Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16596 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-11-22
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish
• Dubbed in: Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 119 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
This film, which again pairs Richard Gere and Kim Basinger (who starred in 1986's No Mercy), offers up elements of classic noir: a hapless man becomes intimately involved with a beautiful blonde who may or may not be who or what she appears to be. Dedicated psychiatrist Isaac Barr (Gere) reluctantly, and then more obsessively, becomes involved with Heather Evans (Basinger), the sister of his patient, Diana Baylor (Uma Thurman). Evans is unhappily married to a gangster (appropriately played by a muscular and menacing Eric Roberts in a trademark role). Gere and Basinger make a credible, if dangerous couple, and Thurman delivers a subtle, understated performance and demonstrates her range and potential.

The thriller is appropriately shot in gorgeous San Francisco, where the literal and figurative curving and hilly roads wind throughout. Credit legendary art director Dean Tavoularis for some amazing sets and scenes, notably the elegantly cavernous restaurant where Evans and her husband have a fateful dinner.

This film is, in a way, glossy director Phil Joanou's Hitchcockian tribute--as a climactic lighthouse scene best demonstrates. Final Analysis doesn't offer an intimate look at its characters, but a beautifully stylized one, moody and gloomy. The intricate plot experiments with the device of "pathological intoxication," in which the subject completely loses control after drinking alcohol. And this doesn't mean a conventional ugly drunk; it means a frightening psychotic. Good and evil, hope and despair, beauty and repulsion are often juxtaposed in the film's complex world. --NF Mendoza

Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
French\Italian
English\Italian
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital Surround English French Italian
Dolby Digital Surround
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Arabic\Bulgarian\Dutch\English\French\German\Italian\Portuguese\Romanian\Spanish

Synopsis
Set in San Francisco, this story pits a smart and determined psychiatrist against two beautiful, inscrutable, supremely strong willed and potentially dangerous sisters. The resulting triangle explodes in murder, a trial and double-crosses.

Customer Reviews

very atmospheric and very entertaining
I thoroughly enjoyed Final Analysis and that was because there was plenty to think about in this slow-moving film with a substantial plot.Kim Basinger and Uma Thurman were excellent as the sisters from hell and Richard Gere put in a good turn as a naive psychiatrist who becomes less naive as the plot develops.There are some really great special effects /stunts in the film and you have to keep guessing what will happen next right to the end.

Good, but there's a slight hitch...
Contemporary filmmakers going for something Hitchcockian generally succeed when it comes to the visuals, but often skimp on the characters and the set-up. A perfect example of someone getting it right is David Mamet's 'The Spanish Prisoner' which bypasses the big fireworks completely, taking the slow, methodical route to utmost believability. This, though, is a typically overblown piece of '90s moviemaking which actually features too many plot twists (yes, it is possible!) Phil Joanou, aided by Coppola's regular art guy, Dean Tavoularis, delivers an eye-popping Hitch' type visual thrill (the climactic lighthouse scene is a real treat on DVD), and the cast are top-notch (it wasn't like talent suddenly happened to Basinger prior to her Oscar victory, and she's great here as the film's howlin' nasty) but ultimately, the film serves as brain candy for one night only, and certainly isn't destined for anyone's hall of fame.