Fatal Instinct

Fatal Instinct is one of those guilty pleasures. It's incredibly silly and very funny. Some of the dialogue sounds dead on fast-talking early detective thriller, but the actions are outrageous and the physical comedy non-stop. If you liked the Naked Gun series, you'll love this one.

Ned Ravine is a cop and a lawyer. He has only lost one case--Max Shady was sent to Sam Quentin Prison and, now that he is about to be released, he wants revenge.

Ned's wife Lana is cheating on him with Frank, the mechanic. There is a $3 million insurance policy on Frank's life, and under very unique circumstances (which Lana hopes to make happen) the amount will be tripled.

Not that Ned is completely innocent. Lola needs Ned's help, and she's not wearing panties. Unlike Sharon Stone in 'Basic Instinct', she has her back to the camera when she makes this fact quite obvious to Ned.

Ned's secretary has flashbacks of her abusive relationship at the strangest times. She is quite pleasant, though, and good at her job, and otherwise seems happy.

This is what happens in the movie. How it all happens--that's what makes the movie unique. The opening resembles Film Noir, though it is in color, with a narrator and a saxophone playing. We eventually see the narrator on screen, and the man with him is getting tired of listening. Clarence Clemons, the sax player, also appears in the scene, and numerous others. In a later scene a trumpet is being played instead, by Doc Severinsen--the explanation is that Clarence is taking a break.

Many of the gags involve breaking the fourth wall, such as when two people in a park speak in Yiddish so no one will understand. Bill Cobbs plays the man who offers advice about their situation. He can understand because he saw the subtitles.

In a courtroom, Bob Uecker delivers play-by-play and Tony Randall impresses as the judge. When the court is in recess, this takes place on a playground. In another scene, putting flowers in water takes on a whole new meaning.

Numerous other jokes in the style of movies such as 'Airplane!' show up. And as in that movie, they are delivered in such a way it's not clear they are funny. Some are so obvious, but then they would never be done in an ordinary movie. Others are not so obvious. The writing is quite clever, though not all the jokes worked for me. Perhaps this is because I did not know the movies that were being parodied. I did recognize a couple of scenes from 'Fatal Attraction'. One scene involving a pet on a roller coaster made no sense to me.

I enjoy this type of movie, though some have been done better.

I'm not sure why this has such a low rating. It really deserves some cult-revival love. Armande Assante doesn't have the straight man charisma of Leslie Nielsen, but he's still more than up for the job. The casting of Sean Young following her bizarre Cat Woman stunt in the early '90s couldn't fit her role better. A handful of jokes don't land, but most do.

If the film has any knocks, it's that there is almost too much going on at the end. Also, some of the older films being parodied like Chinatown are probably lost on some viewers.

If you're a fan of noir or neo-noir you'll probably love this, but anyone who enjoys spoofs should also give it a watch.

I'd see this movie on the shelf at the video store alot and I'd always pass it up thinking it's just a stupid cheap comedy. Boy was I wrong, I didn't think I'd like it because I thought Armand Assanti was a real serious actor and he wouldn't be funny but 5 minutes in to it when he put that hot dog in his jacket pocket I didn't stop laughing. Since then I've seen this movie so many time and I laugh just as hard as the first time. If you want a real good laugh get this one.

A wild spoof of suspense and film noirs, I appreciated this silly film a little more than most being a fan of "noirs." As with any comedy, the movie is a combination of genuinely laugh-out-loud gags and sight scenes and genuinely stupid lines. It depends on what makes you laugh.

One thing it has for sure: lots of sexual innuendos and just plain overt sexuality. It's yet another one of these PG-13 ratings that is a joke. This is not for kids. Also, this film won't be much for those without a knowledge of classic crime films of the past, from the '40s to the '80s. Many parts of this movie parrot scenes from Fatal Attraction, Body Double, etc. It takes several viewings to catch most of the inside jokes.

Armand Assante is the smooth private detective and Sherilyn Fenn is his attractive and loyal secretary. Kate Nelligan, Sean Young and Christopher McDonald add to the fun. To be frank, I enjoyed this more on the first viewing than I did on the second. After watching it twice, I thought the film would have been better had it been cut 10-15 minutes, and it's only 90 minutes. However, I am not knocking it: it's a fun movie.