User reviews

This film really surprised me. I mean REALLY. I mean I knew that Hopkins, Sutherland and Gooding Jr. were good actors and I'd heard about the film, but I was believing it would be nothing special. I WAS wrong. It had been very long, since I had last seen a film, with a message, a meaning and a higher value than entertainment, but this one is it. Maybe it's just because I study psychology, but I really enjoyed this film. It will take away your illusions. Highly recommended.

8 out of 10

Ethan Powell (Anthony Hopkins) A brilliant anthropologist, committed to an asylum for the criminally insane after committing murder.

Theo Caulder (Cuba Gooding Jr.) a brilliant young psychologist, volunteers to examine Ethan to try and understand what exactly went on.

Theo's driven ambition pushes him into the psyche of a madman where he risks his own life to peel away the layers and unveil the man behind the madness.

A perfect cast and terrific story make this a very tense and thrilling ride through the mind of a madman, who may just hold the secret to remove the illusions we all have.

8/10 If you bore easily then leave well alone.

I think this is a GREAT movie. It has a story line that while not complicated, is very different. And it is a great story that is very facinating. There were a number of great character acts too. There are a number of characters in the insane prison from a number of "unknown" actors that really give the movie added personality. It made me want to look up these actors to see what else they do. The scenes with the gorillas were tastefully done, with no over kill that made it look somewhat artificial, which so many movies tend to do. For example, 'Greystoke' starring Christofer Lambert as Tarzan, was an attempt at realism, but had the apes portraying some very human like relationships. Not so with 'Instinct'. The only thing I found spoilt the movie a bit was to suggest that an American insane prison setup would find it necessary, even encouraged, for inmates to be violent to each other. This ridiculous aspect brought the quality of the movie down a notch or two. The relationship between Hopkins and Gooding was fantastic. And the intense scene between them involving 'duck tape' really brought forth the message the movie was giving. SO, why is the movie more well known??? I guess the movie promoters just didn't do their job very well. OH WELL!!! Movie gets 8/10 from me.

Primatologist Ethan Powell (Ethan Hopkins) has been in the African jungle studying gorillas a little too long and has turned apeman , but he suddenly becomes a killer . Since he's been returned to the US and imprisoned in a Miami jail for the insane , and he's taken a vow of silence . A psycho-therapist named Theo Caulder (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is assigned to see him and analyze his strange behaviour . One man's mind is another man's mystery ! .Nothing is more savage than civilization !.

A brooding and thought-provoking movie with nice performances , but some boring and slow-moving . The film is decent but relies heavily on prison and other claustrophobic scenes , with exception for the primates images in the African jungle that result to be the highlights of the film , the most part being set among nutty people and incarcerated places . Main and support cast are pretty well . As Cuba Gooding Jr is fine as Theo Caulder , an ambitious shrink who's sent to see the clinical whacko . While Anthony Hopkins once again gets to chew the scenary as the primatologis who get nutty by killing poachers who are threatening his primate friends. The secondary cast is frankly good , such as : Donald Sutherland , Maura Tierney , George Dzundza , John Aylward , John Ashton , among others.

Special mention for the moving and rousing musical score by Danny Elffman . As well as colorful and evocative cinematography by Philippe Rousselot . The motion picture was professionally directed by Jon Turteltaub , though results to be some tiring , derivative and predictable . Jon Turteltaub is a prestigious producer and director, a good craftsman known for 3 Ninjas (1992) , Cool Runnings (1993), While You Were Sleeping(1995) Phenomenon (1996) , The Kid (2000) , Reel talent ((2007) , National Treasure I and II , Last Vegas (2013) and Megalodon (2016) . Rating : 5.5/10 . Passable and acceptable . The flick will appeal to Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding Jr fans.

If a movie can make me think, cry, question, smile... it's successful in my mind. This movie accomplished all of the above. It is NOT a pro-environment movie, so don't ignore it out of fear of being bombarded with the Sierra Club mentality. There is but one line in the film that can be attached to that sentiment. It is more about the folly of our tendency to congratulate ourselves on reaching the pinnacle of the evolutionary chain, whereas in truth it points to us as more like the virus we are defined as in "The Matrix". It is a movie that makes me "want to be a better man". Anthony Hopkins is, as usual, inscrutable... saying more with a single look in his eyes than many actors do with a full script. Cuba Gooding plays off of him well, and independently gives an excellent portrayal of a man searching for... for what he finds. Well worth the rental fee. I got it to pass the time and now add it to my list of "would watch again".

