I just watched this movie again, after having seen it twice before in 1996-97. It has held up pretty well. It steals a lot from Hitchcock (the "I had the dream again" key phrase from "Rebecca", the superficial psychoanalysis from "Marnie", the setting of the climax from "Vertigo"), but Phil Joanou's direction is farly static - until the last 20 minutes. The two leads, Gere and Basinger, do a solid but routine job in their roles; it's the secondary characters who give this film a life of its own: Eric Roberts (an outstanding performance) as the edgy husband, Uma Thurman as the patient (whose character is the only one who remains an enigma right to the end), the detective who keeps making insinuations, Gere's colleague who gets panicky when he has to testify, etc. If nothing else, Joanou shows a talent for allowing his actors to do their stuff. (**1/2)
61 Reviews
great performance by Basinger and plot, marred by 90s clichés and a made for TV feel
HelenMary19 August 2013
This film presents something of a dilemma, on the one hand it is an original, psychologically clever and rather twisted with a rather intriguing climax and on the other it is presented as a typical early 90s generic Hollywoodized Basinger/Gere cliché. It could be considered really good, Basinger's performance is actually quite brilliant and if she wasn't who she is but a "serious character actress" and wasn't so damn gorgeous and her character wasn't so clearly a temptress, she'd had probably got some plaudits for it. Uma Thurman equally did rather well although with a little more detachment but Richard Gere seemed remote and rather emotionless despite all the things that happened to him like he was in a trance the whole way through.
Again, the plot, the actual idea is very clever. A woman (which of the two sisters you aren't really sure, or both) is either a brilliant pre-meditated killer, product of a nightmare upbringing and abusive marriage to a callous and rather self-centred misogynist in the form of the dark and horrible (well performed although somewhat typecast) Eric Roberts or she's just a sociopathic manipulative do-anything-to-survive chameleon... and this is played out well throughout the story. Kim Basinger is perfectly cast although playing very much characters she's played before - the blonde beauty, wearing red, the light catching her hair and baby-doll features flateringly etc etc. There's a brilliant bit where a colleague of Gere's is chastising him by saying that no woman is so beautiful as to make a man forget all reason and go against everything he stands for and then he sees Basinger standing in the doorway looking incredible and he just stops talking. Uma Thurman though a beautiful woman in her own right, is perfectly cast as the younger (you presume) sister who is constantly the ugly duckling the "caterpillar" compared to her butterfly sisters and even when she "turns into a butterfly" she is still a pale imitation of the original.
It's difficult to review without giving anything away. There are aspects of this film which I found I predicted, could see coming, but I had no idea how the film would play out, what Gere (playing psychologist) would do, I mean of course the court outcome is to be expected, but that was almost a given in order to set up the totally unpredictable sequence of events and almost gave a false sense of security that you would know how the rest concludes. Typical early 90s fare including the obligatory sex scene, so scripted and paint by numbers (bare behind, bare nipple, dim lighting, sound effects etc) yet non-emotive or engaging and fairly unnecessary for the plot, the film is clichéd in most regards but there's also a dark aggressive and unusual aspect in that it deals with some issues a lot less palatable than most. Take away the clichés and some of the average made-for-TV male performances, and step back a bit and this is actually quite a good film, Basinger giving one of the performances of her life stepping out of her usual totally innocent and just eye-candy comfort zone and the which sister did what aspect you are left which is rather clever.
Again, the plot, the actual idea is very clever. A woman (which of the two sisters you aren't really sure, or both) is either a brilliant pre-meditated killer, product of a nightmare upbringing and abusive marriage to a callous and rather self-centred misogynist in the form of the dark and horrible (well performed although somewhat typecast) Eric Roberts or she's just a sociopathic manipulative do-anything-to-survive chameleon... and this is played out well throughout the story. Kim Basinger is perfectly cast although playing very much characters she's played before - the blonde beauty, wearing red, the light catching her hair and baby-doll features flateringly etc etc. There's a brilliant bit where a colleague of Gere's is chastising him by saying that no woman is so beautiful as to make a man forget all reason and go against everything he stands for and then he sees Basinger standing in the doorway looking incredible and he just stops talking. Uma Thurman though a beautiful woman in her own right, is perfectly cast as the younger (you presume) sister who is constantly the ugly duckling the "caterpillar" compared to her butterfly sisters and even when she "turns into a butterfly" she is still a pale imitation of the original.
It's difficult to review without giving anything away. There are aspects of this film which I found I predicted, could see coming, but I had no idea how the film would play out, what Gere (playing psychologist) would do, I mean of course the court outcome is to be expected, but that was almost a given in order to set up the totally unpredictable sequence of events and almost gave a false sense of security that you would know how the rest concludes. Typical early 90s fare including the obligatory sex scene, so scripted and paint by numbers (bare behind, bare nipple, dim lighting, sound effects etc) yet non-emotive or engaging and fairly unnecessary for the plot, the film is clichéd in most regards but there's also a dark aggressive and unusual aspect in that it deals with some issues a lot less palatable than most. Take away the clichés and some of the average made-for-TV male performances, and step back a bit and this is actually quite a good film, Basinger giving one of the performances of her life stepping out of her usual totally innocent and just eye-candy comfort zone and the which sister did what aspect you are left which is rather clever.
Dramatic Hitchcockian suspense
bugsbunny15 March 2001
This movie does start a little bit slow, but it builds up in its suspense and intensity. The way the story is told you do not even highly suspect that anything is wrong until it comes out. The plot twists and turns are enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. This is the kind of movie Alfred Hichcock would have made had he still been living in 1992. At one point the background looks like it is straight out of "Vertigo". The music score even sounds like Bernard Herrmann. This is a very entertaning suspense thriller that "The Master" would have been proud of, and I'm shure many will find entertaning. " Final Analysis " makes for a great night' entertainment.
What's NOT to like in this film? Beautifully done suspense neo noir.
Gong54 February 2009
I am overcompensating here, this should really be a 9/10 but I am so annoyed by the lack of taste shown by the ratings at IMDb that I feel the 1 extra credit is fair enough. I have actually lost all hope of people choosing wisely and making good suggestions on films...Hollywood has made a science out of aiming for the lowest common denominator anyway and making trillions.
It would be great if we could comment comment on an existing review at imd, such as the one by some "licensed clinical psychologist" which has been been chosen as spotlight review. Now this fella in all his psychotherapeutic wisdom acts like a 5 year old and takes this film literally and passes judgment on Gere's character's psychiatric practices. Is he nuts? It's a damn film for Christ's sake, and a neo noir!!! Of course the shrink will cross the "boundaries" with his patients and act unprofessionally and "needily", he's supposed to be setting up a drama. Let alone that these things ALSO happen in real life. Drama's are not set up by shrinks who act according to AMA rules and psychiatric ethics. To pass judgment on the film on such grounds is like saying that Dumbo is not supposed to fly because elephants don't. PLEASE, IMDb, take this review off the front page,it's insulting.
OK. on with the review: THIS IS A GREAT NEO NOIR FILM, ACTUALLY IT'S PROBABLY THE BEST NEO NOIR AND ONE OF THE BEST CRIME/SUSPENSE/LOVE DRAMA FILMS I VE WATCHED.
Why? The plot is intelligent, it has plenty of twists, and surprisingly very few holes in it (that ANY neo noir or crime thriller for that matter even David Mammet is going to have). Even the more clever viewers are going to miss some of the twists and they won't see them coming. But anyway most here complained that it went to fast for them...may I suggest they use a staple of the modern DVD/blue ray/VCR the pause button and reflect in the interim pause...The script is also highly emotionally charged. Of course that's happening within the confines of its genre, it's not a film heavy on realism but provided you abide by the codes of the noir, there's plenty of pain here, shame, longing, distrust, antagonism, hate, love, friendship not only involving the main characters but every single minor character too. It's also very NUANCED which I suspect is why the film warrants the "this film sucks" comment gracing the boards.
All characters are very conflicted, very human, you can't pin them down to a simpleton archetype, the good doc, the manipulative patient, say, because they all have their blind spots and conflicts. I am sure a lot of people will hate this -why's the script writer messing about-, he or she should be acting in this a to b to c predictable way. Yet this is what makes the film so great, far better than the Hitchkokian bore it alludes to.
THE CAST IS ALSO GREAT, EVERYONE. They all nail down their roles to the tee. And then you have the main trio, Richard Gere and Kim Basinger in their prime, and Uma Thurman in one of her budding roles. What else does one want from the lead roles in film? First of all they are all stunning. Now that might not mean much to most in, and it doesn't mean anything to me either most of the time, but these three are not just good looking, they are gifted. They all have a once in thirty years in film charm to them. Seriously folks has their been a more charming lead than the good Buddhist Richard Gere, after Brando, and maybe coming close to him Mickey Roorke and Johny Depp. Who? Mat f. Damon? Gere has such a tender yet tough face, I won't do him justice describing his charisma here in a small review. Anyone who's got eyes can see. And so is Kim, I re-watched the film recently and after all the Scarlett Johansens and Kate Hudsons we 've seen recently you can tell that Hollywood has dropped the ball big time... look at the nineties they had Kim, and Madeleine Stowe, and Jessica Lange and, and, and...this are dirt poor times wrt to actresses' talent.
