Natural Enemies

Natural Enemies aka Hidden Thoughts, based on a novel by Julius Horowitz, is a serious and incredibly intriguing film that begins with a voice-over narration by the Father/Husband (Hal Holbrook) telling us his reasons why he is heavily leaning towards shooting his manic depressive wife (Louise Fletcher), his three neglected children, and then himself. This is a man at the end of his rope, and you realize the film just began.

Throughout the film he speaks of many topics such as monotony, predictability, disappointment, lack of emotion, connection and love. His words and demeanor are at times sullen, blunt, and always feeling as if thought through entirely. You tag along as he visits a brothel, talks with suspecting friends, and as well watch him struggle and overwhelm himself, others, and the viewer with his thoughts and pessimistic stances. You watch the film in a very uncertain manner, wondering if any of his many interactions will have any lasting affect.

Natural Enemies takes all the correct turns when attempting to feel like a true slice of life, and with such great writing and acting, the film delivers a consistently difficult, at times relatable, and always thoughtful story.

Magazine editor Hal Holbrook, husband to a manic depressive and father to three kids who ignore him, contemplates killing himself with a rifle after first eliminating each member of his family. Technically adept, solidly performed drama is decidedly grim, occasionally insufferable, but undeniably potent--and surprisingly relevant to the times. Director Jeff Kanew, who also adapted Julius Horwitz's novel, goes out on a limb with this non-commercial material, yet he makes a few missteps in the process. With the firm conclusion that "all married men have this fantasy", Kanew seems to think that familial obliteration is an all-encompassing issue--an epidemic among dissatisfied husbands and middle-aged fathers--without any facts to back this up. Kanew's decision to have the man's wife suddenly come out of her fog and attempt to reach her husband with intelligent conversation doesn't quite work; most viewers won't be able to connect with him, either--he's like the evil villain on a soap opera--all of which causes Kanew's ending to seem like a cop-out (especially the way it's presented). Louise Fletcher gets some good speeches as the Mrs., and her forthright plea for mutual understanding is commendable, but Kanew doesn't allow her to be strong, and the three children (who have no lines, nor personalities) appear to be equally lethargic and dim. Hal Holbrook's lead performance is unvarying in its grimness and, while he's a superlative actor, one tends to recoil from scenes of him sexing it up at a brothel (or, even more excruciating, chit-chatting with the naked prostitutes in bed about his ground-up life). Many interesting points are made in the midst of a dramatic muddle, and yet the coldness inherent in the handling comes off as abject indifference. ** from ****

When Natural Enemies premiered in 1979, cable television had still not evolved, and of those few people who used computers nobody yet had heard of accessing something called the Internet, so people were still forming many of their opinions regarding the historical and social events of other countries based on movies. Little had changed in 1981, especially in places such as Argentina, where I watched Natural Enemies after happening upon an advertisement on a small sign outside a movie theater.

Did the Argentinian people who endured the story leave the theater believing that the United States needed to deal with its growing problem of murder-suicide? Did they return home after the movie feeling relieved knowing that the worst of their families were not nearly so dysfunctional? Did they ask themselves how many working people in the U.S. were making a similar daily commute through the dreary outskirts of an old, grey, in-need-of-renewal city? Maybe if the lead character could have moved his family (from someplace in the Northeast, I think) to somewhere where the sun shined, he could have begun to see his life's circumstances as less hopeless.

I would only recommend Natural Enemies to someone who prefers movies with realism, even when that means seeing the most unpleasant aspects of society, because this story can depress a viewer like no other. I would say, too, that the believable performances make this film watchable.

This is a film that has been sadly neglected over time. I'm still unsure why it hasn't received a DVD or Blu-Ray release. As a cinematic portrayal of severe and isolating depression it has few peers. It compares favourably with the likes of Taxi Driver as a thorough and focused examination of an articulate yet highly damaged mind.

Hal Holbrook is superb in this film, exemplifying his talent. His character of Paul Steward is by turns sympathetic, disturbing, cruel and intelligent. Only a few years after her role as the monstrous Nurse Ratched, Louise Fletcher puts in a very strong role as Paul's wife, who is loving but woefully poor at communication until it is too late.

Every scene in the film focuses on Paul as he tries to express his rage, frustration and despair to anyone who will listen. His pleas are met with scepticism and well meaning but ultimately useless advice. He seemingly has it all, a family and a high flying job but something about his whole existence and outlook is broken beyond repair. His misguided and half hearted attempts to fix things prove ineffective. The simple and unflashy direction is completely appropriate to the situation at hand.

There's no easy solutions offered by this film which really helps the viewer see Paul's hopeless and detached perspective. The ending is somewhat predictable but in a way is made more powerful because of that, it feels true to the situation depicted. Definitely not a film to warm the heart but as a mature and captivating insight into the horrendously bleak mindsets people can fall into it is entirely worth seeing.

Natural Enemies is one of the worst movies I've ever seen - and since I've seen thousands upon thousands of movies, that's quite an insult. It was only out of sheer duty to my position on the Board of Directors of the Hot Toasty Rag Awards that I sat through its entirety, and since then, I've done everything I could to try and blot it from my memory.

If you want to destroy any wholesome image of Hal Holbrook from your mind, you can consider watching it. However, I still wouldn't recommend a viewing, because you might not be prepared for what you're getting into. Do you really want to see the man who portrayed Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln in sex scenes so graphic they're downright embarrassing to watch? Do you want to see him in a brothel? Do you want to see him loading a revolver, fantasizing about the mass murder of his entire family? Because that's what this movie is about. If that appeals to you, then you and I have different tastes and you shouldn't listen to me anyway.

I don't understand why Julius Horwitz and Jeff Kanew's screenplay got studio approval and backing from producers. I don't understand why Hal, Louise Fletcher, and José Ferrer signed on to act out such a disturbing, disgusting screenplay. At least Joe's character is supposed to be the voice of reason, expressing concern for the protagonist's mental state. But is the audience supposed to question the mental state of Hal and Louise for acting in the film in the first place? Perhaps Louise thought it would be funny to put the shoe on the other foot after One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; her character's backstory includes a stint in the mental ward, complete with shock treatment. But how could any woman agree to act out the other scenes in the film? I seriously urge you to never watch this movie. Even if you just want to try out the first fifteen minutes or so, the damage will be done. Natural Enemies is not a piece of art, and it does not excuse its sickness for the sake of fine acting. It, plain and simple, should never have been made.

Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to graphic sex scenes, upsetting violence, and disturbing adult content, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.