Rating: 

The Info

Directed by: Jon Turteltaub
Written by: Gerald Di Pego (novel Ishmael by Daniel Quinn)
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding Jr, Donald Sutherland, Maura Tierney, George Dzundza
Produced by: Barbara Boyle, Michael Taylor

The Nutshell

An anthropologist who has lived with gorillas for two years and is now mute becomes the patient of Dr. Calder, who tries to bring him back to a normal mental state.

The Review

    Mankind has dominated the planet Earth for centuries, indeed for more than a millennium. As a species, we inhabit every corner of the globe and wreak havoc on Mother Nature in numerous ways (deforestation, overfishing etc.). If you look up the definitions of parasite and virus, you might be surprised to find that mankind fits the description. We travel to new territory, use its resources for our own needs, and in the end use up everything the land has to offer, leaving it barren and dead. We also destroy the habitats of thousands of animal species annually, while throwing the more exotic species into zoos for our children to gawk at. When a bear attacks someone who gets too close to its den, park wardens invariably head out to shoot it dead, never questioning their moral right to do so. We have dominion over the world, yet don't realize the damage this causes. This is the honourable but heavy-handed message of Instinct.

    Professor Ethan Powell (Hopkins), a noted anthropologist who disappeared into the jungle two years ago, has emerged, after killing and wounding several game wardens. He is found in the company of a family of gorillas, and is thrown in jail. Thanks to his stature in the American scientific community, the U.S. State Department brings him home, where he awaits a psychiatric evaluation while incarcerated. Dr. Ben Hillard (Sutherland) is chosen to do the evaluation but instead passes the honour to his student Dr. Theo Calder (Gooding Jr.). Calder sees this as his chance to write a best-seller and make a name for himself. He is ambitious and good at his job, and attacks the case with gusto. His zeal is dampened however, when he arrives at the prison to find out that he must treat all of the psychotic patients, not just Powell. What follows is a contest of wills between Powell and Calder, each trying to mentally stay on top of the other. As Powell's story slowly emerges, Calder must decide if he is fit to stand trial for murder.

    Stripped of all of its subplots, Instinct is a great story. Calder's attempts to bring Powell out of his self-imposed shell, and subsequent questions about his past make a powerful drama. Gooding Jr. proves that his Academy Award for Jerry Maguire was no fluke. He works well opposite Hopkins, whose acting talents have long been noted. Both characters are headstrong and driven, pushing each other to blink first, wanting control of the sessions. Powell's tale is simple (the gorillas he studied for some reason accepted him as one of the family) but emotionally charged. His anguish at the brutality of the game wardens is heart-breaking and justified. Calder's abilities as a therapist are constantly called into question, by his patient, by the prison's employees, and even by himself. He learns a lot about life from Powell, and ultimately questions his entire life's purpose. Stan Winston and his team of special effects wizards (responsible for the alien in Aliens and many other classic creatures in film) have created believable, realistic gorillas that interact well with Dr. Powell.

    Director Jon Turteltaub and writer Gerald Di Pego crafted a great story here, but inexplicably chose to add horrible filler to it. Dr. Calder is turned into a Patch Adams-style psychologist, making every inmates life better simply by being present. He waltzes into the prison and starts arbitrarily changing the rules of the institution, jeopardizing the authority of the staff. He breaks all of the rules, yet other than some yelling and grumbling, the warden and guards let it all happen. Calder makes the prison's doctor, Dr. Murray (Dzundza) transform from a washed-up has-been to a man with new-found vigour and drive to cure the sick. In reality, Calder would be tossed from the prison and told never to return. It is just like Robin Williams' Patch Adams somehow making life better for all of the inmates at the mental institution where he was a patient, simply by being Robin Williams. Several scenes are thrown in solely to push the audience's CRY button, such as Dr. Calder standing in the rain with out-stretched arms, looking like a man going through a metamorphosis into something better, or the psychotic inmates one by one standing up and showing their support for the Doctor, while showing the prison guards that they have lost control. I am reminded of the scene at the end of Dead Poet's Society when the students all stand on their desks, as a way of saying good-bye.

    The film has many other opportunities to be formulaic that thankfully aren't taken. A possible romance between Dr. Calder and Lynn Powell (Tierney) is nicely kept at the friendship level, while the possibility of using a courtroom for Cuba Gooding Jr. to deliver a classic Oscar-clip level speech isn't used. The supporting cast is a mixed bag of talent, with Donald Sutherland acting suitably scholarly as Calder's mentor (and much more awake than in his previous role in the abysmal Virus), while John Ashton (Beverley Hills Cop) is a caricature of every mean, violent prison guard in film history. Maura Tierney is convincing and well-cast as Powell's photographer daughter, while George Dzundza gives the film a few laughs and a few dramatic high points as Dr. Murray. If all of the heavy-handed, formulaic scenes had been removed from Instinct by editor Richard Francis-Bruce, this could have been a taut psychological drama with a strong message about our place on the planet. Instead, its chance is wasted, leaving a mediocre film that wastes its amazing acting talent.

Copyright - Tim Chandler

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