Kimmie is just fantastic here, the tone of her voice, the understated performance, she oozes charm with a mere glance. He chemistry with Mr. Gere is like hand and glove too. And she's a way, way underrated actress. This girl is up there with the top stars of the 40s, 50s, and 60s, she's a Marilyn. She plays a very complex character here and there's not a single scene where she's not mesmerizing...An all too brief nod -for no other reason than brevity for this review- to Uma and the rest of the cast, I ll just say that the scenes with Uma on the couch have such a suspenseful and seductive mood, the way she phrases her dream and looks at the shrink, Uma another natural talent.
I also really liked the directing here but the 1000 word limit calls. I loved the motifs: the lighthouse, the promise of love, the chance that love and truth above all can undo the damage, the remorseless nature of damage being done and perpetuated. Those who've watched the film will know what I mean, and I am not giving anything away to those who haven't. Last but not least I find George Fenton's score excellent, a really intricate part of the whole film. Maybe it could have been a bit more risky and less classic, but I think this austerity and measured portions of predictability and inventiveness only add to this very classy and elegant film which to me is a lost gem.
It would be great if we could comment comment on an existing review at imd, such as the one by some "licensed clinical psychologist" which has been been chosen as spotlight review. Now this fella in all his psychotherapeutic wisdom acts like a 5 year old and takes this film literally and passes judgment on Gere's character's psychiatric practices. Is he nuts? It's a damn film for Christ's sake, and a neo noir!!! Of course the shrink will cross the "boundaries" with his patients and act unprofessionally and "needily", he's supposed to be setting up a drama. Let alone that these things ALSO happen in real life. Drama's are not set up by shrinks who act according to AMA rules and psychiatric ethics. To pass judgment on the film on such grounds is like saying that Dumbo is not supposed to fly because elephants don't. PLEASE, IMDb, take this review off the front page,it's insulting.
OK. on with the review: THIS IS A GREAT NEO NOIR FILM, ACTUALLY IT'S PROBABLY THE BEST NEO NOIR AND ONE OF THE BEST CRIME/SUSPENSE/LOVE DRAMA FILMS I VE WATCHED.
Why? The plot is intelligent, it has plenty of twists, and surprisingly very few holes in it (that ANY neo noir or crime thriller for that matter even David Mammet is going to have). Even the more clever viewers are going to miss some of the twists and they won't see them coming. But anyway most here complained that it went to fast for them...may I suggest they use a staple of the modern DVD/blue ray/VCR the pause button and reflect in the interim pause...The script is also highly emotionally charged. Of course that's happening within the confines of its genre, it's not a film heavy on realism but provided you abide by the codes of the noir, there's plenty of pain here, shame, longing, distrust, antagonism, hate, love, friendship not only involving the main characters but every single minor character too. It's also very NUANCED which I suspect is why the film warrants the "this film sucks" comment gracing the boards.
All characters are very conflicted, very human, you can't pin them down to a simpleton archetype, the good doc, the manipulative patient, say, because they all have their blind spots and conflicts. I am sure a lot of people will hate this -why's the script writer messing about-, he or she should be acting in this a to b to c predictable way. Yet this is what makes the film so great, far better than the Hitchkokian bore it alludes to.
THE CAST IS ALSO GREAT, EVERYONE. They all nail down their roles to the tee. And then you have the main trio, Richard Gere and Kim Basinger in their prime, and Uma Thurman in one of her budding roles. What else does one want from the lead roles in film? First of all they are all stunning. Now that might not mean much to most in, and it doesn't mean anything to me either most of the time, but these three are not just good looking, they are gifted. They all have a once in thirty years in film charm to them. Seriously folks has their been a more charming lead than the good Buddhist Richard Gere, after Brando, and maybe coming close to him Mickey Roorke and Johny Depp. Who? Mat f. Damon? Gere has such a tender yet tough face, I won't do him justice describing his charisma here in a small review. Anyone who's got eyes can see. And so is Kim, I re-watched the film recently and after all the Scarlett Johansens and Kate Hudsons we 've seen recently you can tell that Hollywood has dropped the ball big time... look at the nineties they had Kim, and Madeleine Stowe, and Jessica Lange and, and, and...this are dirt poor times wrt to actresses' talent.
Kimmie is just fantastic here, the tone of her voice, the understated performance, she oozes charm with a mere glance. He chemistry with Mr. Gere is like hand and glove too. And she's a way, way underrated actress. This girl is up there with the top stars of the 40s, 50s, and 60s, she's a Marilyn. She plays a very complex character here and there's not a single scene where she's not mesmerizing...An all too brief nod -for no other reason than brevity for this review- to Uma and the rest of the cast, I ll just say that the scenes with Uma on the couch have such a suspenseful and seductive mood, the way she phrases her dream and looks at the shrink, Uma another natural talent.
I also really liked the directing here but the 1000 word limit calls. I loved the motifs: the lighthouse, the promise of love, the chance that love and truth above all can undo the damage, the remorseless nature of damage being done and perpetuated. Those who've watched the film will know what I mean, and I am not giving anything away to those who haven't. Last but not least I find George Fenton's score excellent, a really intricate part of the whole film. Maybe it could have been a bit more risky and less classic, but I think this austerity and measured portions of predictability and inventiveness only add to this very classy and elegant film which to me is a lost gem.
A Hithcockian thriller about a psychiatrist who falls for the glamorous sister of one of his patients
ma-cortes15 December 2022
A San Francisco psychiatrist (Richard Gere) becomes romantically involved with the sister (Kim Basinger) of one of his patients (Uma Thurman) , but the influence of her Greek controlling mobster husband (Eric Roberts) threatens to destroy them both . The gangster is a tyrant over his wife and he really mistreats her. The psychiatrist wants her to get a divorce, but she is afraid of what her husband would do. Then , things go wrong , that's why she has a medical condition that becomes apparent when she drinks . As she says to have a "pathological alcohol intoxication" which is a true real-life medical disorder that can exist. Along the way , a stubborn police inspector (Keith David) investigates some strange happenings and a prosecuting attorney (Harris Yulin) carries out the criminal accusation. Hot-blooded passion. Cold-blooded murder. Someone was seduced. Someone was set up. And before it was all over... someone was dead.
A twisted , glossy and complex thriller about a psychiatrist and two beautiful sisters playing the ultimate mind game . Resulting to be colorful crime thriller with suspense , emotion , action , twists and turns. Although heavily influenced by ¨Vertigo¨ , this movie never closes to attain the depth of Hitch cinematic masterpiece . Actors are acceptable but neither notable , nor extraordinary , but passable . Kim Basinger is the typical femme fatale who undergoes a dramatic personality change after drinking alcohol , Richard Gere acts in his particular style as the psychiatrist uses his professional pull to try and help her out of the consequences of her actions , while Uma Thurman is Gere's sexually neurotic patient , the latter had also appeared in Phil Joanou's former movie "State of Grace" . Likewise , ¨Final Analysis¨ (1992) was second and final of two cinema movie collaborations of actor Richard Gere and actress Kim Basinger , the first was ¨No Mercy¨ (1986) . Other fine secondary actors appearing are the following ones : Paul Guilfoyle of CSI , Keith David , Tony Genaro , George Murdock as judge , unbilled Eric Avari as narrator and uncredited Harris Yulin as state prosecutor , among others . But it's Eric Roberts who steals the show giving the most gripping acting as Basinger's sleazy gangster hubby.
¨Final analysis¨packs a thrilling and suspenseful musical score by George Fenton. As well as an evocative and brilliant cinematography by Jordan Cronenweth. This neo-noir and neo-Hitchcock film was professionally directed by Phil Joanou , it has success enough , though quickly faded from screens after being steamrolled by other big releases . Phil Joanou is an uneven director with film as ¨Gridiron gang¨, ¨Final analysis¨ and ¨Heaven's prisoners¨. For the latter Phil Joanou was hired by Alec Baldwin , in his role as executive producer who approached Phil Joanou to direct the film based on the suggestion of his then-wife, Kim Basinger , who'd had a good time working with Joanou on ¨Final Analysis¨ (1992). Joanou is a good professional with hits and flops and filmmaker of video-clips and films for U2 (¨Rattle and hum¨). As "Final Analysis" and "Heaven's Prisoners" proved to be critical and financial disappointments , Spielberg and Bono of U2 (separately) encouraged Joanou to write something personal and from the heart, resulting in the extensively autobiographical "Entropy". In addition , Spielberg gave Joanou the screenplay for ¨Three O'Clock High¨ (1987), then known as "After School" and subsequently directing the notable ¨State of Grace¨with a great cast as Sean Penn , Ed Harris , Gary Oldman , among others . Rating : 6.5/10. Acceptable and passable. The flick will appeal to Kim Basinger/Richard Gere/Uma Thurman fans.