Not a bad movie, has some thought orovoking moments, the Stan Winston gorillas look great. I think the prison was believable it was just let down by writing, the story overall is nice has a bit of green mile cuckoos nest thing going on. Didn't hate it, had some tense moments worth seeing once.

Every once in a while a movie comes out that has something to say. It has something to offer that is more than just Hollywood. It believes in something. In recent years movies like Dances With Wolves, JFK, Falling Down, Malcolm X, Boyz and The Hood and Saving Private Ryan are recent ones that come to mind. They make us examine who we are and what we are doing here and why we do the things that we do. They make us question our actions and they show us that we are perhaps not as great as we thought we were. Movies like this don't come around too often and that's because they have things to say that not only people don't like to hear, but because they don't want to know. Dances With Wolves made me feel guilty to be a white man, Instinct made me ashamed to be a human being.

There is a line in one of Pearl Jams songs that says " I don't question our existence, I just question our modern needs. " You will not find more profound lyrics than those ones and this movie takes that same idea and explores it deeper. It shows us the greedy nature of man and how destructive we all are. But it also shows us how beautiful it all once was, and how it all changed.

This movie has been so unfairly critisized by everyone from the media to even other people in this very forum that don't seem to understand what it is all about. By now we all know the story of how Anthony Hopkins goes to the jungle and lives among the gorillas and then ends up murdering people. But what we don't know is why he does it. How he gets to that fateful moment and what it is that makes him, a peaceful man, want to kill another human being.

The strengths in this movie are numerous but it starts with the performances. Hopkins is quietly brilliant as the emotionally traumatized and scarred former anthropologist. You can feel his pain even before he tells what it is that is eating away inside of him. Cuba Gooding is great as the doctor that goes on a journey with Ethan Powell. At first his interest in Powell is simply one of selfishness. But as he learns more about this complex man, the more he understands and empathizes with him. Also good in his role as the brutal prison guard is John Ashton ( remember him from Beverly Hills Cop? ). His character is very reminiscent of Clancy Brown's in Shawshank Redemption but he is very good here. But the real strength of the film is in the story and the screenplay.

The two writers for the film care about what it is that they have to say and they believe in it. You can feel what it is that they are trying to convey. And that is simply: why must we as human beings be so destructive? Why must we be so hateful and greedy and why do have to ruin everything that was once pure and serene? The scenes in this film that are meant to ask for your sympathy are not just gratuitous violence to sell tickets, they are there because things like this happen in real life and we never do anything to stop it. And that is a shame.

Denzel Washington's character in " The Siege " said, " You don't let any murderer go free. ANY MURDERER!!! " Well Hopkin's character was punished for his crime but what about the men that murdered those that weren't human? What crime have they committed? And what punishment do they receive for the act of murder against something that isn't human? There is no punishment. And that is what makes us sad individuals and that is what this movie is trying to tell us.

Give this movie a chance. It really is a gem and hopefully it will open just one person's eyes and ask them to change. If it can do that, then it has done it's job. I applaud everyone associated with this movie. I just wish more studios and directors and actors would have the guts to do this. I just hope some people can see this movie for what it is and not for what we critisize it for trying to be. And as melo-dramatic as this review may sound to some people and as melo-dramatic as this is also going to sound, it has to be said.

Thank you John Turtletaub for making this movie. You moved me and made me think about a great many things. I hope I'm not alone.

The whole problem with the film, if there is one, is not thematic or psychological or intellectual. It's technical. The film alternates between ear-splitting screaming and shouting, as Hopkins erupts into sudden violence -- and quiet, almost silent scenes as Gooding murmurs to Hopkins, or Sutherland whispers to Gooding, in oh-so-dramatic, hushed tones.

Whispering scenes in movies are nothing new of course. Every actor thinks he's doing something profound when he does a whispering scene... speaking so softly that the performance just HAS to be great.

But in "Instinct" the dialogue in these scenes is mixed so quietly that you need subtitles to understand what the hell these people are saying. So you crank the volume up just as far as it will possibly go, or even farther, and then MAYBE you catch a few words. Maybe.

Then next thing you know -- BOOM! -- here comes another god-awful explosion of violence, noise, screaming, things smashing, drums pounding, Hopkins leaping around like an ape on PCP... and you have to race over to turn the damn thing down before it splits your goddamn eardrums wide open.

Sound mixing has really gone down the tubes every since the wonder of Dolby and 5.1 mixes...

