Review: Fear

#78 - Fear


Fear is a movie that all teenagers should watch and fully comprehend. 16-year-old, Nicole, finds herself falling head over heels in love with a mysterious, sexy older man named David. Everything seems to be going great. Nicole even gives up her virginity to David because she feels safe, secure, and happy. Nicole's father, on the other hand, knows that something isn't right with his daughter's new boyfriend. Nicole and her family soon find out that David has mental instability issues, and he doesn't go away quietly when Nicole breaks it off with him. He gets obsessive and dangerous very quickly. Nicole's father and David rage an all-out war against each other leaving several fatalities. In the end, David is removed from Nicole's life and her family can go back to living their life without fear.

Fear is an incredible film about the dangers of dating, especially when you're young and vulnerable like Nicole. Most teens don't think anything like this can happen to them, but that means they're just as young and naive as Nicole. When I was a freshman in high school, I started talking to a boy online. I had only met him once, but we hit it off, so we started dating. I quickly learned that he had a history of being admitted to a mental institution and was on several mood stabilizers. My dad found this out and immediately told me to end the relationship. Unlike Nicole, I listened to my dad and ended it. However, that wasn't enough. He positioned people outside of my house in a car, waiting for me with guns. Luckily for me, his best friend had him recommitted to the institution and everything worked out okay. In this film, everything doesn't work out so easily for Nicole and her family. The characters really do capture the craziness of how absolutely terrifying it can be when you find out the person you are dating is dangerous.

I think the acting in this movie is phenomenal. Great casting job on the part of the casting director. This movie is early Mark Wahlberg, so he's still a little rusty around the edges, but he's still entirely believable as Nicole's insane boyfriend, David. You want to buy into the possibility that he's a good guy because he says all the right things and treats Nicole like a queen, but there's that little part of you questioning his motive the entire time. Then, when it's revealed that he truly is a psycho, you're like "Ah, there it is." The world we live in today has made it so that women question a man when he seems too good to be true. That's sad. Why men feel that they need to lure women in and then treat them badly is beyond me; however, in the film, David never exactly treats Nicole bad - he only terrorizes her family and friends. I love this story line because it is completely realistic. 20-year-old Reese Witherspoon fits the role of Nicole perfectly alongside Mark Wahlberg's David.

The only thing I didn't like about the film while watching it, for what is probably the 25th time in my life, was the music. The score is written by Carter Burwell, who composed all of the music for the Twilight films...and I focused on that THE ENTIRE TIME. All I could picture was Edward running through the forest catching a deer in the opening sequence of the film. Ugh. Carter Burwell, could you please get a little more creative with your music? Add some variety? It sounded like Twilight from start to finish. Other than that, the film is fantastic. I mean, really, how can a film not be fantastic when your lead actor looks like this...crazy or not, he's still gorgeous...

Overall, I give Fear 4 out of 5 stars.