90s Movie Review - Basic Instinct

Director: Paul Verhoeven
Genre: Crime/ Thriller
Runtime: 128 minutes
Year: 1992
Starring: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, Jeanne Tripplehorn, George Dzundza, Denis Arndt, Wayne Knight, Mitch Pileggi, Stephen Tobolowsky

Description: A violent police detective (Michael Douglas) investigates a brutal murder that might involve a manipulative and seductive novelist (Sharon Stone)

Review: If there was ever a film that deserved the title of ‘erotic thriller’, it’s this one. Even today, the sex scenes are very daring for a film that does not belong in the adult section. Of course “Basic Instinct” is most known for that one interrogation scene, but the film has way more to offer.
Sharon Stone’s name is so strongly associated with the film that you would almost forget thay she wasn’t the first choice. Michael Douglas suggested Kim Basinger, but she rejected the role. Michelle Pfeifer, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis, Ellen Barkin and Marielle Hemingway also declined. The studio finally wanted Demi Moore, but then director Paul Verhoeven suddenly thought of Sharon Stone, with whom he had already worked in “Total Recall”. And she turned out to be the perfect choice for femme fatale Catherine Tramell.
Michael Douglas plays the somewhat shady San Francisco detective Nick Curran. He falls for the wrong women, other women fall for him. During a murder investigation, he falls head over heels in love with the main witness (and suspect), the beautiful author Catherine Tramell. She has a strange take on ‘research’: she bases her male characters in her novels on existing men. And to study them she sleeps with them. When the book is finished, these men are mercilessly dumped. She is now the prime suspect in the murder of a man who was killed with an icepick. The same method as in one of Catherine’s books.
“Basic Instinct” is one of Paul Verhoeven’s best films, filled with intrigue, mystery, sensuality and darkness. I actually can’t believe that I saw this film at a young age, because it’s pretty explicit. I don’t think Verhoeven could have gotten away with this film today, because Hollywood is a bit of a prude.

Rating: 3,5/ 5