47 number above. This is as good a psycological thrillers as they get. Norton's performance is resourceful, convincing, and powerful. The plot is better than most movies in the genre.

Nick H gave it an8:
A 47 percent? Bull. This movie deserves to have those numbers flipped. 74% or higher, come on! I really liked it. Ed Norton was great.

Pat C. gave it a 6:
Engaging plot twister. Once again, we see no one is more susceptible to the corrupted than the corrupted.

Yoon Min C. gave it a 7:
This would have been just another crime thriller/courtroom drama(albeit superior than most)had it not been for Edward Norton's electrifying performance in the role of the alleged killer. Norton proved himself a formidable actor, effortlessly tapping into a wide range of expressions from dimwitted sheepishness to the diabolical charisma of an Adolf Hitler. Acting truly as a dangerous, spellbinding art.

William M. gave it a 9:
I was riveted by this film. Norton was great, and the twist had me pretty stunned. Lastly, and most importantly, Laura Linney is a GODDESS! We need to see much more of her -- more acting roles that is -- in the future.

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Primal Fear Paramount Pictures

Primal Fear
Paramount Pictures