On any level, this film has to be considered one of the most incisive and painful commentaries on the human condition. Above the acting (superior performances), above the direction, above all the production values is the constant message that we as a race are marching toward an open grave pit. For all our possessions, for all our wealth, for all our so-called achievements, we have yet to learn to respect the intelligence of nature and to act accordingly. "Instinct" is in every living organism and to deny one's own instinct is to go against the natural order. The prison system in this country doesn't work because it is used to destroy man's spirit instead of supporting it. Until we learn how to live in harmony and love with all the other living organisms, we will continue to destroy what we seek to build. Don't buy those Christmas presents - support your wildlife fund. We don't need things, we need spiritual reconnection with the earth we live on. Dr. Powell, as played by Anthony Hopkins, is one of the most highly evolved beings ever seen in a movie. To the writer I am grateful for his creation, to Mr. Hopkins I am grateful for giving us a character to emulate. This movie has made a lasting impression on me. I hope it does the same for everyone who sees it. Open your heart because if you don't, then you will create your own inner prison and live a messy life that the rest of us will have to clean up.

I watched this movie after seeing it recommended on the "Geekyapar" channel. It wasn't a bad movie, but it could have been a little better. Acting performances were great though.

Films like this are what is wrong with mainstream cinema. It was a contrived re-mixing of Gorillas in the Mist, The Shawshank Redemption and Dead Poets Society. The script seemed to have been written on a chalkboard - interchanging cliche after cliche though lacking a satirical or retroactive temperament. I'm not exaggerating - there were so many overt film references it seemed like a parody. The actors were designated by their collective wallet, not heart or mind, and the direction was simplistic. And you people gave 'Julien Donkey-Boy' a 4.5? Clearly the lesson remains: 'give us what we want' because the alternative is just too horrifying.

It's this type of film, and this type of rampant commercialism that seeks to destroy the craft of film art, just as disco had to rock and roll in the 70s. See this film and continue to line studio-pockets...just don't maintain a pretense of superiority over those of us who give a damn.

A friend and I saw a sneak preview of INSTINCT last night. The film stars Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding Jr. and looked like a thriller about an anthropologist who went to Africa and wound up living with gorillas instead of just studying them. It was much more.

Hopkins' character, Dr. Ethan Powell, is accused of the murders of several Africans. Having been held in a Rwandan prison for a year, he's then extradited to the U.S. and put in a lovely prison in the insane department. Donald Sutherland (looking mighty fine!) is a noted professor of psychiatry at a nearby University, and Gooding is his pet resident, Dr. Theo Calder. When Sutherland's department is asked by the feds to do a psych evaluation, Gooding as Calder researches the case and begs to be allowed to do the work. Calder has been shown at this point to be a brilliant, ambitious resident with a sterling career ahead, and so Sutherland gives him the chance.

What develops from there is a wonderfully written, exquisitely acted story, interweaving the sessions with Powell and Calder with the life of the prison and its insane inmates. Further woven into the fabric is the story of what happened to Powell in Africa. In the African scenes, Stan Winston's work on the apes is incredibly realistic and never cartoonish. Danny Elfman's score (I don't always like Elfman, but did enjoy the Batman score) is also a beautiful accompaniment to these scenes, though a little heavy in other parts of the film.

It's hard to explain the refreshingly intelligent and moving and thoughtful script of this film. Issues such as what is really civilized behavior, the pack as family mentality, and humanity vs. inhumanity are explored with depth but never with a heavy hand. The performances of Hopkins and Gooding are exceptional. Gooding did a great job with the other film I'd seen him in, JERRY MAGUIRE, but the depths of emotion and the layered aspects of his performance in INSTINCT are incredible.

My friend said after we'd left the theater last night that this came very close to being a Great Film. And she's right. It had a great script and brilliant performances by all, fully realized characters (even the secondary ones), good plot. Where it falls a little, I think, is in the direction. Jon Turteltaub is a competent director who has done films I've enjoyed, such as WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING and PHENOMENON. But in this case, with everything it had going for it, Turteltaub didn't hold the strings tight. The pacing is off in a few places, and a whiff of a subplot involving Gooding's character in a romance with Maura Tierney as Hopkins' daughter fails because you can feel it waffling. Should we leave this subplot in or pull it out? Since they couldn't decide, it leans both ways from scene to scene. This speaks to me of weakness in the director.

But INSTINCT is a very, very good film. Highly recommended. And those of you who are prone to weep, bring your hankies.

