PSYCHOPATHS IN FACT & FICTION
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Cape Fear - Max Cady (Robert De Nero)

Picture
A Martin Scorcese remake of the original with Robert Mitchum as the convicted rapist Max Cady. Mitchum was good but I prefer the more recent take on the movie and De Nero's faultlessly frightening performance.

The  story follows Cady's pursuit of revenge against a former public defender, Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte), who he blames for his fourteen year incarceration. Sam failed to do his job in defending Cady during his trial when he held back a report that may have lightened the sentence. During his imprisonment the illiterate criminal learns not only to read but he studies law and now understands the loopholes etc that he thinks Sam failed to use.

This sets up the conflict between the soft, vulnerable family man - which the rather imposing Nolte carries off very well - and the hardened psychopathic convict obsessed with revenge.

We never know for sure, but the implication is that Sam is cheating on his wife with a women taken hostage by Cady. De Nero studied sexual predators' behaviour for the movie and suggested the violent scene; she is brutally raped, her arm broken and a chunk of her face bitten off, yet she refuses to press charges.

Sam responds by hiring thugs in an ineffective attempt to stop Cady in his tracks (see below right) - but the ploy fails in achieving anything other than escalating the violence towards a chilling and nerve wracking finale.

Verdict:

Another great performance from De Nero who assumes the mantle of a psychopath rather too well...

Classic Quote:
"I ain't no white trash piece of shit. I'm better than you all! I can out-learn you. I can out-read you. I can out-think you. And I can out-philosophize you. And I'm gonna outlast you. You think a couple whacks to my guts is gonna get me down? It's gonna take a hell of a lot more than that, Counselor, to prove you're better than me!"


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For Fans of Thriller, Suspense and Crime Fiction, and similar Movies - with loads of True Crime including info on real life psychopaths too. If you like to curl up with a good psychopath in print or on screen then welcome! If you are researching psychopaths this is a good place to start. If you are a published author and would like to feature your own book details or include excerpts from your work, or you blog your reviews then let us know. All images and video clips used on this site are purely for educational and promotional purposes and used under the fair use policy. If you own the copyright to any material here and object to having it appear on this site then please use the contact form to notify the webmaster. All original material is copyright Will Patching and should not be copied or posted elsewhere without attribution and links to this site. Thank you! Links from this site include Amazon Associate and Google Adsense advertisements accruing income for the benefit of the author. Read the site Privacy Policy here.
  • Home
  • Chameleons
    • Why Care?
    • Guilt
    • Identifying
    • Psychotic vs Psychopathic
    • Are Psychopaths Evil?
    • The Psychopath's Brain
  • Criminal Psychopath Quotes
  • Psychopath movies & quotes
    • Movie Sexy Beast
    • Movie Leon The Professional
    • Movie There Will Be Blood
    • Movie Se7en
    • Silence of the Lambs
    • Movie Reservoir Dogs
    • Movie The Talented Mr. Ripley
    • Movie Collateral
    • Movie Kalifornia
    • Movie Heat
    • Movie Primal Fear
    • Movie Fargo
    • Movie Mr Brooks
    • Movie Misery
    • Movie Fatal Attraction
    • Movie Basic Instinct
    • Movie Malice
    • Movie Cape Fear
    • Movie Monster
    • Movie Road to Perdition
  • Mass Murder
  • Videos
    • Criminal psychopaths
    • Non-criminal psychopaths
    • Childhood traits
  • Gurus
  • Spouses
  • Psychopaths in Novels
    • Novels - Robin Roughley
    • Novels - Maggie James
    • Novels - Catherine Lee
    • Novels - Tracy Tonkinson
    • Novels - Chariss K. Walker
    • The Remorseless Trilogy
    • The Hack Trilogy
  • About the Author
  • Contact
  • Author Template
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies Policy