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Basic Instinct (1992) is a good sultry psychological thriller presented in a sexually provocative and nontraditional "who done it" style that will keep you initially guessing with each turn of events. Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) is a homicide detective who has been on a personal path of self-destruction leading him to divorce, anger problems, drug abuse, impulsivity, and alcoholism. Despite his narcissism and an ongoing internal affairs inquiry, Nick is now clean and he is assigned to the murder investigation of a prominent city official and retired rock star who was sexually tied to his bed and stabbed to death with an ice pick. The victim's rich girlfriend, Catherine Trammell (Sharon Stone), who is a bisexual author of murder mysteries, is the primary suspect and her latest book features a murder very similar to the one Nick is investigating. Nick and his loyal detective partner, Gus Moran (George Dzundza), are sent to Catherine's home to interview the suspect. There, Nick discovers his fascination and unusually strong sexual attraction for Catherine. The manipulative, sexually open novelist quickly detects Nick's poor impulse control as well as their uncanny similarities and they are soon engaged in a lustful relationship. Their relationship is plagued with a narcissistic competition in which each is thinking they are successfully using and outwitting the other in a dangerous game with only one goal – winning. This competition is further heightened when Nick discovers Catherine's jealous lesbian lover, Roxy (Leilani Sarelle) is also a player in the game. Furthermore, Nick appears to be losing the game when he discovers that Catherine knows more about him than he knows about her and she is using him as the central character in her next novel. Nick's only sincere supporters are his ex-girlfriend, Dr. Beth Garner (Jeanne Tripplehorn), who is a police psychologist and his cowboy partner Gus, but their efforts are not enough to pull him out of this narcissistic web. Soon, everyone Nick comes into contact is either eliminated or turns into a suspect. The movie demonstrates its wonderful strengths in casting. Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone are both superb. Despite her magnetic sex appeal, captivating attraction, and hypnotic sensuality, I think Sharon Stone has a stage weakness in emotionally connecting with her audiences due to her often cool, aloof acting style. However, in her role of Catherine Trammell I think what may be perceived as Sharon Stone's single stage weakness becomes her greatest strength as her cool distance style is perfect for this part and what I consider to be her best career performance. The director, Paul Verhoeven, also did a fantastic job in telling the story with just the right mix of dialogue, sensuality, conflicts, and explosive sex. From the same director that brought us RoboCop (1987), Hollow Man (2000), and Total Recall (1990), his excellent skills at capturing the intended situational mood of the audience is fantastic. This fact is best illustrated in the scene at the police station when Catherine is interrogated in the now infamous "no-panties scene" where director Paul Verhoeven has Sharon Stone doing her seductive leg-crossings dance. But then again, I would expect nothing less incredible from such a creative director with a fantastic sense of humor who filmed the co-ed shower scene in Starship Troopers (1997) naked following a "dare" from Dina Meyer. Although the movie rapidly moves the viewer from character to character trying to solve this unique "who done it" mystery, it just as abruptly dampens the suspense by eliminating all the suspects for you, one by one, leaving none other than the narcissistic ice queen with her ice pick. As for the R-rated and unrated versions on DVD, I prefer the unrated one as there is some added time in the first sexual encounter between Nick Curran and Catherine Trammell. Although this added time is very well done and makes for a hotter scene, the overall results are still the same. The only other difference is that the unrated version also includes an audio commentary with director Paul Verhoeven and director of photography Jan De Bont. Sinister, sensual, dark, sexy, foreboding, and passionate, I think most adults will find this movie to have good entertainment value. email this review to a friend
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