A twisted , glossy and complex thriller about a psychiatrist and two beautiful sisters playing the ultimate mind game . Resulting to be colorful crime thriller with suspense , emotion , action , twists and turns. Although heavily influenced by ¨Vertigo¨ , this movie never closes to attain the depth of Hitch cinematic masterpiece . Actors are acceptable but neither notable , nor extraordinary , but passable . Kim Basinger is the typical femme fatale who undergoes a dramatic personality change after drinking alcohol , Richard Gere acts in his particular style as the psychiatrist uses his professional pull to try and help her out of the consequences of her actions , while Uma Thurman is Gere's sexually neurotic patient , the latter had also appeared in Phil Joanou's former movie "State of Grace" . Likewise , ¨Final Analysis¨ (1992) was second and final of two cinema movie collaborations of actor Richard Gere and actress Kim Basinger , the first was ¨No Mercy¨ (1986) . Other fine secondary actors appearing are the following ones : Paul Guilfoyle of CSI , Keith David , Tony Genaro , George Murdock as judge , unbilled Eric Avari as narrator and uncredited Harris Yulin as state prosecutor , among others . But it's Eric Roberts who steals the show giving the most gripping acting as Basinger's sleazy gangster hubby.
¨Final analysis¨packs a thrilling and suspenseful musical score by George Fenton. As well as an evocative and brilliant cinematography by Jordan Cronenweth. This neo-noir and neo-Hitchcock film was professionally directed by Phil Joanou , it has success enough , though quickly faded from screens after being steamrolled by other big releases . Phil Joanou is an uneven director with film as ¨Gridiron gang¨, ¨Final analysis¨ and ¨Heaven's prisoners¨. For the latter Phil Joanou was hired by Alec Baldwin , in his role as executive producer who approached Phil Joanou to direct the film based on the suggestion of his then-wife, Kim Basinger , who'd had a good time working with Joanou on ¨Final Analysis¨ (1992). Joanou is a good professional with hits and flops and filmmaker of video-clips and films for U2 (¨Rattle and hum¨). As "Final Analysis" and "Heaven's Prisoners" proved to be critical and financial disappointments , Spielberg and Bono of U2 (separately) encouraged Joanou to write something personal and from the heart, resulting in the extensively autobiographical "Entropy". In addition , Spielberg gave Joanou the screenplay for ¨Three O'Clock High¨ (1987), then known as "After School" and subsequently directing the notable ¨State of Grace¨with a great cast as Sean Penn , Ed Harris , Gary Oldman , among others . Rating : 6.5/10. Acceptable and passable. The flick will appeal to Kim Basinger/Richard Gere/Uma Thurman fans.
Lust never sleeps
sol121821 June 2006
***MAJOR SPOILERS*** Treating a very disturbed young woman Diana Baylor, Uma Thruman, who seemed to have developed suicidal tendencies over the abusive treatment that she received by her father when she was a little girl. San Francisco psychiatrist Dr. Isaac Barr, Richard Gere, gets a surprise visit one afternoon by Diana's older sister Heather Evens, who's such a knockout that it causes Issac to forget his client's, Diana , illness.
Heather, very concerned about her kid sister, tells Issac a number of things that Diana kept from him which included the very disturbing fact that she was constantly raped by her father. That may well have been responsible for his death by Diana setting him on fire when he was laying dead drunk and out cold in bed one evening. The movie then takes a sudden turn with Issac falling in love with Heather and, as if he completely forgot about her disturbed sister, stating to treat her for psychological problems as if she were his patient not his lover!
It's during Issac' treatment, and affair, with Heather that he learns that she's married to a top San Francisco mobster named jimmy Evens, Eric Roberts. Jimmy is constantly abusing her and Issac fears that he'll eventually murder Heather for not giving Jimmy the almost slave-like attention that he demands. When you finally see Jimmy in the movie you begin to realize that it's Heather, not Jimmy, who's the abusive one. Not that Jimmy isn't a cold-blooded hoodlum he never once in the brief time you see him as much as lifts his hand on the very neurotic Heather. It' Jimmy who's the one that's very concerned about Heather's drinking that causes her to black out and go wacko making a complete spectacle of herself in public; as we later see in a scene with Jimmy and Heather having dinner in a local restaurant.
It's not that long after were introduced to Jimmy that we see what a real flake Heather is. We discover that it's not Diana that needs the professional psychiatric help that Iassc can provide but her sister Heather! Not only is Heather trying to involve the Innocent and unsuspecting Issac in a plan to murder Jimmy, and collect a 4 million insurance policy on him, but have Iassc framed for it and! Even more sinister Heather is using her sister Diana as bait to do it!
Overly complicated psychological thriller that's saved from total ruin by the acting of it's top stars Richard Gere Uma Thruman and the very sexy, and hot as a steam engine, Kim Bassinger. There's three great scenes in the movie "Final Analysis" that are more then worth the price of admission.****SPOILER**** The first being where Heather is being questioned, with Isaac present, in the mental institution that she's committed. Thinking those asking the questions are members of the District Attorney's office and having Diana show up with the "evidence" ,that Heather planted, to frame Isaac for her husbands murder. Heather ends up getting the surprise of her life, when for some reason Diana didn't deliver the goods, where she completely changes her demeanor and loses it. Going from a calm and totally in control of the situation individual into a dangerously wild and crazy lunatic in just a matter of seconds! That scene in itself should have earned Kim Basinger an Academy Award nomination for best actress.
There's an even better scene in the movie later on when Heather, changing places with Diana in prison, escapes and tries to get in touch with Det. Higgens, Keith David, in order to give him the murder weapon that she used to kill her husbands with Isaac's fingerprints on it. Only to have Issac grab the murder weapon, a steel dumbbell, before Higgins got it making it totally unless as evidence. The best part of the movie is saved for last with both Iassc and Det. Higgins, who finally realized that it was Heather not Iassc who murdered Jimmy, having it out with the the now totally crazed Heather on top of a dangerously damaged lighthouse, off the Golden Gate Bridge, during a violent and murderous downpour. That scene was as good,if not better, as anything you would see in an Alfred Hitchcock psychological thriller.
Heather, very concerned about her kid sister, tells Issac a number of things that Diana kept from him which included the very disturbing fact that she was constantly raped by her father. That may well have been responsible for his death by Diana setting him on fire when he was laying dead drunk and out cold in bed one evening. The movie then takes a sudden turn with Issac falling in love with Heather and, as if he completely forgot about her disturbed sister, stating to treat her for psychological problems as if she were his patient not his lover!
It's during Issac' treatment, and affair, with Heather that he learns that she's married to a top San Francisco mobster named jimmy Evens, Eric Roberts. Jimmy is constantly abusing her and Issac fears that he'll eventually murder Heather for not giving Jimmy the almost slave-like attention that he demands. When you finally see Jimmy in the movie you begin to realize that it's Heather, not Jimmy, who's the abusive one. Not that Jimmy isn't a cold-blooded hoodlum he never once in the brief time you see him as much as lifts his hand on the very neurotic Heather. It' Jimmy who's the one that's very concerned about Heather's drinking that causes her to black out and go wacko making a complete spectacle of herself in public; as we later see in a scene with Jimmy and Heather having dinner in a local restaurant.
It's not that long after were introduced to Jimmy that we see what a real flake Heather is. We discover that it's not Diana that needs the professional psychiatric help that Iassc can provide but her sister Heather! Not only is Heather trying to involve the Innocent and unsuspecting Issac in a plan to murder Jimmy, and collect a 4 million insurance policy on him, but have Iassc framed for it and! Even more sinister Heather is using her sister Diana as bait to do it!
Overly complicated psychological thriller that's saved from total ruin by the acting of it's top stars Richard Gere Uma Thruman and the very sexy, and hot as a steam engine, Kim Bassinger. There's three great scenes in the movie "Final Analysis" that are more then worth the price of admission.****SPOILER**** The first being where Heather is being questioned, with Isaac present, in the mental institution that she's committed. Thinking those asking the questions are members of the District Attorney's office and having Diana show up with the "evidence" ,that Heather planted, to frame Isaac for her husbands murder. Heather ends up getting the surprise of her life, when for some reason Diana didn't deliver the goods, where she completely changes her demeanor and loses it. Going from a calm and totally in control of the situation individual into a dangerously wild and crazy lunatic in just a matter of seconds! That scene in itself should have earned Kim Basinger an Academy Award nomination for best actress.
There's an even better scene in the movie later on when Heather, changing places with Diana in prison, escapes and tries to get in touch with Det. Higgens, Keith David, in order to give him the murder weapon that she used to kill her husbands with Isaac's fingerprints on it. Only to have Issac grab the murder weapon, a steel dumbbell, before Higgins got it making it totally unless as evidence. The best part of the movie is saved for last with both Iassc and Det. Higgins, who finally realized that it was Heather not Iassc who murdered Jimmy, having it out with the the now totally crazed Heather on top of a dangerously damaged lighthouse, off the Golden Gate Bridge, during a violent and murderous downpour. That scene was as good,if not better, as anything you would see in an Alfred Hitchcock psychological thriller.
Some promising elements but sinks under character and story flaws
mysteriesfan2 August 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This movie has some promising elements. There is a premeditated murder plot with some intricacy, twists, and atmosphere. Kim Basinger is good playing a beautiful mystery woman with a troubled past and an exotic, violent illness ("pathological intoxication"). She conveys soft, placid (if overly simple) beauty one minute and psychotic rage the next, rivaling Catherine Zeta-Jones' in "Traffic" in her ability to turn memorably driven, tough, and hard-hearted on a dime.
Uma Thurman looks and acts her slight part adequately enough as Basinger's delicate, spaced-out sister, a patient of Richard Gere. Paul Guilfoyle hams it up as a boorish criminal defense lawyer pal of Gere's. A police detective is tough, crude, and menacing, on cue (barking at Gere, "Don't yank my dick").
