[.ca] Final Analysis (Full Screen) (ISBN 6305308837)

From Amazon.com:
This film, which again pairs Richard Gere and Kim Basinger (who starred in 1986's No Mercy), offers up elements of classic noir: a hapless man becomes intimately involved with a beautiful blonde who may or may not be who or what she appears to be. Dedicated psychiatrist Isaac Barr (Gere) reluctantly, and then more obsessively, becomes involved with Heather Evans (Basinger), the sister of his patient, Diana Baylor (Uma Thurman). Evans is unhappily married to a gangster (appropriately played by a muscular and menacing Eric Roberts in a trademark role). Gere and Basinger make a credible, if dangerous couple, and Thurman delivers a subtle, understated performance and demonstrates her range and potential. The thriller is appropriately shot in gorgeous San Francisco, where the literal and figurative curving and hilly roads wind throughout. Credit legendary art director Dean Tavoularis for some amazing sets and scenes, notably the elegantly cavernous restaurant where Evans and her husband have a fateful dinner. This film is, in a way, glossy director Phil Joanou's Hitchcockian tribute--as a climactic lighthouse scene best demonstrates. Final Analysis doesn't offer an intimate look at its characters, but a beautifully stylized one, moody and gloomy. The intricate plot experiments with the device of "pathological intoxication," in which the subject completely loses control after drinking alcohol. And this doesn't mean a conventional ugly drunk; it means a frightening psychotic. Good and evil, hope and despair, beauty and repulsion are often juxtaposed in the film's complex world. --N.F. Mendoza

Good movie -- bad DVD:
This thriller was always an extremely entertaining Hitchcock knockoff (nothing at all like Basic Instinct, despite the other reviews here) -- if you could buy Gere as a therapist, and that's not hard, since he's not playing a *smart* therapist -- but a lot of the charm of the movie was how gorgeous it was visually, and this DVD does not give you the gorgeous anarmorphic widescreen picture you expect from a DVD. It's formatted to fit your (square) screen. I would much rather have paid 20 bucks for the expected widescreen version -- since I already had the VHS, this wasn't even worth 10. (Yes, I admit I should have read the product description more carefully, but I didn't realize people were releasing widescreen movies on DVD without a widescreen option -- why should they, for crying out loud? -- so I got blindsided. I post this to warn others like myself.)

Terrible DVD, ok movie:
The quality of this DVD is bad; that's being kind. It's a full-screen movie transfer, which some people actually prefer because they like to miss a lot of the movie. Also, the transfer is very grainy. The actually movie isn't that much better. You see what could have been, but instead they try to throw around a few twists just because they think they should. Uma Thurman is wonderful. That's about all this movie has to offer. Very DUM ending.

Good Job Kim Basinger:
I really enjoyed this movie. Suspense, many twists and turns and I have to say that Kim Basinger was awesome. I also thought Eric Roberts did an incredible job in the short time he appeared in the movie. If you like suspense and some surprises, you will enjoy it.

Final analysis:
A psychiatrist breaches professional ethics by falling in love and starting a romance with the sister of one of his patients. The sister of his patient steals the psychiatrist heart by telling him that she's not happily married. Her husband is abusive - gangster kind of guy. Soon she kills her husband and her excuse is: she suffers from Pathological Intoxication. And if she proves it she'll be safe. Isaac (Gere) believes all she's saying and helps her a lot but soon he discovers that she was lying all the time and that she's dangerous - but it's too late now for Isaac to bring her to justice as he's already deeply involved in her crimes. Great classic thriller

DVD is a Disgrace to the Original Film:
WARNING: This DVD is in 1.33 aspect ration, so you won't see the same film as the one in the theater. If you have a widescreen tv or 16:9 projection screen you'll have black bars on the left & right sides of your screen that will make this DVD look like a "TV Movie". Visually this was a stunning film, shot by one of the greatest cinematographers - Jordan Cronenwenth who also filmed BLADERUNNER, STOP MAKING SENSE, etc. It is such a disservice to him and the film to NOT release this as an anamorphic widescreen DVD so the homeviewer can enjoy the great visuals. WARNER Bros., we'll rather pay a little more, and get quality! 4 stars for the film, 1 star for the DVD.