Basic Instinct

REVIEW
When it opened at movie theatres, this ultra-chic, sexually explicit thriller was surrounded by controversy. Picketed in several cities, the film raised a red flag for gays, lesbians and feminists with its shockingly "retro" stereotypes of man-hating lesbians with a "basic instinct" for murder. Basically an adolescent sex fantasy disguised as a murder mystery, the film follows Douglas as a burned-out cop who inadvisedly falls in "lust" with the prime suspect in a series of brutal icepick murders, lasciviously portrayed by Stone. Verhoeven, as always, directs with a sense of style and atmosphere which elevates it above the average action/thriller, but at the heart of the film is Joe Eszterhas' multi-million dollar screenplay which, while particularly hateful of women, is misanthropic on the whole. Worthy of controversy? Perhaps, but basically this is just another thriller which really doesn't cover any new ground.