But the film collapses under the weight of its many flaws. Gere is completely unconvincing as an "eminent psychiatrist." This has less to do with how he looks than how the movie presents him. He never says or does anything to credibly establish such a character. His attempts seem limited to occasionally speaking in jargon or hushed tones. He appears gullible and ignorant, as when it takes someone else's lecture to tip him off by chance to a colorful passage in Freud's work that is key to the criminal's scheme; even one of the plotters had expected Gere to be familiar with it. His supposedly joking answer to Basinger that as a psychiatrist he simply repeats, as a question, whichever last two words his patient speaks -- "'Your mother?'" -- hits a little too close to home. It is a truer description of how Gere comes across here than he thinks. Nor does the film give any background that might help explain the personal vulnerability that makes him such a dupe. The character is little more than a dim, steady facial expression and a resume.
Thurman's character amounts to no more than a stagey plot gimmick. She never comes alive as a real person with a real relationship to anyone. The prosecutor is played with gruff style and no substance by Harris Yulin. He is given so little to say and do, and the character accomplishes so little, if anything, that I could not even find him listed in the credits.
Even worse is the Eric Roberts character, Basinger's intense husband with mob ties. It is a tired, superficial, trying caricature that drags the movie down to the level of countless low-budget, rip-off "romantic thrillers." The unoriginal character and portrayal recall cinematic gems like "Play Murder for Me" and "Dead On" (both with Tracy Scoggins), "Tryst" (with Barbara Carrera), and probably dozens of other "abusive husband" exploitation flicks and TV show episodes (ala "Silk Stalkings").
The weaknesses in the characters are only compounded by the weaknesses in the story. The plot flaws become so damaging and distracting that they sap entertainment value right out of the film. Watching the movie becomes like trying to drive a stick-shift down a road full of sink-holes (the film does feature a "ditch"). The abrupt, midstream shift in tone and pacing does not help.
No explanation is ever offered for how the killer was able, in real time, to "hide" the murder weapon from the police - don't they search a crime scene? don't they have search warrants for other hiding places? And this is a plot point that drives most of the movie.
We are supposed to believe that the prosecutor would proceed with a first degree murder trial not only without a murder weapon but without establishing the accused's motive, not even bothering to investigate until afterward exactly who was in line to receive a $4 million payout.
We are supposed to believe that Gere can install himself on the psychiatric board responsible for evaluating the fitness for release from an institution of his own, indefinitely confined lover.
We are supposed to believe -- and cheer -- that two outside professionals would arrive for an interview without introducing themselves or their reason for being there, and that another character would suddenly switch a lifelong allegiance, all so that Gere can stage an elaborate trick on someone he later acknowledges is mentally ill from childhood abuse, only apparently to arrange an even more haphazard, convoluted, and contrived manipulation later by behaving cavalierly and roughly to a patient.
We are supposed to believe that murderers can walk out of mental institutions simply by switching clothes with someone else in a bathroom.
We are supposed to believe that Gere would enlist a psychiatric patient to steal for him, without giving any warnings or taking any precautions to protect the young man from the vicious homicidal maniac with whom this puts him at odds (to compensate for this colossal error, the movie prematurely discloses the man's fate, creating a witness and another potential crime to prosecute and thus undercutting the suspense of whether the killer of the earlier victim will escape unpunished).
We are supposed to believe, for the sake of a quick, shock-effect touch at the end, that, after two court trials had thoroughly publicized the events of the case, a character at its heart would appear to be recycling the exact same modus operandi for future use. And so on.
The movie suffers badly under the relentless battering of these accumulated character and plot problems. Simply dismissing them with an air of glib pseudo-sophistication, all-knowing cynicism, empty flippancy, or lazy, unintelligent flicking of the "not helpful" button on any review honest enough to point them out is not a serious response. Nor do they simply disappear because the movie inserts some attractive visuals, such as of bridges and lighthouses, or ramps up dramatic music (somewhat frantically and mechanically, starting about halfway through). Any meaningful review has to come to terms not only with the elements of the movie that are promising and likable but with the substantial flaws that prevent it from being satisfying.
Uma Thurman looks and acts her slight part adequately enough as Basinger's delicate, spaced-out sister, a patient of Richard Gere. Paul Guilfoyle hams it up as a boorish criminal defense lawyer pal of Gere's. A police detective is tough, crude, and menacing, on cue (barking at Gere, "Don't yank my dick").
But the film collapses under the weight of its many flaws. Gere is completely unconvincing as an "eminent psychiatrist." This has less to do with how he looks than how the movie presents him. He never says or does anything to credibly establish such a character. His attempts seem limited to occasionally speaking in jargon or hushed tones. He appears gullible and ignorant, as when it takes someone else's lecture to tip him off by chance to a colorful passage in Freud's work that is key to the criminal's scheme; even one of the plotters had expected Gere to be familiar with it. His supposedly joking answer to Basinger that as a psychiatrist he simply repeats, as a question, whichever last two words his patient speaks -- "'Your mother?'" -- hits a little too close to home. It is a truer description of how Gere comes across here than he thinks. Nor does the film give any background that might help explain the personal vulnerability that makes him such a dupe. The character is little more than a dim, steady facial expression and a resume.
Thurman's character amounts to no more than a stagey plot gimmick. She never comes alive as a real person with a real relationship to anyone. The prosecutor is played with gruff style and no substance by Harris Yulin. He is given so little to say and do, and the character accomplishes so little, if anything, that I could not even find him listed in the credits.
Even worse is the Eric Roberts character, Basinger's intense husband with mob ties. It is a tired, superficial, trying caricature that drags the movie down to the level of countless low-budget, rip-off "romantic thrillers." The unoriginal character and portrayal recall cinematic gems like "Play Murder for Me" and "Dead On" (both with Tracy Scoggins), "Tryst" (with Barbara Carrera), and probably dozens of other "abusive husband" exploitation flicks and TV show episodes (ala "Silk Stalkings").
The weaknesses in the characters are only compounded by the weaknesses in the story. The plot flaws become so damaging and distracting that they sap entertainment value right out of the film. Watching the movie becomes like trying to drive a stick-shift down a road full of sink-holes (the film does feature a "ditch"). The abrupt, midstream shift in tone and pacing does not help.
No explanation is ever offered for how the killer was able, in real time, to "hide" the murder weapon from the police - don't they search a crime scene? don't they have search warrants for other hiding places? And this is a plot point that drives most of the movie.
We are supposed to believe that the prosecutor would proceed with a first degree murder trial not only without a murder weapon but without establishing the accused's motive, not even bothering to investigate until afterward exactly who was in line to receive a $4 million payout.
We are supposed to believe that Gere can install himself on the psychiatric board responsible for evaluating the fitness for release from an institution of his own, indefinitely confined lover.
We are supposed to believe -- and cheer -- that two outside professionals would arrive for an interview without introducing themselves or their reason for being there, and that another character would suddenly switch a lifelong allegiance, all so that Gere can stage an elaborate trick on someone he later acknowledges is mentally ill from childhood abuse, only apparently to arrange an even more haphazard, convoluted, and contrived manipulation later by behaving cavalierly and roughly to a patient.
We are supposed to believe that murderers can walk out of mental institutions simply by switching clothes with someone else in a bathroom.
We are supposed to believe that Gere would enlist a psychiatric patient to steal for him, without giving any warnings or taking any precautions to protect the young man from the vicious homicidal maniac with whom this puts him at odds (to compensate for this colossal error, the movie prematurely discloses the man's fate, creating a witness and another potential crime to prosecute and thus undercutting the suspense of whether the killer of the earlier victim will escape unpunished).
We are supposed to believe, for the sake of a quick, shock-effect touch at the end, that, after two court trials had thoroughly publicized the events of the case, a character at its heart would appear to be recycling the exact same modus operandi for future use. And so on.
The movie suffers badly under the relentless battering of these accumulated character and plot problems. Simply dismissing them with an air of glib pseudo-sophistication, all-knowing cynicism, empty flippancy, or lazy, unintelligent flicking of the "not helpful" button on any review honest enough to point them out is not a serious response. Nor do they simply disappear because the movie inserts some attractive visuals, such as of bridges and lighthouses, or ramps up dramatic music (somewhat frantically and mechanically, starting about halfway through). Any meaningful review has to come to terms not only with the elements of the movie that are promising and likable but with the substantial flaws that prevent it from being satisfying.
Epic fail of director
vincentlynch-moonoi12 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Yes, there are Hitchcockian themes here, particularly with the lighthouse being very re-mindful of "Vertigo". However, if the attempt was to make a Hitchcock-like film, it failed...although I'm having a difficult time figuring why. For me, the film had most of the ingredients needed, but I had a hard time staying focused on the movie; I hate to think how many times I stopped action and went and did other things for a while.
The one negative thing I am sure of is that Uma Thurman is a zombie. One of the walking dead. In this film I felt like we oughta check her pulse to make sure she's still alive.
Even Richard Gere here seems less than totally involved. This is not up to his usual performer, and he is an actor I usually enjoy.
Even Kim Basinger seems...I don't know...fuzzy.
You know, in writing this I just came to a conclusion -- it must be the fault of the director -- Phil Joanou. This is a guy who may be adept at music videos, but check out his filmography...maybe okay for B pictures...if that. And here he had a lot of key ingredients -- a good cast, a decent story, and the lighthouse.
