Basic Instinct (1992, Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone)

Yes, Basic Instinct is the film famous/infamous for the shot of an intimate part of Sharon Stone’s anatomy. But that out of the way, this is a slick psychological thriller from one of Hollywood’s most visceral directors (RoboCop , Total Recall , Starship Troopers) and written by the man responsible for Jagged Edge and Sliver . Michael Douglas plays San Francisco cop Nick Curran, who’s investigating the murder of a rock star, the lover of crime writer Catherine Tremell (Sharon Stone), whose latest novel is about the murder of a rock star.

As he begins questioning her, she starts to play mind games with him, intriguing him to the point where the pair become lovers. But is she the innocent she claims or a cunning manipulator of men? As the investigation continues and the bodycount rises, Curran becomes convinced Catherine is innocent, but that maybe somebody from her past is the killer. But Verhoeven keeps the answer hidden until, literally, the very last frame.

The film caused outrage among America’s gay community and women’s groups for the portrayal of Stone’s character as an avaricious bisexual, using men and women for her own ends and suggesting that all gay people (with whom she surrounds herself) are the same. But Douglas’s character is equally troubling: under investigation for shooting the wrong people and in a difficult relationship with psychiatrist Elizabeth Gardener (Jeanne Tripplehorn), who is helping him with his drug and alcohol addictions, he is ripe for Stone’s plucking.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=EZc7uAUa38Q

production details
USA | 127 minutes | 1992

Director: Paul Verhoeven
Script: Joe Eszterhas,

cast
Sharon Stone as Catherine Tramell
Michael Douglas as Det. Nick Curran
Jeanne Tripplehorn as Dr. Beth Garner
Stephen Tobolowsky as Dr. Lamott
Peter Appel as Detective
Chelcie Ross as Capt. Talcott
Mary Pat Gleason as Juvenile Officer
George Dzundza as Gus Moran
Daniel von Bargen as Lt. Marty Nilsen
Bruce A. Young as Andrews
Wayne Knight as John Correli
Denis Arndt as Lt. Philip Walker
Leilani Sarelle as Roxy
Dorothy Malone as Hazel Dobkins
Benjamin Mouton as Harrigan
Jack McGee as Sheriff
Bill Cable as Johnny Boz
Stephen Rowe as Internal Affairs Investigator
Mitch Pileggi as Internal Affairs Investigator
Freda Foh Shen as Berkeley Registrar
William Duff-Griffin as Dr. Myron
James Rebhorn as Dr. McElwaine
David Wells as Polygraph Examiner
Mary Ann Rodgers as Nurse
Adilah Barnes as Nurse
Irene Olga López as Maid
Juanita Jennings as Receptionist
Craig C. Lewis as Bartender / Police Bar
Michael David Lally as Detective
Michael Halton as Bartender / Country Western Bar
Keith McDaniel as Featured Dancer
Eric Poppick as Coroner’s Guy
Ron Cacas as Policeman
Kayla Blake as Roxy’s Friend
Bradford English as Campus Policeman
Ashlyn Gere as Body Double