Instinct

The only instinct this Jon Turteltaub movie touches on is Hollywood's compulsion to cobble together failures from imitations of past hits. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Gorillas in the Mist, George of the Jungle, and, of course, The Silence of the Lambs are just a few of the sources purloined. Anthony Hopkins adds facial hair and new-age psychobabble to Hannibal Lecter as Dr. Ethan Powell, a primatologist whose years of dwelling with gorillas come to an end when he murders poachers and is put in a psychiatric prison. Mute, feral, and explosively violent, he becomes a case study for ambitious young shrink Dr. Theo Calder (Cuba Gooding Jr.); naturally the two wind up undermining the despotic system that oppresses the prison's lovable psychotics. Tedious and silly, Instinct offends mostly because of what it leaves out. Flashing back to Powell's crime in the jungles of Rwanda, the film goes to great lengths to arouse compassion for the endangered primates -- themselves, in fact, special effects. The million human beings slaughtered in the recent genocide are never mentioned -- but then, Hollywood's instinct has never been for the reality principle. At the Harbour Mall, Showcase, Tri-Boro, and Woonsocket cinemas.
-- Peter Keough