Synopsis
An arrogant, high-powered attorney takes on the case of a poor altar boy found running away from the scene of the grisly murder of the bishop who has taken him in. The case gets a lot more complex when the accused reveals that there may or may not have been a third person in the room.
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Cast
- Richard GereMartin Vail
- Laura LinneyJanet Venable
- Edward NortonAaron
- John MahoneyShaughnessy
- Alfre WoodardShoat
- Frances McDormandMolly
- Terry O'QuinnYancy
- Andre BraugherGoodman
- Steven BauerPinero
- Joe SpanoStenner
Recommendations
- 80
Los Angeles Times
A tight courtroom melodrama that serves up twist after twist like so many baffling knuckle balls, this film handles its suspenseful material with skill and style. - 75
USA Today
As a forum for its actors and for the big-screen directorial debut of multi-Emmy winner Gregory Hoblit, the film is up to the job. - 50
Austin Chronicle
Norton's performance and the well-paced tension preceding the movie's climactic sequence provide an entertaining if slightly predictable thriller. - 50
TV Guide Magazine
The sky-high sleaze quotient -- lascivious priests, amateur porn movies, teenage hustlers and institutionalized corruption of every kind -- ought to guarantee fun for all, but heavy messages keep poking through and spoiling everything. - 50
ReelViews
Despite high production standards and a slick advertising campaign, Primal Fear is as trite and routine as any made-for-TV courtroom drama. - 50
Time
Diverting without being fully absorbing, this is a film best appreciated as an exercise in--shall we say it?--Primal Gere. [15 Apr 1996, p.100] - 50
Chicago Reader
Semiabsorbing. - 40
Washington Post
The special twist-which Paramount Pictures has implored critics not to divulge-redefines the story completely. It also ruins everything.
