ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 13, 1996 TAG: 9604150107
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
"Fear" is one sick flick.
It's a ham-fisted variation on the "Fatal Attraction"-"Hand That Rocks the Cradle" formula. In those films, a beautiful insane woman menaced a middle-class family. This time out, Mark Wahlberg is Psycho-boy.
"Fear" separates itself from other thrillers by adding a soft-core sexual angle involving a teen-age girl (Reese Witherspoon). Though that aspect is handled without nudity or graphic love scenes, it borders on kiddie porn. Director James Foley has also made music videos for Madonna. Perhaps he forgot he was dealing with a 16-year-old character. If that weren't enough, some of the violence involves a younger child.
Spoiled and immature Nicole (Witherspoon) falls for David (Wahlberg) the moment she sees him. He's a cute sociopath who says all the right things to her parents (William Petersen and Amy Brenneman), who don't understand her at all, etc. etc. In no time flat, Nicole and her slutty friend Margo (Alyssa Milano) are sneaking out. By the time she realizes how bad David is, he's fallen in love and becomes far too possessive.
Then the last part of the film turns into rehash of Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs."
Curiously, the most effective character is Wahlberg. He's a believable and repellent reptilian figure. But the action going on around him is so clumsy and so imitative that it's never particularly frightening.
The few things that are good about "Fear" have been done before and have been done better.
Fear *
A Universal release playing at the Salem Valley 8, Valley View 6. 95 min. Rated R for subject matter, strong sexual content, violence, language.
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Mark Wahlberg plays a sexy, smooth-talking charmer whoseby CNBdesires turn deadly in "Fear." color.