The 1991 version of the film was dramatic but felt dated, compared to the 1962 original, as if it were just an imitation. Danielle Bowden, the teenager is not doing well as school and is forced to take summer classes, which is how she meets Cady as he pretends to be her drama teacher and he manages to convince her to suck his finger in a seductive manner. Leigh Bowden, Sam’s wife, works from home, she is a ‘modern woman’. The two lead male roles felt strange to me. Nick Nolte played Sam Bowden, who I found extremely uncharismatic. Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis are the ones that carry this film for the Bowden family. Robert De Niro as Max Cady was terrifying but it wasn’t the tattoos or the greasy hair or the way he spoke, it was his ability to flip from seemingly charming guy to raging maniac. He is repulsive, which is what the character is meant to be and De Niro really does throw himself into the role. Unfortunately, Nolte, beside De Niro just feels miscast.
Cape Fear, both films, boast an impressive cast and director yet it’s quite difficult to compare the two films as they are almost identical in how the story plays out. The differences are obviously the ending and the change of character of Lori Davis and Diane Taylor. The former was a colleague, who has a crush on Bowden and after being rejected by him, meets Cady in a bar. She is then violently raped and beaten and left too afraid to testify. The change from the 1962 film, where Diane is a woman, not connected to other characters Cady picks up at a bar. Cady threatens Bowden when he attacks his friend, showing this is what he’ll do to his wife and daughter. Both women are used as plot device to show what Cady is capable of and shaming these women for having sex with someone they hardly know. An age-old device.
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