Fresh and Exciting

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

I am well aware of the bad pun I just made in the title of this review. If you didn't think that was funny, all I can tell you is that it is probably funnier than 95% of the gags in this film. I will admit that a couple of the gags here and there elicited a few chuckles out of me, but for the most part, I kept watching this film wondering why a production assistant didn't pull Carl Reiner aside and say, "Sir, this isn't funny. I recommend shutting down production."I'm betting that 1994 must have made for a hell of a family reunion at the Reiner household. Carl Reiner's son, Rob Reiner, ended his hot streak of memorable films when he released "North" (1994), the comedy that almost permanently derailed his career. The elder Reiner, who is also no stranger to funny and often times memorable films ("The Jerk" (1979), "The Man With Two Brains" (1983)), probably felt the same pain as Rob after releasing this forgettable mess of a film."Fatal Instinct" is a comedy that is a spoof, but is sometimes unsure of just what it is spoofing. It is supposed to be a parody of erotic thrillers that came out in the late '80's and early '90's. Of course, there are many references to scenes in "Fatal Attraction" (1987) and "Basic Instinct" (1992), hence the name of the film. Scenes from other such thrillers like "Sleeping With The Enemy" (1991), "Body Heat" (1981), and "Cape Fear" (1962 or 1991) are also obviously repeated.There are two problems with this films repeating scenes from these movies. First, the key word is "repeat". None of the actors in these scenes even try to reflect the irony of the most memorable moments in these crime thrillers. Sure they reference Sharon Stone's infamous lack of underwear in "Basic Instinct", and Glenn Close's roasting a bunny in a pot in "Fatal Attraction". Simple referencing of such scenes does not make them funny.Second, the film is rated PG-13, which means kids can see it. Because "Basic Instinct" and "Fatal Attraction" were R-rated movies that both came close to being NC-17, kids would not (or should not) have been able to see them. Therefore, any jokes about, or references to, these films, regardless of whether or not they're funny, are going to fly over kids' heads. If you're going to spoof R-rated movies, why not go edgier with the on-screen gags? Kids probably would not want to see the movie anyway, so why did the filmmakers not even think to make this movie R-rated?When the film is not reenacting femme fatale shots from movies adult audience members probably have already seen, it seems as though it inserts infantile gags in an attempt to be "The Naked Gun" (1988). Armand Assante is a good dramatic actor, but in this movie, it seemed as though he tried way too hard to be Leslie Nielsen. Nielsen was funny in the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker comedies because he said ridiculous things while keeping a straight face. Assante all too often seemed aware of the absurdity of his lines, and his natural comic timing was usually way off.On top of all those errors, there were a lot of really tired running gags. Seeing gum and toilet paper being stuck to Sean Young's high heels wasn't particularly funny the first time, and was even less the fifth time around. The joke about Assante being both a cop and a lawyer was also about as stupid as his closet being full of the same suit. The film was also inundated with really stupid character names (i.e. Max Shady, Judge Skanky), and horrible, obvious puns.Nowhere were these terrible puns more evident than in the courtroom scene. Once the bailiff called for a ten minute recess, guess what happened next? Yep, all the members of the court went outside and played games. Get it? Like it's recess in elementary school!?!?! Ho ho HO!!!!!! Note: By sheer coincidence, there was an equally bad courtroom joke in Rob Reiner's film, "North". When the main character's parents are in comatose during his divorce from them, their attorney says, "I'm afraid the defense rests". Which joke is worse? You decide.So this film was bad. It had very good actors in it that tried way too hard to be funny, and looked stupid as a result. Even worse, there was really no story. The writer of this film seemed to be so busy naming erotic thrillers that the audience never cares about the fate of the characters in THIS movie. The film spins its wheels while managing to go nowhere. Carl Reiner should be thankful to Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, though. If they hadn't made their awful spoof movies, which are far more guilty of repeating pop culture moments, "Fatal Instinct" would probably be the worst parody film of all time. It is fatal to watch, and you should trust your instinct by not seeing it.

