MovieChat Forums > Instinct (1999) Discussion > Cuba Gooding makes me vomit a little bit

Cuba Gooding makes me vomit a little bit

posted 16 years ago by bh64
26 replies | jump to latest

Just watched it again and came to the same conclusion. A fine and noble idea well portrayed and with a commanding performance from Anthony Hopkins and some strong supporting roles, very well shot, especially the gorilla scenes but damaged by the trite dialogue (take me with you Ethan!)and the dependably nauseating presence of Cuba Gooding Junior, who, to my knowledge has single handedly and teary-eyedily made a boll*cks of every single film he has ever appeared in. Any takers?

"I couldn't make it, my racoon had hepatitis"

[–] tripel 16 years ago

i couldnt agree more...
his screwed-up bug-eyed indignant-face got boring 10 movies ago.
i too barfed a little bit when he got out of the car at the end and did the Tim Robbins Shawshank Jesus pose in the rain.. so trite, so awful
this was one of those amazingly awful oscar hopeful movies that crash and burn with every passing frame... pure crap

[–] bh64 16 years ago

It's not just me then. I was afraid I'd become irrational
"I couldn't make it, my racoon had hepatitis"

[–] tripel 16 years ago

Me too -- thought I'd entered some kind of alternate universe with all the gushing reviews there on this site over this train wreck of a movie. This movie had awful writing, direction and for the mostpart acting too (though Hopkins is never awful.) It ripped off the worst bits of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Gorillas in the Mist and bundled them into a hackneyed, syrupy melodrama. I mean, the scene where he gets them all to tear up their playing cards? SO unoriginal and cheezy, and I half expected them all to start the slow-clap from a hundred corny highschool sports movies...

There's a reason that movies with huge stars & Oscar aspirations seem to fall completely off the map every now & then .... it's because they stink.

[–] movie_anchorman 16 years ago

Well you guys are just retarded.

[–] pleistocene 16 years ago

The film had been great until Gooding's little monologue standing next to Hopkins by the gym window - then it went full speed to Barf City.

Shame they had to go for the usual Holly Wood cheeseball ending (for Gooding), anyway....

"People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul" - C.G.Jung

[–] elephantollie 15 years ago

Well balls to the lot f you.

I love Old' Cubes. He so fly...! hahahaha

[–] chemicalali69 15 years ago

this movie is pretty good...anyone saying otherwise should die in a assortment of supremely horrible ways.

[–] cowboymusic 15 years ago

This movie is a perfect example of how long a terrible actor like Gooding can get in acting without getting stopped! Its like watching a streaker running for hours on a football field without anyone being able to stop him.

[–] cowboymusic 15 years ago

Well - fist of all: If it had not been for Anthony this movie would have been worse than a chick flick. In my eyes he's the best actor this world have ever seen. But thats my point of view, and I dont really need for others to agree.
Its just the feeling I get when I look into his eyes. There is so much life in them. On the other hand we have Cuba Gooding Junior: I cant figure out why anyone would put Anthony together with Cuba??? Its like trying to force life into a desert by throwing a fish into the sand. Its just - weird.

I allmost started to laugh out violently when the movie came to an end. Anthony staring out the gyms windowbars and Cuba beside him, trying to get to him by telling his story. My favorite hate-line in the movie is made in that particular scene when gooding says: "You showed me how to live". Man - That was like striking a vampire with an oak stick. The ultimate way to completely destroy a movie.
I know I have a very cold heart writing this, but had it not been for Anthony -this movie would have been a comedy. I cannot get into my head why anyone would allow Cuba to get so far into acting. They must have been really desperate, or they must have underestimated the power of Cubas power to wrong-do an entire movie.

[–] califor123 15 years ago

I've only seen Cuba Gooding in three films: "Jerry Maguire," "Pearl Harbor," and "American Gangster."

No one could have done a better job than he in Jerry Maguire, no one; which is why he received the Oscar.

In Pearl Harbor, a sappy, "C-" film, he did a very respectable and believable job.

In American Gangster, he was absolutely perfect in the role, perfect.

I'll have to watch this film to see what you are all talking about, but if you are including the three films above in your assessment, then you should all stop posting here, because your opinions are garbage.

[–] bh64 15 years ago

I'm so happy to have unleashed some bitterness.

[–] derbycityusa 11 years ago

Sorry pal, but Cuba Gooding's Oscar winning performance in Jerry Maguire is one of those rare occasions when all the nominations for Best Supporting Actor that year pretty much sucked! In this case it wasn't the "Lesser of Two Evils", but more like the "Lesser of Five Evils"! I mean look at the other nominations that year. How about William Macy for Fargo? Armin Mueller-Stahl for Shine? Edward Norton for Primal Fear? Or how about James Wood for Ghosts of Mississippi? This is arguably the worst list of nominees ever! Counting the nominations they received that year, all five actors shared a whopping lifetime total of six nominations between them as well (it was Woods' second and Ed Norton received another one a couple of years later). So, I'm sorry if I don't share your view about the quality of Cuba Gooding's performance in Jerry McGuire, which totally consisted of him running around screaming "Show me the Money!".

[–] Burning_Sosobra 8 years ago

[–] johnnymonsarrat 14 years ago

Hi!

You really cannot blame an actor for the lines written in the script. The actors do not choose what to say.

Look, Cuba Gooding's character in Instinct is supposed to be very earnest but somewhat naive. It's normal that he'd seem to be a bit of a goof. That is the character.

-Johnny

Johnny Monsarrat Consulting. All content by Jon Monsarrat!

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] beezlebub55 14 years ago

I'm so glad that people agree with me. This movie was recommended to me and I enjoyed it SLIGHTLY (besides the laughable prison conditions - 8th Amendment anyone) up until Jr.'s last speech with Hopkins. I literally left the room after that.

I'm goin to Shaboom's!

[–] raduz123 12 years ago

I know this post is years old.lol Have to disagree a little though, I don't feel it was Cuba's fault for the cheese I feel that is down to bad writing and Hollywood conventions which often reek of cheese. Anthony Hopkins is an amazing actor but Cuba ain't no chump, he has given superb performances in various films, but I can't for the life of me figure out why the hell he chooses to star in so many awful, awful movies. Maybe he doesn't have it in him to get rid of his agent. I wonder how many times he has 'palmed-to-face' at the pic of another trite script.

[–] stxflyer 12 years ago

Who f'n cares?

[–] The_Dude85 11 years ago

I do. And I just watched this cheese. And I have to agree that Cuba Gooding is terrible in this. But I also do agree that it's not just his fault. When it the plot of the movie first started unfurling with Donald Sutherland telling that the guy had lived among the gorillas, I was already afraid that it'll take the cliched route of evil human being vs. the perfect harmony of nature. And it didn't disappoint me in disappointing me.

[–] Hardline_Pro 11 years ago

I like him.

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