Fatal Instinct

I stumbled upon this film late one night on TV a few years ago and laughed so hard that I could barely breathe. Armand Assante plays Ned Ravine, a totally clueless cop/lawyer. He is so clueless that he doesn't see that his wife (Kate Nelligan)is having an affair with a mechanic(Christopher MacDonald), or that his secretary (Sherilyn Fenn) is deeply in love with him (She also has an abusive ex-husband that's looking for her). Into the picture comes Lola Cain(Sean Young), a woman with shoe problems (everything sticks to the bottom of it). She also wants Ned.

This film spoof "Fatal Attraction," "Basic Instinct," and every film noir movie ever made. Funny Carl Reiner film.

Very funny film noir spoof, that's undeservedly criticised. It may lack the "quality" feel of e.g. The Naked Gun, but I think it's almost as funny.

The film looks great, and the jokes aren't as much of a hit-and-miss affair as you could fear. Naturally it's almost essential that you've seen most of the films it takes a crack at (Double Indemnity, Body Heat, Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction, Sleeping with the Enemy just to mention a few).

But what really elevates Fatal Instinct above similar efforts is the brilliant performance from Armand Assante, who displays a comic timing that I never would have guessed he had. He plays his completely oblivious-to-everything-that's-happening-around-him detective with such dead pan seriousness, that it's impossible not to laugh (the scenes with his skunk little Neddy are hilarious).

Never mind the critics, find this film and see it. [8/10]

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.

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.

The fine touch of comedy mixed with the charm of the three actressess. Assante is great and has a real sense of humour as the famous detective/lawyer who defends his arrests in the courts. The film has many touches of famous movies as "Sleeping with the enemy", Cape fear" and many movies that I may haven't seen yet.