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       What a waste of talent is the first phrase that comes to mind.  I truely believe that Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding, Jr. are both wonderful actors.  This movie did not intrigue me really from the trailers I saw but just the plain fact of who was starring in it drew me to the theater to hand over my 7 dollars and take a seat.  Next thought that comes to mind: What a waste of money.   The defining idea behind this review should be:

"I went into the theater not expecting much.  I came out disappointed."

    That is exactly what I thought when I left.  Now, as I said before I think that Hopkins and Cuba are both wonderful.  I still think so.   This movie is not lacking in quality because of any mediocre performance by them.   In fact, the acting all around was pretty good.  What is wrong here is a combination of things.

    This first thing that pops into my head is why did anyone decide to do this film?  I wonder who read the script and said, "This one's a winner."  When they have these two huge stars in the lead and they still can't pull it off, you know it must be bad.  Perhaps I am being overly critical because the main problem, as I saw it, with this film, was that all elements of the story had been done before and had been done better.  Therefore, I may be prejudicial.  Maybe I am basing my grade and opinion on this film in comparison to other films instead of how it stands on its own merit.  However, how else is one to judge films unless by comparing them to previous films?  If I had only watched 'B' movies my whole life, I might think that Superman V is a great movie.  But if I had seen any decent film then I would know that it sucks.

    As I stated before, the main problem with this movie is that the story has been told before and it has been told better.  One aspect of this story is the struggle between prisoners and the administration.  If you want to see a prisoner's struggle then watch Shawshank Redemption.  That is a great movie.  If you want to feel sorry for mental patients then watch Awakenings.   It's a depressing flick, but atleast it stirs emotion in the audience.  I cry at the drop of a pin and I do not hesitate to cry in a crowded theater.  However, I was only moved to tears ONCE this whole film when there are atleast a dozen attempts at dramatic tissue scenes.  Actually, I didn't even cry...I just teared up.  That's pretty bad for me.

    Another aspect of the story is feel sorry for the gorillas.   Well, if you want to see that same story told better then watch Gorillas in the Mist.  The cinematography and story are MUCH better in that.  In Instinct I can't even cry for humans in the movie, in Gorillas in the Mist I cried repeatedly for gorillas.  That is the difference between a good movie and this one.

    Then there is the struggle between an outsider trying to help a criminal who has been ignored by everyone else.  Again, this has been told before and has been told MUCH better.  If you want to see that, I suggest renting Dead Man Walking.  Another great movie.

    Then there is the idea that man/humanity is bad.  The root to the argument in this film is civilization of any kind is bad.  This story has definately been told before and the first example of a great film that has told it before is Planet of the Apes.  Watch that before watching this.

    Then there is the conflict between stong, cold father and desparate daughter.  Again, another great film comes to mind; On Golden Pond.   Also much better than this film.

    Now, having all of these ideas together could make a new and creative story worth watching.  However, the directing and the writing are severely lacking.  Plus, the combination of all of these elements leaves too little time to develop any one part of the story.  The acting is good all around but that can't save this movie.  It's really a disappointment.