RECENT VIEWINGS (Bad Movie Thread!)

[M.10rda]

FEAR (1996):
Second viewing of this big ball of cheese because Madame wanted to watch it for some reason. I puzzled over which section to post this in. It isn't a Good Movie but it isn't incompetent either and it is pretty fun Bad Movie to howl at and make fun of, from time to time, but on the other hand if you've seen it once, it takes a loooooooong time to get where it's going and really tried my patience for about an hour.

When I met and spent time w/ director James Foley, he said he was proud of two things about FEAR - one, that he got a decent performance out of Marky Mark, and two, he was proud of the rollercoaster scene and generally happy w/ the frisson between Marky Mark and Reese Witherspoon. I'm glad he felt good about that stuff. I do wish he had a better screenplay to work with - this ain't Mamet, that's for sure! However I also have to hang some of the blame for what fails to work in FEAR on Foley's shoulders. The final 25 minutes becomes a home invasion thriller and replays many familiar beats from STRAW DOGS and even the most famous moment from the Coens' BLOOD SIMPLE. This final act should have been the best part of FEAR - and it probably is, only by virtue of the first three-quarters being so rote. But the finale never fully picks up steam and although FEAR is Rated R, the climactic violence still lacks the bloody gruesomeness that would've delivered a big payoff.*

Witherspoon, legit 80s star William Peterson, and Amy Brenneman all seem to know that FEAR is pure cheese and never really invest more than what is required of the material. Alyssa Milano, on the other hand, must have thought FEAR was her shot at an Oscar or something and swings wildly for the fences. Wahlberg, though, really is the film's strongest asset - electrifying and totally convincing as a completely conscienceless, reprehensible, inhuman piece of trash. Was he acting?  James Foley thought he was acting, and took a lot of the credit for getting the performance out of Marky - who Foley claimed was an annoying idiot but not a bad person (though Wahlberg's own criminal history and public rhetoric may suggest otherwise).

2.5/5    * The bloodiest part of the movie, unfortunately. is what Wahlberg does to the family dog. If you're a pet-lover, you can safely skip FEAR altogether.