In terms of supporting actors, Eric Roberts plays his standard bully routine; been there, done that. Keith David is interesting here as the police detective. Paul Guilfoyle is passable as a lawyer. Robert Harper is mildly interesting as an expert witness. Agustin Rodriguez brought a little life to part of the story as a Latino who works for Gere's character.
The plot here showed promise. Gere is a psychologist who has Una Thurman as his patient, a young lady haunted by childhood memories. Gere decides to consult Thurman's sister -- Kim Basinger -- who is crazy as batshite. It's obviously a set up, but at first we're not clear what Gere is being set up for. To kill Basinger's husband? To get blamed for the death of Basinger's husband? Or is it just a kinky sex liaison? Or is Basinger's thug husband going to go after Gere? So many possibilities. Any one of them could have worked well.
In different directorial hands, this could have been an exciting film. Instead, it's just passable...like that D you got in chemistry. You passed, but no praise was due.
The one negative thing I am sure of is that Uma Thurman is a zombie. One of the walking dead. In this film I felt like we oughta check her pulse to make sure she's still alive.
Even Richard Gere here seems less than totally involved. This is not up to his usual performer, and he is an actor I usually enjoy.
Even Kim Basinger seems...I don't know...fuzzy.
You know, in writing this I just came to a conclusion -- it must be the fault of the director -- Phil Joanou. This is a guy who may be adept at music videos, but check out his filmography...maybe okay for B pictures...if that. And here he had a lot of key ingredients -- a good cast, a decent story, and the lighthouse.
In terms of supporting actors, Eric Roberts plays his standard bully routine; been there, done that. Keith David is interesting here as the police detective. Paul Guilfoyle is passable as a lawyer. Robert Harper is mildly interesting as an expert witness. Agustin Rodriguez brought a little life to part of the story as a Latino who works for Gere's character.
The plot here showed promise. Gere is a psychologist who has Una Thurman as his patient, a young lady haunted by childhood memories. Gere decides to consult Thurman's sister -- Kim Basinger -- who is crazy as batshite. It's obviously a set up, but at first we're not clear what Gere is being set up for. To kill Basinger's husband? To get blamed for the death of Basinger's husband? Or is it just a kinky sex liaison? Or is Basinger's thug husband going to go after Gere? So many possibilities. Any one of them could have worked well.
In different directorial hands, this could have been an exciting film. Instead, it's just passable...like that D you got in chemistry. You passed, but no praise was due.
Confusing story of murder, insanity, and assorted mishigas.
rmax30482317 April 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Kind of disappointing considering the cast -- Richard Gere as the morally upright but slightly imprudent psychiatrist, Uma Thurman as his "caterpillar" patient, and Kim Basinger as Thurman's seductive older sister.
To help him understand Thurman's problems, Gere seeks out Basinger and winds up making furious love to her on their first date. You ought to see them, rutting around like two sea lions in heat. If that isn't disgusting, I don't know what is. The scene's only redeeming feature is that Kim Basinger isn't particularly modest. The two were my supporting players in the tasteful and artistic "No Mercy," and I had to practically carry them through the movie.
Basinger, lamentably, is married to one of those narcissistic, madly possessive Circum-Mediterranean gangsters who has muscles all over his body as well as inside his head. This is Eric Roberts in his perfect evil greaseball mode. He dominates Basinger and makes her do humiliating sexual things, which is perhaps his one good idea before she bashes his head in with one of his own dumb bells.
It seems she suffers from "pathological intoxication." One sip of alcohol and she becomes violently psychotic, and she had innocently sipped some alcohol-based cough medicine just before the homicide. Gere helps her shape her defense, brings in his friend, Paul Guilfoyle, to serve as her lawyer, and she gets off with a "not guilty by reason of temporary insanity." Thereafter, it gets twisted.
A little too twisted if you ask me. By the end I could hardly tell who was who or what was what.
It's pretty thrilling all the way through. It's just that it doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense. Thurman's character begins in cahoots with her sister, then betrays her, then helps her escape from the funny farm, then takes over her identity and murderous quirks. Why? It would take more than a shrink to determine that. It would require a mind reader, or maybe a rabidly commercial screenwriter.
It's nicely acted and the location photography is picturesque -- San Francisco at its most glorious, the Golden Gate Bridge is in every other shot.
But it's cheap too. The director uses every cliché in the book regardless of whether they fit together. The climax at the top of a light house has the railing collapsing and Gere dangling over the crashing breakers -- in a howling electrical storm the likes of which Point Reyes has never seen. The fulsome orchestral score belongs to the genus Slasher.
And, as I say, the plot is dizzying and at times makes no sense. Okay. Basinger is accused of murder, which she has in fact committed. The only question is whether a condition called "pathological intoxication" exists or not. The prosecution calls an expert witness, a haughty woman psychiatrist with a bony face and a foreign accent. She declares that the condition does not exist except in the minds of defense counsels. Why doesn't she believe there is any such thing? Because there is no physical evidence. It doesn't show up in brain scans or blood tests, she points out. An experienced defense attorney would have jumped all over her and asked if there were any "physical evidence" that schizophrenia exists. There isn't, but nobody can deny that the condition is real.
Anyway, in a sense, it's an exciting movie and soothing too, watching cliché follow cliché while common sense flies out the window. Kind of a ritualistic experience, like listening to a meaningless but reassuringly familiar pop tune.
To help him understand Thurman's problems, Gere seeks out Basinger and winds up making furious love to her on their first date. You ought to see them, rutting around like two sea lions in heat. If that isn't disgusting, I don't know what is. The scene's only redeeming feature is that Kim Basinger isn't particularly modest. The two were my supporting players in the tasteful and artistic "No Mercy," and I had to practically carry them through the movie.
Basinger, lamentably, is married to one of those narcissistic, madly possessive Circum-Mediterranean gangsters who has muscles all over his body as well as inside his head. This is Eric Roberts in his perfect evil greaseball mode. He dominates Basinger and makes her do humiliating sexual things, which is perhaps his one good idea before she bashes his head in with one of his own dumb bells.
It seems she suffers from "pathological intoxication." One sip of alcohol and she becomes violently psychotic, and she had innocently sipped some alcohol-based cough medicine just before the homicide. Gere helps her shape her defense, brings in his friend, Paul Guilfoyle, to serve as her lawyer, and she gets off with a "not guilty by reason of temporary insanity." Thereafter, it gets twisted.
A little too twisted if you ask me. By the end I could hardly tell who was who or what was what.
It's pretty thrilling all the way through. It's just that it doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense. Thurman's character begins in cahoots with her sister, then betrays her, then helps her escape from the funny farm, then takes over her identity and murderous quirks. Why? It would take more than a shrink to determine that. It would require a mind reader, or maybe a rabidly commercial screenwriter.
It's nicely acted and the location photography is picturesque -- San Francisco at its most glorious, the Golden Gate Bridge is in every other shot.
But it's cheap too. The director uses every cliché in the book regardless of whether they fit together. The climax at the top of a light house has the railing collapsing and Gere dangling over the crashing breakers -- in a howling electrical storm the likes of which Point Reyes has never seen. The fulsome orchestral score belongs to the genus Slasher.
And, as I say, the plot is dizzying and at times makes no sense. Okay. Basinger is accused of murder, which she has in fact committed. The only question is whether a condition called "pathological intoxication" exists or not. The prosecution calls an expert witness, a haughty woman psychiatrist with a bony face and a foreign accent. She declares that the condition does not exist except in the minds of defense counsels. Why doesn't she believe there is any such thing? Because there is no physical evidence. It doesn't show up in brain scans or blood tests, she points out. An experienced defense attorney would have jumped all over her and asked if there were any "physical evidence" that schizophrenia exists. There isn't, but nobody can deny that the condition is real.
Anyway, in a sense, it's an exciting movie and soothing too, watching cliché follow cliché while common sense flies out the window. Kind of a ritualistic experience, like listening to a meaningless but reassuringly familiar pop tune.
Screen magic of yesteryears psychological thrillers...
vamp-0714 December 2007
right from its opening credits,final analysis takes u to the mystico-glamorous era of those amazing films noirs of the 50's..the breathtaking settings,the glamorous but twisted blonde,the haunting yet chilling score echoing Bernard Hermann's Hitchcock era.
the movie has a classy feel to it.sparks fly when Kim basinger makes her appearance,in a red dress a la Grace kelly.uma Thurman is very good in her role,and keeps her enigmatic facade till the end.
if u're familiar with Hitchcock's Vertigo,u will find its echoes,similar settings and landmarks of san Francisco serving as background to this solid thriller.
i've seen many movies of this genre,i've seen vertigo,obsession,basic instinct,and many more.this movie is UNDERRATED.it's one of the best in its genre!
the movie has a classy feel to it.sparks fly when Kim basinger makes her appearance,in a red dress a la Grace kelly.uma Thurman is very good in her role,and keeps her enigmatic facade till the end.
if u're familiar with Hitchcock's Vertigo,u will find its echoes,similar settings and landmarks of san Francisco serving as background to this solid thriller.
i've seen many movies of this genre,i've seen vertigo,obsession,basic instinct,and many more.this movie is UNDERRATED.it's one of the best in its genre!
