Final Analysis (1992) / Thriller-Romance
MPAA Rated: R for a scene of strong sensuality, and for language and violence
Running Time: 124 min.Cast: Richard Gere, Kim Basinger, Uma Thurman, Eric Roberts, Paul Guilfoyle, Keith David
Director: Phil Joanou
Screenplay: Wesley Strick
Review published November 12, 1998
A psychiatrist (Gere, Pretty Woman) begins a romance with the sister (Basinger, Batman) of one of his patients (Thurman, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen), although later finding out she's married to a powerful gangster-type (Roberts, Runaway Train). His lover kills her husband, claiming "pathological intoxication" whereby the person is susceptible to uncontrollable acts of violence when under the influence of alcohol. The shrink pulls some strings and gets her off the hook, but is uncertain if she is a scheming murderess or really a victim to her condition.
A potentially nifty Hitchcockian thriller, with many references to Vertigo in particular, overdone in style and laughable in acting and writing. It's watchable and enjoyable, but these actors are solely cast on their looks, and deliver their poorly conceived lines with vast ineptitude.
In the hands of a better director and with a cast of credible thespians, this could have worked much the way Fatal Attraction or Jagged Edge did, but we aren't so blessed here. As far as thrillers go, it does have its merits, but the misses outweigh the hits in this mediocre endeavor.
©2014 Vince Leo
