Basic Instinct (1992) on Netflix
R19922h 7mCrimeDramaMysteryThriller
Detective Nick Curran investigates the ice-pick stabbing of a retired rock star in San Francisco. The prime suspect is Catherine Tramell, a crime novelist whose newest book mirrors the killing.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.1/10247,158 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes57%
Trailer
Plot summary
During sex, a woman binds Johnny Boz, a retired rock star, with a silk scarf and kills him with an ice pick. Detective Nick Curran and his partner Gus Moran take the case in San Francisco. Their prime suspect is Boz's girlfriend, Catherine Tramell, a crime novelist whose newest book repeats the killing's details. She tells them she spent that night with Boz but denies the murder, and she answers their questions with taunts. Released for lack of evidence, she stays a person of interest: her girlfriend Roxy Hardy killed her brothers as a teenager, and her friend Hazel Dobkins was convicted of murdering her family. Nick, a recovering alcoholic in mandatory counseling with police psychologist Dr. Beth Garner, is drawn to Catherine regardless.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Basic Instinct (1992)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Gary Goldman was brought in to rewrite the script four times at Paul Verhoeven's suggestion, but by the fourth draft Verhoeven himself acknowledged that his proposals were "undramatic" and "really stupid", and the fifth and final draft returned to Joe Eszterhas' original vision.
- Julia Roberts, Greta Scacchi, Meg Ryan, Debra Winger, Michelle Pfeiffer, Geena Davis, Kathleen Turner, Kelly Lynch, Ellen Barkin and Mariel Hemingway all turned down the role of Catherine Tramell when Paul Verhoeven and the producers offered it.
- Michael Douglas at first refused to test with Sharon Stone; Paul Verhoeven kept playing her test after testing everyone else, and Douglas agreed to test with her only after 12 other actresses had turned the role down.
- Sharon Stone has alleged that the shot exposing her as she crossed her legs was filmed without her knowledge: Verhoeven said her white underwear reflected light on the camera lens and asked her to remove it, assuring her only a shadow would be visible, and she says she learned otherwise at a test screening, slapped him and left.
- In 1992 the mayor of Les Herbiers in France, Jeanne Briand, banned Basic Instinct in her municipality, claiming the film was "apologism for crime and violence, which exacerbates impulses that can lead to rape".