Sub-Hitchcockian balderdash...
moonspinner5525 January 2008
Richard Gere and Kim Basinger reunite from 1986's mediocre "No Mercy" for this outlandish, just-as-shallow would-be murder mystery. Occasionally enjoyable, fruity concoction concerns psychiatrist Gere becoming involved with two sexy sisters who are hoping to formulate the perfect murder plot. Lots of story twists, each one more preposterous than the last, but with a slick production and a fine climax atop a lighthouse. Gere looks a bit ill-at-ease, but Basinger and Uma Thurman are both very good. Eric Roberts is eliminated early (a plus), but Keith David flounders in the hopeless role of the detective on the sisters' trail. For viewers in the requisite silly spirit, not too bad. ** from ****
Good film! absolutely underrated!
NoName19899 November 2007
I don't really understand why this film has such a low rating. Most of the movie is very good. The story, the acting and the cinematography are very good. The story also has a lot of plot twists and the acting is very good. The screenplay is quite intelligent. Only the end is a bit less good, and that's a pity, because this could have been a masterpiece. The end is a bit stupid. Phil Joanou did a good job directing this film. It's a pity this film doesn't get a higher rating on IMDb. Richard Gere, Kim Basinger and Uma Thurman do a good job too. I recommend this film. It's not a masterpiece, but it's certainly not bad.
Underrated thriller a bit reminiscent of VERTIGO
bellino-angelo201412 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of Richard Gere but I decided to watch this thriller as one in a series of movies with Keith David (probably the actor with the most magnificent voice ever!) and also for the other cast members, And when it ended I was so surprised that it has a score of 5,9 as it was even better than that.
Isaac Barr (Gere) is a psychiatrist that has a young woman (Uma Thurman) with a recurrent dream of flowers burning on a table as one of his patients. One day her older sister Heather (Kim Basinger) goes to an appointment to Barr's office as she wants to discuss her sister's progresses. Heather falls in love with Isaac but trouble is behind the corner as her very controlling husband Jimmy (Eric Roberts) suspects that she is having an affair and even menaces Isaac when he notices him in a restaurant and suspects that he gave a look to his wife. Heather takes some insulin but exaggerates with the dose and kills her husband with a barbell. However Heather is found not guilty because of temporary insanity, but she is confined at a psychiatric facility, where Isaac promises her that she will be out in a few weeks. Outside the facility he meets Detective Huggins (David) that suggests Barr that Heather might have killed her husband for insuring his life policy of 4 milion dollars. After a while Diana lets her hair grow like Heather's and for retrieving the barbell Heather goes outside the hospital and Diana remains instead of her sister. After Heather takes Isaac and Huggins at gunpoint they go on the lighthouse. A rainstorm comes and Isaac and Heather run in the lighthouse. When they arrive at a balcony it starts to fall; Huggins, who managed to arrive just in time, pulls the balcony and Heather falls to her death. Diana is tried as Heather's accomplice but is found not guilty. In the ending scene we see Diana seducing a man and telling him that she has a condition for which she shouldn't drink as she poses as her twin sister... and the viewer would guess what could happen next!
I appreciated this thriller for its suspense factor (very reminiscent of the Alfred Hitchcock thrillers) and I nearly gasped at every twist and turn. There were very tense scenes (such as when Heather kills her husband or the ending in the lighthouse) and it added a lot to the chill factor. The acting is very nice by the performers: Richard Gere gives one of his best performances ever, Uma Thurman gives one of her most complex considering the type of movie she is famous for, Eric Roberts despite being among the top billed performers he has brief screen time and Keith David gives one of his most memorable performances with that incredibly deep voice of his. Kim Basinger is the standout as other than being super hot she is incredibly good as the main villain of the movie.
Overall, this is a very underrated thriller that fans of the genre will no doubt love and they don't have necessarily to be fans of some of the actors in the cast for liking it. Despite I am not a huge fan of thrillers I kinda liked it even more than it's current IMDB score of 5,9 might have influenced me.
Isaac Barr (Gere) is a psychiatrist that has a young woman (Uma Thurman) with a recurrent dream of flowers burning on a table as one of his patients. One day her older sister Heather (Kim Basinger) goes to an appointment to Barr's office as she wants to discuss her sister's progresses. Heather falls in love with Isaac but trouble is behind the corner as her very controlling husband Jimmy (Eric Roberts) suspects that she is having an affair and even menaces Isaac when he notices him in a restaurant and suspects that he gave a look to his wife. Heather takes some insulin but exaggerates with the dose and kills her husband with a barbell. However Heather is found not guilty because of temporary insanity, but she is confined at a psychiatric facility, where Isaac promises her that she will be out in a few weeks. Outside the facility he meets Detective Huggins (David) that suggests Barr that Heather might have killed her husband for insuring his life policy of 4 milion dollars. After a while Diana lets her hair grow like Heather's and for retrieving the barbell Heather goes outside the hospital and Diana remains instead of her sister. After Heather takes Isaac and Huggins at gunpoint they go on the lighthouse. A rainstorm comes and Isaac and Heather run in the lighthouse. When they arrive at a balcony it starts to fall; Huggins, who managed to arrive just in time, pulls the balcony and Heather falls to her death. Diana is tried as Heather's accomplice but is found not guilty. In the ending scene we see Diana seducing a man and telling him that she has a condition for which she shouldn't drink as she poses as her twin sister... and the viewer would guess what could happen next!
I appreciated this thriller for its suspense factor (very reminiscent of the Alfred Hitchcock thrillers) and I nearly gasped at every twist and turn. There were very tense scenes (such as when Heather kills her husband or the ending in the lighthouse) and it added a lot to the chill factor. The acting is very nice by the performers: Richard Gere gives one of his best performances ever, Uma Thurman gives one of her most complex considering the type of movie she is famous for, Eric Roberts despite being among the top billed performers he has brief screen time and Keith David gives one of his most memorable performances with that incredibly deep voice of his. Kim Basinger is the standout as other than being super hot she is incredibly good as the main villain of the movie.
Overall, this is a very underrated thriller that fans of the genre will no doubt love and they don't have necessarily to be fans of some of the actors in the cast for liking it. Despite I am not a huge fan of thrillers I kinda liked it even more than it's current IMDB score of 5,9 might have influenced me.
How stupid? Let me count the ways.
galaxywest4 December 2010
When Kim B. put the dumbbell in a paper bag, the paper bag with the paper handles, it was really stupid. You don't carry dumbbells in paper bags with paper handles. But what this dumbbell in the paper bag goes through is only just beginning. You see, then, the guy who wants to snatch the dumbbell away from Kim B. somehow figures out that she's going to get on a cable car and stand on the outside step of the cable car and she's going to hold the paper bag with the dumbbell in it out over the street as she travels down the street in San Francisco. So... his plan is to quickly get on another cable car going in the opposite direction and grab the bag, the paper bag with the paper handles with the 10kg dumbbell in it, away from her. Which he proceeds to do. This is just one of the dozens of impossible things that happen in this stupid movie. Comparing this to Hitchcock is downright criminal. The director of this movie should be demoted to studio janitor.
Elements of Hitchcock throughout...and a lot of deja vu...
Doylenf6 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
What might have been even more effective with a better script is this dark melodrama which seems to borrow heavily from past psychological melodramas--particularly those films of Hitchcock which rely on such settings as the final showdown between Gere and Basinger. Camera effects in the lighthouse spiral staircase seem to borrow from the bell tower scene in Hitch's "Vertigo". As does the use of San Francisco settings--but lacking is a score such as Bernard Herrmann supplied or a script that makes the events seem credible.
Kim Basinger does well enough as the woman behind the mysterious plot but never manages to be entirely convincing when the plot calls for heavy dramatics. Richard Gere almost sleep walks through his role. But Uma Thurman and Eric Roberts deliver what can only be described as "creepy" portraits that linger in the mind after the film ends. And end it does on a bravura note with a raging thunderstorm and a return visit to the lighthouse under more dire circumstances the second time.
The final scene is Thurman's big moment. But it all has the air of deja vu thanks to all those psychological thrillers of the '40s that got even better effects when filmed in glorious B&W.
Kim Basinger does well enough as the woman behind the mysterious plot but never manages to be entirely convincing when the plot calls for heavy dramatics. Richard Gere almost sleep walks through his role. But Uma Thurman and Eric Roberts deliver what can only be described as "creepy" portraits that linger in the mind after the film ends. And end it does on a bravura note with a raging thunderstorm and a return visit to the lighthouse under more dire circumstances the second time.
The final scene is Thurman's big moment. But it all has the air of deja vu thanks to all those psychological thrillers of the '40s that got even better effects when filmed in glorious B&W.
Pathological Intoxication and the Freudian Flower Arranging Theory.
hitchcockthelegend9 May 2020
Final Analysis is directed by Phil Joanou and written by Robert Berger and Wesley Strick. It stars Richard Gere, Kim Basinger, Uma Thurman, Eric Roberts, Keith David, Paul Guilfoyle and Robert Harper. Music is by George Fenton and cinematography by Jordan Cronenweth.
A psychiatrist becomes romantically involved with the sister of one of his patients...
There comes a time in every film fan's life - those who commit to writing reviews, starting blogs etc - where you happen upon a film that you find oneself very much going against the general consensus grain, Final Analysis is one such film for myself. Not that it's a great under appreciated gem or anything like that, but revisiting some 25 plus years later I have found it to be far better than I found it back in the day.
