Best films with absolutely no sympathetic characters in them.
What do you think, thanks.
shareCape Fear. 1991
shareWell, I actually DID feel sorry for the lawyer and his family as soon as Cady began targetting them, not to mention, that cop and that caretaker lady that, spoiler, Cady later kills, certainly didn't deserve to die nor did that woman deserve to be violated by Cady in that notorious and disturbing scene.
sharePersonally, I didn't like any of them. Most people I know, didn't. They were all messed up in one way or another.
On the other hand, it was a memorable movie for the portrayal of Cady by Robert DeNiro. That scene where he is talking with the daughter inside the school, and she's sort of flirting is frightening and compelling at the same time.
Yeah, there was also some controversy about whether Sam Bowden did the right thing even if it was legally a little less ethical, but then, given how much of a menace Max Cady was, who sadly enough has done those things before, where's the guarantee he wouldn't harm someone else including even, at some point, his own daughter?
shareDisagree
The daughter Danielle was placed in harms way by her fathers actions and used as a pawn by a psycho hell bent on revenge
She was stalked, abused and terrified and she was just a kid
She had my sympathy
I can accept that.
shareSo, wait again, how was her father's actions responsible for placing her in harms way?
shareHe intentionally failed to perform his duty as a defense attorney in order to put a man (a very bad one for sure) behind bars
This is a major violation of American criminal law and is unethical to boot
Well, I am not sure if THAT was how he put his daughter at risk, and whether or not it was a major violation is also debatable, since in fact, it is unethical in itself to think that in cases of a sexual violation, the victim's promiscuity should determine whether or not a sexual assault did in fact occur and who the guilty perpetrator is.
In fact, in many ethical professions, and let's also not forget that it was NOT the first time Max Cady has done something like this, it is actually a legal duty of the lawyer or doctor etc to inform all details to police if the suspect was a potential threat, and whilst OK maybe hding a report in itself can be seen questionable, in the case of Cady, it was more or less a right sort of choice, its not like planting the evidence, right?
What I WAS thinking about perhaps a MORE official way of how he DID put his daughter at risk was when he and that cop were trying to trap Cady and find an excuse to take him out in self defense when he started targetting them, he actually DID use his family and daughter as bait, and as soon as Max Cady killed the cop and that caretaker lady Graciella not to mention went for a boat trip on a cold rainy night in a remote location with very little to no back up and further friends to back him up, he put himself, his wife and daughter in danger, and that was right after Max Cady did those killings and then hid underneath his Jeep (and how did him and his family NOT notice) and sensed that he might still be around, in my opinion, he unintentionally but more certainly and more officially put his daughter and wife at risk that way later on towards the end of the movie, not when in 1977 he hid that report in order to get higher sentence for him.
No
Bowden was a defense attorney and he was required by law to do his best to defend his client
He let his feelings get in the way and intentionally failed to do his job
Was Cady a terrible person?
He certainly was but no one man or group of men are allowed to conspire to undermine the legal system
This is a crime and is the same as vigilanteism but without the gun
Bowden was wrong