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March 2006 BASIC INSTINCT 2 RISK ADDICTION

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By Melissa Walters BASIC INSTINCT 2 RISK ADDICTION Distributor: Columbia Pictures Director: Michael Caton-Jones Producers: Mario F. Kassar, Andrew G. Vajna, & Joel B. Michaels Screenwriters: Leora Barish, Henry Bean, based on characters created by Joe Eszterhas Composer: John Murphy Cast: Sharon Stone, David Morrissey, Charlotte Rampling, David Thewlis, Stan Collymore, Andre Schneider

When one thinks of Basic Instinct; the intrigue and the sex, and the oh so unforgetable scene where Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) crosses her legs in the interrogation room, one understands why this sequel is highly anticipated. Some thirteen years later, one can’t wait for the encore of indiscretions. With that said, pay attention to the first scene of the film, which has Catherine Tramell, true to form, racing down Canary Wharf in a Spyker Laviolette while she is pleasured by sports star Kevin Franks (Stan Collymore). At the moment of climax Trammell loses control of the vehicle and it plunges into the Thames River. An exciting start to what is sure to be a twisted, sexy thriller, the film badly disappoints. Sharon Stone’s reprisal of her role as Catherine Tramell is the only positive in this sequel. Catherine Tramell manages to escape from the car but her lover is not so lucky. The coroner’s report establishes that he was injected with a drug that stopped his lungs from functioning. Did Catherine Tramell do it? Dr. Michael Glass (David Morrissey) is solicited by Detective Superintendent Roy Washburn (David Thewlis) to assess Catherine Tramell. Detective Washburn, not unlike Detective Nick Curran of Basic Instinct, wants to nail that b***h. Detective Washburn is spared Nick Curran’s fate when Catherine Trammell sets her sights on Dr. Glass as the inspiration for her latest novel. Diagnosed with a risk addiction, Catherine Tramell is inspired to prove that Dr. Glass is capable of developing a risk addiction as well; her. However, Morrisey's portrayal of the uptight and somewhat boring Dr. Glass is convincing, the end result that there is little chemistry between Morrissey and Stone. Other than a plot twist casting the character and motivation of Detective Washburn into question, the story is utterly predictable. Not surprisingly, everone around Dr. Glass conveniently starts dying, and Dr. Glass becomes the main suspect Lacking is the suspense of some of Bean’s earlier work, i.e. Internal Affairs. Dr. Glass’ character is not a worthy opponent for Catherine Tramell and there is no question from the very beginning how this story will end. The film is asthetically pleasing, with Michael Caton-Jones capturing the disparity of the Tramell and Glass characters in their element; Tramell in a glossy space in noveau, modern London and stuffy, analytical Dr. Glass and his comrades, including his mentor Dr. Milena Gardosh (Charlotte Rampling), in an older, darker, more traditional London. However neither the stage, the good performances from the supporting cast (despite the uninteresting characters that they play), nor Stone’s return as a mature yet timeless Tramell salvage this film. One can only hope that Caton-Jones’ ambition that this sequel would stand alone is in fact realized, that this film goes away quietly and never detracts from the original film that made Sharon Stone a star.

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