Alfred Hitchcock is my absolute number one favourite director of all time, but I'm never closed off as many often are to any sort of homage or thematically charged movie in lieu of the great man. In fact I'm encouraged that he still influences modern day directors this way. It also helps me that for fifteen years I have buried myself in all things film noir, which has given me opportunities to pick out fine noirish traits in otherwise reviled films of the neo-noir type. Case for the defence closed then!.
Final Analysis is very Hitchcockian but lite, so much so it plays as "Vertigo's" illegitimate offspring. In fact it's even De Palma lite, who was one of the best exponents of Hitch type suspensers. It's a little clumsy at times and trips itself up, with director Joanou failing to build on the promise of his neo-noir of 1990 - the blistering "State of Grace". While stretching it out to a two hour run time by throwing twist after twist at it - when the writing isn't good enough to veer away from Hitchcock conventions, is a bad move.
However, the core basis of a film noir world painted here is quite vivid, with two femme fatales, Freudian splinters and many trawls down a murky dark lane of mystery. The look is terrific (various Calif locations), this does after all feature the work of the cinematographer who photographed "Blade Runner". There a numerous gorgeous shots, light filtered through slats, up tilts into spiral golds, sublime primaries, while the court room sequences are magnificently akin to something that "Roger Deakins" would achieve further down the line.
Cast performance wise it's not something to shout from the rooftops about, but nothing that hurts the pic. I'm a big fan of Gere, but here he's on auto-pilot, which is where Joanou should have earnt his corn. Basinger sexes it up and does good enough crafty, but it's a turn that doesn't come alive till late in the day, likewise Thurman in the sister role. David isn't in it enough and just seems to serve as a point of reference at various junctures, but faring much better are Roberts (super smarm charm with deadly heartbeats), and Guilfoyle as the lawyer balancing court determination with private yearnings.
I couldn't recommend with utter confidence, but I would suggest that neo-noir/Hitchcock fans may find a revisit more beneficial when picking through the bones of it. 7/10
A psychiatrist becomes romantically involved with the sister of one of his patients...
There comes a time in every film fan's life - those who commit to writing reviews, starting blogs etc - where you happen upon a film that you find oneself very much going against the general consensus grain, Final Analysis is one such film for myself. Not that it's a great under appreciated gem or anything like that, but revisiting some 25 plus years later I have found it to be far better than I found it back in the day.
Alfred Hitchcock is my absolute number one favourite director of all time, but I'm never closed off as many often are to any sort of homage or thematically charged movie in lieu of the great man. In fact I'm encouraged that he still influences modern day directors this way. It also helps me that for fifteen years I have buried myself in all things film noir, which has given me opportunities to pick out fine noirish traits in otherwise reviled films of the neo-noir type. Case for the defence closed then!.
Final Analysis is very Hitchcockian but lite, so much so it plays as "Vertigo's" illegitimate offspring. In fact it's even De Palma lite, who was one of the best exponents of Hitch type suspensers. It's a little clumsy at times and trips itself up, with director Joanou failing to build on the promise of his neo-noir of 1990 - the blistering "State of Grace". While stretching it out to a two hour run time by throwing twist after twist at it - when the writing isn't good enough to veer away from Hitchcock conventions, is a bad move.
However, the core basis of a film noir world painted here is quite vivid, with two femme fatales, Freudian splinters and many trawls down a murky dark lane of mystery. The look is terrific (various Calif locations), this does after all feature the work of the cinematographer who photographed "Blade Runner". There a numerous gorgeous shots, light filtered through slats, up tilts into spiral golds, sublime primaries, while the court room sequences are magnificently akin to something that "Roger Deakins" would achieve further down the line.
Cast performance wise it's not something to shout from the rooftops about, but nothing that hurts the pic. I'm a big fan of Gere, but here he's on auto-pilot, which is where Joanou should have earnt his corn. Basinger sexes it up and does good enough crafty, but it's a turn that doesn't come alive till late in the day, likewise Thurman in the sister role. David isn't in it enough and just seems to serve as a point of reference at various junctures, but faring much better are Roberts (super smarm charm with deadly heartbeats), and Guilfoyle as the lawyer balancing court determination with private yearnings.
I couldn't recommend with utter confidence, but I would suggest that neo-noir/Hitchcock fans may find a revisit more beneficial when picking through the bones of it. 7/10
Extraordinarily derivative - but great fun
Leofwine_draca11 August 2013
FINAL ANALYSIS sees director Phil Joanou outdoing Brian de Palma in his Hitchcock homages, for this is a Hitchcockian thriller through and through. It's the story of a psychiatrist who becomes involves with a beautiful blonde client, and along the way throws in various scenarios including a courtroom showdown and some high-rise peril too.
It's an extraordinarily derivative film, but it manages to be great fun with it, and that's what counts, after all. FINAL ANALYSIS has dated in the same way that most movies from the 1990s have; every scene is overblown and overstylised, and the characters act in hugely unbelievable ways. The writers never let realism or credibility get in the way of another plot twist or suspense-wracked set-piece.
Richard Gere is on autopilot here and rather bland with it: there's nothing much to like about his boring character, and he's played the same role (of a guy falling head over heels for a pretty girl) so many times that he seems bored. Kim Basinger is better, really getting her teeth into a different kind of role from the ones she usually plays, but the real stand-outs are the supporting players. Uma Thurman is edgy and burns up the screen, Keith David's broad comic relief really works, and Eric Roberts is incredibly sleazy and frightening as a controlling husband.
I was delighted to discover, as I watched, that I had no idea where the story was going. Plot twist developed upon plot twist and I was frequently surprised and shocked by many of them. Of course, it's not really anything that hasn't been done before - and better, too - but it's a nice piece of entertainment for thriller and suspense fans nonetheless.
It's an extraordinarily derivative film, but it manages to be great fun with it, and that's what counts, after all. FINAL ANALYSIS has dated in the same way that most movies from the 1990s have; every scene is overblown and overstylised, and the characters act in hugely unbelievable ways. The writers never let realism or credibility get in the way of another plot twist or suspense-wracked set-piece.
Richard Gere is on autopilot here and rather bland with it: there's nothing much to like about his boring character, and he's played the same role (of a guy falling head over heels for a pretty girl) so many times that he seems bored. Kim Basinger is better, really getting her teeth into a different kind of role from the ones she usually plays, but the real stand-outs are the supporting players. Uma Thurman is edgy and burns up the screen, Keith David's broad comic relief really works, and Eric Roberts is incredibly sleazy and frightening as a controlling husband.
I was delighted to discover, as I watched, that I had no idea where the story was going. Plot twist developed upon plot twist and I was frequently surprised and shocked by many of them. Of course, it's not really anything that hasn't been done before - and better, too - but it's a nice piece of entertainment for thriller and suspense fans nonetheless.
Very disappointing, unoriginal (spoilers)
jckeilman11 September 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Some of the problems that I had with the movie had to do with location. I am very familiar with the location where the light house was supposed to be. It does not exist and never did, so that whole part was a stretch for me. The plot and story borrowed heavily from Hitchcock, but not well. Too many things happened that did not seem possible, as another reviewer pointed out, the escape from the mental institute, the grabbing of the dumb bell from the cable cars etc. I can understand how people would like it if they have not seen "Vertigo" "North by Northwest" "Rear Window" and numerous other Hitchcock films. All of the actors and actresses are pretty people, easy to look at. I don't recommend it if you are at all familiar with Hitchcock, it will disappoint.
Could have been even better
ODDBear10 November 2005
Gere plays a psychiatrist treating mentally unstable Uma Thurman. Basinger, Thurman's sister, approaches Gere to try and shed some light on her sister's condition and the two of them start a relationship.
That's just the beginning in a rather elaborate Hitchcockian plot that is for the most part very suspenseful but rather slow moving. The well written plot takes it's sweet time getting started but once it does the film only goes uphill. Stylish director Joanou keeps the film very interesting on a visual level, many wonderful eye candy moments.
The story, written by Wesley Strick, has a few unexpected twists and turns but is somehow rather predictable, especially for a seasoned thriller and murder mystery fan. All leads play their parts very straight, there's no powerhouse performance here, they're mostly very subdued with Eric Roberts the only exception, he plays a total slimeball to a tee.
The finale, very reminiscent of Hitchcock's Vertigo, is a knockout, very rich in style and suspense. Final Analysis, I feel, could have been even better, but it's pretty good all the same.
That's just the beginning in a rather elaborate Hitchcockian plot that is for the most part very suspenseful but rather slow moving. The well written plot takes it's sweet time getting started but once it does the film only goes uphill. Stylish director Joanou keeps the film very interesting on a visual level, many wonderful eye candy moments.
The story, written by Wesley Strick, has a few unexpected twists and turns but is somehow rather predictable, especially for a seasoned thriller and murder mystery fan. All leads play their parts very straight, there's no powerhouse performance here, they're mostly very subdued with Eric Roberts the only exception, he plays a total slimeball to a tee.
The finale, very reminiscent of Hitchcock's Vertigo, is a knockout, very rich in style and suspense. Final Analysis, I feel, could have been even better, but it's pretty good all the same.