INSTINCT was an obvious bit of attempted Oscar bait from director Jon Turteltaub back in 1999. Turteltaub is the man responsible for such generic adventure fare as the NATIONAL TREASURE movies and generic family fare as THE KID. So what better man to direct a generic wannabe award winner? INSTINCT has all of the ingredients to be a critical favorite but it's missing that one crucial element: being a good movie. I'm not saying it's a bad movie because it's actually not. It's just forgettable. You probably won't feel let down after spending two hours watching this movie, but it won't take much longer to forget that it existed. INSTINCT wants to be tense. It wants to be inspirational. It wants to tug at the heartstrings. But it doesn't, because it's so transparent in its intentions. Or at least, I thought so. The movie follows an aspiring psychologist named Theo Caulder, played by Cuba Gooding Jr. He's assigned to a unique case by his mentor (Donald Sutherland) and sees an opportunity to jump-start his career with a bestseller. Accomplished anthropologist Ethan Powell (Anthony Hopkins) has been transferred to a prison in the US from Rwanda, where he was doing time for murdering men after disappearing into the jungles for nearly two years. Upon Powell's return to civilization, he is a changed man. Feral and refusing to speak, Caulder dedicates his time to Powell, determined to find out what happened in those jungles, why he disappeared, and what drove him to murder.

What bothered me about this movie was that it couldn't decide what it wanted to focus on. There are two main through-lines in this movie, running at the same time. There's, of course, the main storyline with Caulder and Powell and the story of their interactions, and then there's an entirely different unrelated subplot of how the prison that Powell is transferred to is a miserable place where the guards abuse the mentally handicapped and the prison shrink does nothing for his patients. In my opinion, these are two different movies and conflict with each other. Once you finally get involved in the Powell/Caulder interviews, it rips you away from that to show how Caulder is inspired to reform the prison's system for handling its mental patients. And it bounces back and forth so often that I just didn't care as much as I should for either storyline. Subplots are OK, but they don't generally get equal screen time with the main story because it detracts from it. Besides, we've already got movies that handle uncaring mental health care in bigger and better ways (e.g. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST). I watched this movie because I wanted to see Hopkins and Gooding Jr. to engage in a mental game of cat and mouse. I wanted a good, tense psychological drama and I got it…in bits and pieces. Each story was entertaining enough but the entire movie ends up leaving you (well, I suppose it left me anyway) unfulfilled.

Another issue I had with the movie is that it's populated with characters we've already seen before. No one in the movie feels like an original creation. The obvious example is Anthony Hopkins as Ethan Powell. In this movie, he's just a toned down version of his more famous (and more interesting) Hannibal Lecter. He was probably the worst choice for the role because of the obvious parallels, unless the filmmakers were counting on people to make that connection and hoped it would add to it. Cuba Gooding Jr. is every movie psychologist you've ever seen rolled up into one man as Caulder. He does well enough, as this was back before he thought SNOW DOGS was a smart career move. But, come on…we've seen this shtick before and he isn't bringing anything new to it. His optimism is meant to be inspirational...he IS going to reach this troubled man! He IS going to make this horrible prison a better place for it's inhabitants! Blah. The rest of the cast fails to make any sort of impressions as shallow caricatures. There's the disillusioned prison psychiatrist who's given up hope…the evil guard who finds entertainment in turning the strongest of the patients against the weak. There's Powell's daughter, long since given up on her absent father. It's just all so…been there, done that. If they'd focused on one story (the Powell/Caulder one, naturally) and fleshed out their characters into real people, this movie might've been what it was blatantly aspiring to be. Instead, it's good enough for a quiet evening but don't go in expecting the inspiring tale they're trying to sell.

Anthony Hopkins carries this movie. He dives deep to bring a rich & meaningful portrayal of his character. Unfortunately some of the other characters haven't dived so deep. A number of the scenes are quite predictable and some of them are downright fanciful (Like a psychiatrist taking a 'dangerous psychotic murderer' to the zoo? and at night afterhours? Get real) The plot and storyline is brilliant as is the screenplay. The end result? a movie that is more of an interesting headtrip than meaningful acting. Could have been better done.

I sincerely believe this movie has been under-rated. Instinct is one of the best movies I have ever seen. It invites people to meditate about the meaning of freedom and it forces them to travel inside their mind.

Anthony Hopkins is an extraordinary actor and the whole cast is superb. This movie is a gem, it's simply great!

It was a good film.

A professor lost in Africa, was found living with apes and after

that was jailed being accused of the murder of 3 people. After a

time spent in the prison of an african country. He's sent back

to the U.S. There a doctor tries to investigate the reasons

behind the murders and the wild violence that shows the

professor from time to time, trying to overcome his silence.

