Basic Instinct (1992)

Today I decided to knock another insanely famous film off my list of shame. Yes, it's true, I've never seen Basic Instinct. The promise of a nearly fully nude Sharon Stone should have been enough to make me watch it. I'm really not sure why I never got around to seeing it, but that's all been remedied today. Hit the jump to find out if it's anything more than just a bunch of clips of Sharon Stone topless.


Believe it or not, there is actually a story here. I know, I was surprised too! The film opens up with a hot sex scene and a brutal murder. Detective Nick Curren (played by Michael Douglas) is put on the case and it leads him to the victim's girlfriend, Catherine (Sharon Stone). There's not a lot of evidence, but there's plenty of twists and turns and of course way more sex. Will Nick be able to find the killer or will he be fooled in the twisted schemes?

Basic Instinct is possibly the most well know for the split second when Sharon Stone uncrosses her legs and you can see up her dress, revealing a decided lack of underwear. But other than that, there is a level of nudity that starts to rival even Eyes Wide Shut! In fact, this movie is probably only a step or two away from just being a porno! Of course it's all well done and very hot, but there's almost always a level of tension added to the scenes because you don't know if Catherine might be the killer or not.

The famous Sharon Stone scene

So now that I've gotten all the sex talk out of the way, is there anything else to the film? In fact there is, but it's not without flaws. The murder mystery is quite good, if a little confusing to keep everything straight. This is mainly because you're constantly being lied to and manipulated by the prime suspects. It doesn't help that Sharon Stone's character of Catherine is also a psychologist and can lie with the best of them and twist your thoughts to her whim. Nick never stood a chance!

I really liked Nick's character, and I thought he did pretty well through the whole thing. Especially considering how all his strings were being tugged on like a marionette. I quite like Michael Douglas' acting and he didn't let me down here. He didn't blow me away, but I think it was still good.

Nick and his partner Gus

As for the mystery, I'm really not sure how I feel about it. At the start I thought it was really cool, trying to figure out who did the deed. Then it slowly started to run into problems for me. The constant redirection by the different characters became kind of a mess for me. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention enough, but can you blame me with all that sex going on? Maybe that was the intention! The other problem was that there were several "thrills" where you think the main character is about to be attacked and then he isn't. This happens over and over and over. I'm pretty sure it literally happens about 4 times. By the 3rd time I didn't believe it anymore, and it was just annoying at that point. And then it happened again. Can you hear me sighing?

Can he get the killer?!

Despite what that image above makes it look like, there's really not much action (other than sex) in Basic Instinct. There are a few small car chases, but not really much else. I kinda wish it had more, but it was really all about the deception and the mystery and the sex. I still think Michael Douglas is still cool with a gun though!

So do I recommend Basic Instinct? If you are looking to see Sharon Stone topless and having sex, then this is the movie for you. If you're looking for a mystery, it's alright. If you're looking for action, best look somewhere else. Overall though, taking everything into consideration, I eventually got desensitized to seeing Stone naked, and all that left me with was a kind of disappointing murder mystery that started to annoy me by the end. I certainly didn't hate it, it was just OK in the end. I wish I could say that it was either really great or really horrible, but it's just another one of the many average movies that are made every year.