PSYCHOPATHS IN FACT & FICTION
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Primal Fear - Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton)

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This movie is based on the first book of the trilogy of novels written by William Diehl in the 1990's. Edward Norton plays Stampler, the dissembling psychopathic ageing altar boy, in a legal duel involving Richard Gere as his attorney, Martin Vail, defending him for the murder of an archbishop.

Norton is as classy as ever and puts the lugubrious Gere character in the shade with his interpretation of Stampler. He is highly convincing as the stammering ingenue who claims to have multiple personality disorder in an attempt to avoid the full weight of the law, and the audience can easily empathize with Vail's belief in the younger man.

Stampler claims to have an alter ego, Roy, who he acknowledges is a sociopath, and he, Aaron, is an innocent victim of the crimes of this other self. He convinces both Vail and a psychiatrist that he blacks out when Roy takes over and therefore has no recollection of events - demonstrated in some pretty dramatic and well acted scenes.

As with a real psychopath it is very difficult to know whether Stampler really suffers from any sort of disorder other than psychopathy, and you should see the film to find out!

Spoiler alert!

If you prefer to know... well, this apparent absence of memory is the key element of the plot and leads to Vail's enlightenment when Aaron makes an error. It is too late for Vail as Aaron has already been found not guilty of murder, but instead remanded to a mental institution where he has every prospect of eventual release. He acknowledges to a shocked Vail that he is Roy - not Aaron, and the latter was a figment of his imagination.

Verdict:

Norton handles both roles - Aaron and Roy - in a thoroughly convincing manner. His manipulation of his attorney and the psychiatrist is typical behaviour of a genuine psychopath - even the experts are often confounded by their lies.

Classic Quote:
"
If you lay that tough-man shit on Aaron again, I will kick your fuckin' ass to Sunday!"

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Click image above for YouTube trailer

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Click image above for YouTube excerpt


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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