Fatal Instinct (1993): Starring Armand Assante, Kate Nelligan, Sherilyn Fenn, Sean Young, Christopher McDonald, James Remar, Tony Randall, Michael Cumpsty, Clarance Clemons...Director Carl Reiner...Writer David O'Malley Released in 1993, this comedy spoof film is top notch in much the same lines of The Naked Gun/Leslie Nielson movies and or the earlier Airplane! which means there are endless sequences of visual jokes, even if they are unbelievably unrealistic. Armand Assante (yes a serious actor in a comic role really works although they could have easily used Leslie Nielson for the part) stars as the victim of the scheming Lola Cain (Sean Young) who will stop at nothing to see his marriage ruined. She is a parody of the psycho bitches played by Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction" and Katherine Tramell played by Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. She hams it up as a scheming, evil temptress. Like the title suggests, the movie is a cross between Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct. Those were the two most standard thrillers during the early 90's period. Both films starred Michael Douglas as the target of a scheming, sexually powerful and psychotic, dangerous woman. The laughs keep on coming as the obvious parodies are executed. I.E. the famous Interrogation Scene in Basic Instict, the murder in the bath tub and the cooked rabbit in Fatal Attraction. Also on here are parodies of Sleeping With The Enemy starring Julia Roberts and Patrick Bergin, a 1991 thriller about a husband who is obscessed with his own wife and who likes to have his own things in the house arranged his way. (same element here only funnier!) This movie is really great comedy and really will take you back to the 90's. The 90's is long gone and many were too little to remember everything in detail. But it was a time in which movies were full of thrillers. I wish they had made a spoof of "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" on this film too. It was a time of laughing at criminals and their schocking crimes. Remember the Melendez Brothers ? Remember Lorena Bobbit ? And let's not forget the secret plotting of Tonya Harding against Nancy Carrigan. All this happened in the 90's. This was the time of the O.J. Simpson trial after all. I really recommend this movie. Many can easily dismiss it as cheap comedy but there are some genuinely comic moments, such as Armand Assante and Sean Young's lovemaking scene, the final part of the movie is funny too. A must have for fans of comedies of the 90's.

This is Happy Gilmore awful! A sure sign I need to upgrade my cable (which, incidentally, I called to do today). I got bored of infomercials while grading student papers and surfed to this. I knew Assante from his Mike Hammer made-for-TV movie from the 80s, so I stopped. The plot seemed familiar and the gags were kind of funny, so I stuck around. Holy cheese-wiz, what a great way to spend a rainy Sunday! Sexy women, evil bad-guys and inept good-guys who'd make Frank Drebbin himself raise an eyebrow! Ned is a cop/lawyer (does Law & Order know about this concept?) who lost a major case 7 years ago. The defendant is getting released and vows his revenge. Viewers will recognize James Remar as the villain Albert Ganz from 48 hours. CLASSIC casting! Completing the certification of Happy Gilmore awful, Christopher McDonald also plays a major role. Man... just watch it. If you like cheesy spoofs, this is THE BOMB!!!

I absolutely hated this movie. I remember seeing it back in 1994 when I was 11, and hating it even then. Of course, back then I hadn't seen the movies it was spoofing, such as Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, and Sleeping With The Enemy. Over ten years later, I have seen all these movies, so I thought, "Hey, I'll give this movie another try".I recently saw it again, and still thought it was terrible. I read a review Roger Ebert gave of it, and he gave the movie one and a half stars. Roger, in my opinion, was being too nice.Carl Reiner has directed some great movies (i.e. The Jerk), but this is easily his worst. The jokes in the movie ranged from mediocre to just flat out awful and predictable. One of the worst is in the courtroom scene, when the bailiff calls for a ten minute recess. Sure enough, the gag was that everyone went outside and played. Get it? Recess? Ha ha- not! Comedy is indeed hard, but this movie shows that editing your scripts is always a good idea. The kind of humor when the cast acts seriously while the gags speak for themselves worked well for movies like Airplane, Naked Gun, and Hot Shots, but not for this movie. I can't say if it was the acting, the jokes, or the sheer dislike for the characters, but something just wasn't clicking. I'm just curious as to how the cast members felt about this movie as they were doing it. Armand Assante in some scenes looked as if he was ready for Carl to yell "CUT!" any minute. He did not look comfortable doing this comedy. Sean Young looked like she was trying to have fun with it, and is pretty convincing in some scenes. Above all, though, something went terribly wrong with this movie. If you want to rent this movie, I would suggest not paying any more than one dollar for it on video.