Hitchcock must be turning in his grave
johnny-0822 July 2008
I must say that I had high expectations about this movie because of solid cast and what it seemed interesting story in Hitchcock way. We've got ordinary man (Dr. Isaac Barr) who founds himself in strange situations and also blond female characters (both Heather and Diana). Also the end, the lighthouse, the fall of Heather Evans is a copy of Hitchcock style. I must say, after watching movie, that this is very bad movie. Beside Eric Roberts, who is always good as bad guy, all other actors are just acting it through (Gere was awful, Basinger funny when she tried to be bad and Thurman had nothing to act). Script was written on so stupid way that we've got numerous inversions but in a very predictable and dull way, so I waited finally to end. Very big disappointment for me and poor Hitchcock must be turning in his grave.
A little sly, a little sleazy, but pretty entertaining
Samiam325 April 2010
Part Neo-noir, part courtroom drama, part erotic thriller with a lesson or two in Freud, Final Analysis has a lot on its mind. There is no denying that the film has its roots in Hitchcock and there is nothing wrong with following in his masterful footsteps, but Final Analysis is a case of the Devil is in the details. It is not one story, it feels like three, and sometimes four, quite a bit to stomach. With that in mind however, it is entertaining as spooky erotica.
San Francisco therapist Dr. Barr, finds himself in a dangerous game. It starts when he has an affair with one of his patient's sisters (who has medical problems). After she kills her husband one night, he joins the defence in an attempt to prove her actions were the result of her condition.
The last half of Final analysis is a mess. The story starts flipping its wheels in abruptly contrived manners. Just when you think something has gotten somewhere, something else is just beginning. I can't say I wasn't intrigued, but its contrivances may test your suspension of disbelieve and involvement.
I've seen far worse though I'll say that. Final Analysis is many things. As far as Neo-noir goes it might be worth checking out.
San Francisco therapist Dr. Barr, finds himself in a dangerous game. It starts when he has an affair with one of his patient's sisters (who has medical problems). After she kills her husband one night, he joins the defence in an attempt to prove her actions were the result of her condition.
The last half of Final analysis is a mess. The story starts flipping its wheels in abruptly contrived manners. Just when you think something has gotten somewhere, something else is just beginning. I can't say I wasn't intrigued, but its contrivances may test your suspension of disbelieve and involvement.
I've seen far worse though I'll say that. Final Analysis is many things. As far as Neo-noir goes it might be worth checking out.
All over the place
gcd702 September 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Painfully slow for the first hour, "Final Analysis" is an 'old-fashioned' thriller that has little of the style that made those film noir flicks of the 40's and 50's so very enjoyable.
This picture never manages to grab its audience until half an hour before the end, at which time it reaches such a frenetic pace that it becomes a little too much to cope with. This is not to say that the plot is bad, however the screenplay and direction are both very poor. Most movie-goers will find themselves sleeping through the first half of this one, and then staring in disbelief at the conclusion. Wasted film making.
Saturday, March 28, 1992 - Knox District Centre
This picture never manages to grab its audience until half an hour before the end, at which time it reaches such a frenetic pace that it becomes a little too much to cope with. This is not to say that the plot is bad, however the screenplay and direction are both very poor. Most movie-goers will find themselves sleeping through the first half of this one, and then staring in disbelief at the conclusion. Wasted film making.
Saturday, March 28, 1992 - Knox District Centre
A Moody & Visually Stunning Neo-Noir Thriller
seymourblack-128 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
"Final Analysis" is a moody and stylish psychological thriller in which murder, manipulation and deceit figure strongly and the numerous plot twists just keep on coming, right up to the final scene. It's also one of the most visually stunning neo-noirs ever made and in this context, the contributions of art director Dean Tavoularis and cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth are very significant and worthy of high praise.
The opening credit sequence immediately makes it clear that "Final Analysis" is influenced both in its style and content by some of the great film noirs of the past (most notably "Vertigo" but also to a lesser extent "Double Indemnity" and "A Place In The Sun") and in common with these types of movies, it contains a typically gullible man, numerous double crosses and characters with unclear motives who may not be all that they seem.
Dr Isaac Barr (Richard Gere) is an eminent psychiatrist who regularly acts as an expert defence witness in court cases where the accused pleads insanity in order to avoid a heavy sentence. At the same time, in his private practice, he has a patient called Diana Baylor (Uma Thurman) who is seeking his help because she's struggling to deal with some traumatic childhood memories. Diana suggests that it may help the progress of her treatment if Dr Barr could discuss some aspects of her background with her sister. Barr is initially reluctant to take up Diana's suggestion but when he subsequently meets her sister, Heather Evans (Kim Basinger), the couple soon become involved in a passionate affair.
Heather is unhappily married to a sadistic gangster called Jimmy Evans (Eric Roberts) and also suffers from a condition called "pathological intoxication" which makes her become crazy and violent when she consumes even a very small amount of alcohol. When she attacks Jimmy and kills him and her medical condition is a factor, Dr Barr uses his expertise and connections to save her from the full force of the law. Unfortunately for the doctor, this success is no consolation for the trouble that he encounters when he starts to realise that he may have been set up to be the fall guy as the missing murder weapon could provide evidence of his involvement in the crime.
Richard Gere is very suave and self assured as the very successful doctor who's used to being given a great deal of respect. Consistent success and respect can make those who are not vigilant develop an excess of pride and arrogance and can in turn have an adverse effect on their judgement. Dr Barr goes off the rails spectacularly when he gets involved with Heather and breaches the rules of his profession without any apparent concern.
Kim Basinger and Uma Thurman are both good as the treacherous and devious sisters and Eric Roberts is especially effective as the vicious and fiercely jealous victim.
This glamorous thriller is well written with some very quotable lines and is extremely easy of the eye. It's thoroughly absorbing, great fun to watch and should be regarded as essential viewing for all neo-noir fans.
The opening credit sequence immediately makes it clear that "Final Analysis" is influenced both in its style and content by some of the great film noirs of the past (most notably "Vertigo" but also to a lesser extent "Double Indemnity" and "A Place In The Sun") and in common with these types of movies, it contains a typically gullible man, numerous double crosses and characters with unclear motives who may not be all that they seem.
Dr Isaac Barr (Richard Gere) is an eminent psychiatrist who regularly acts as an expert defence witness in court cases where the accused pleads insanity in order to avoid a heavy sentence. At the same time, in his private practice, he has a patient called Diana Baylor (Uma Thurman) who is seeking his help because she's struggling to deal with some traumatic childhood memories. Diana suggests that it may help the progress of her treatment if Dr Barr could discuss some aspects of her background with her sister. Barr is initially reluctant to take up Diana's suggestion but when he subsequently meets her sister, Heather Evans (Kim Basinger), the couple soon become involved in a passionate affair.
Heather is unhappily married to a sadistic gangster called Jimmy Evans (Eric Roberts) and also suffers from a condition called "pathological intoxication" which makes her become crazy and violent when she consumes even a very small amount of alcohol. When she attacks Jimmy and kills him and her medical condition is a factor, Dr Barr uses his expertise and connections to save her from the full force of the law. Unfortunately for the doctor, this success is no consolation for the trouble that he encounters when he starts to realise that he may have been set up to be the fall guy as the missing murder weapon could provide evidence of his involvement in the crime.
Richard Gere is very suave and self assured as the very successful doctor who's used to being given a great deal of respect. Consistent success and respect can make those who are not vigilant develop an excess of pride and arrogance and can in turn have an adverse effect on their judgement. Dr Barr goes off the rails spectacularly when he gets involved with Heather and breaches the rules of his profession without any apparent concern.
Kim Basinger and Uma Thurman are both good as the treacherous and devious sisters and Eric Roberts is especially effective as the vicious and fiercely jealous victim.
This glamorous thriller is well written with some very quotable lines and is extremely easy of the eye. It's thoroughly absorbing, great fun to watch and should be regarded as essential viewing for all neo-noir fans.
Methodical thriller
gridoon20241 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
As early-1990s psychosexual thrillers go, "Final Analysis" is classier than "Color Of Night", but it's not quite as much fun. It's a bit on the long and slow side, but it's methodically plotted and skillfully directed (the early scenes feel kind of cramped, but Phil Joanou makes good use of the San Francisco locations later on and stages a fairly exciting finale). In a high-powered cast, everyone does their job well but Eric Roberts steals the acting honors. **1/2 out of 4.
Bad Script + Bad Acting = Bad Movie
saturnchick6 September 2004
Boy, oh boy....I don't know where to begin when attempting to describe this train wreck of a movie. Basically, Richard Gere portrays a Freudianesque psychiatrist treating a disturbed young woman (Uma Thurman) who suffers from recurring nightmares coupled with an obsessive compulsive disorder that reveals glimpses of her secret past. Enter the aforementioned patient's bombshell (but un-happily married) sister (Kim Basinger) along with her "Greek Orthodox gangster" husband (Eric Roberts), and let the thinly-veiled intrigue begin!! Laced with poorly executed homages to Hitchcock classics such as Vertigo, in addition to every bad movie cliché' imaginable, this movie is predictable from beginning to end. The acting is sub-par all around, and the plot holes are enormous. (SPOILERS HEREAFTER) Are we, as the viewer, really supposed to believe that the San Fransisco Police Department and District Attorney's Office would not take the time to investigate a person's background after they have charged them with homicide? Or that a friend of the defendant can testify as an expert witness? To sum things up, this movie is laughable and ridiculous. Don't waste your time.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