(Obviously the young doctor looks for an advance in his

to-be-established career).

What we learn through the film is a questioning about what the

meaning of humanity and civilization are. Well discover the

reasons that drove the professor to his now apparently violent

conduct and just know that our concepts or "illusions" as are

stated in the film, are just simply that: "illusions".

The actors do it well, but some times the pace of the story is

very tedious, but the final result is a well rounded story,

giving us at the final, the change of mind and objectives in the

life of many of the characters.

I highly recommend this movie, because I think everybody needs

to make -and why not, answer- yourself the question about the

meaning of civilization.

I realize that many of the critics have ripped this film without mercy. In many ways they are correct. Filled with cliches, the plot has flaws. The writing is often absurd. Young Cuba Gooding reminds one of Mickey Rooney in black face. The music is something out of Titanic. Having said that, there is a certain appeal to the film that makes it almost bearable. Perhaps it is its appeal to our sense of illusion regarding our perceptions of reality...that we are not in control. Perhaps it is the fact that Hopkins deals with an inane script with a sense of compassion and understanding. But whatever, the movie will not win any awards. At the same time, it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Is that good?

Dear reader,

this movie is fully packed with meaning. The title gives out very little about the true nature of this remarkable work of Jon Turteltaub. Apart from the excellent acting of both the main characters (Hopkins and Cuba Gooding) and the secondary roles, the movie is based on a script of rare quality.

This movie is certainly not going to be appreciated by everyone, certainly not by those unable to honestly look into the modern society and the workings of it, and their role in that society. This movie asks for soul-searching, and unless you are ready for it, unless you are ready to "give up control", you most probably won't like it.

I did like it, thanks also to the fact that I already have meditated on the issues the film raises, earlier in my life. This film is capable of polarizing, because it contains a lot of unpleasant truth, that humanity should accept in order to really advance. This is an important movie, a very strong statement on today's society's relationshipt to nature and it's inhabitants. In the same time, it's analyzing the question of imprisonment and the treatment of inmates. It also raises questions about friendship and loyalty in a way never seen before.

If you have not seen the movie and wonder whether you should, I will give you a hint without spoiling anything: if you didn't like Princess Mononoke, you will not like this movie, either.

Yeh, I expected the movie to be a bit on the horror and action side after watching the preview, but that doesn't mean I was disappointed! Well, this movie gave me a break from a computer-generated nonsence of recent releases.Although I didn't agree with the ideas, it certanly made me think and even re-establish my views on some ideas. Anthony Hopkins is brilliant. He squeezes the best out of each scene. But I can't say the same about Cuba Gooding Jr. Honestly, I think that his character was a carbon copy of the one he played in "As good as it gets" : same tone of voice, same looks, same moves! This was rather disappointing. The plot was well-developed, although I didn't find anything original in it. Same old idea of living in perfect harmony with Mother Nature. Come on, this movie doesn't really contribute anything to a good old couch-philosophy. Alongside with some corny lines (humans are "takers", etc.) and a badly done ending, this movie does have its share of good moments, and keeps you in suspense until the very end. In short, it's a situation when not too strong a plot is being balanced by great acting.

This was the biggest steaming pile of a movie I've seen in a long time. Awful writing, awful directing, tedious and contrived plot, and poor acting efforts from an A-list cast. In fact, this is one of those movies that's hard to turn away from because the awfulness is so compelling -- this is a movie with serious Oscar pretensions that comes up short in so many ways. The plot can be more or less summed up as a melodramatic mix of the worst parts of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest & Gorillas in the Mist. Man loves Gorillas, Gorillas get killed, man goes berserk (this is the big secret he's keeping mute over in the nuthouse?) Hopkins wades through the dreadful script as well as possible, but Gooding as usual hams it up to the max all movie long with his favorite screwed-up-Popeye-indignant face. A couple of choice scenes to demonstrate the cheeziness of this movie -- First, the scene in which Gooding gets all the inmates to tear up their playing cards while the inspirational music swells and you half-expect the cast to start the slow-unison clap from those awful highschool sports movies. Second, when Gooding gets out of his car in the end after quitting the asylum, he climbs out of the car and with more sappy music swelling does the Tim Robbins Shawshank-escape Jesus pose in the driving rain... unbelievable syrupy tripe. Don't waste your time with this stinker, unless you like the unique awfulness of the Heaven's Gate-type of train-wrecks; you're better off jabbing a salad fork in your eye for 2 hours.