Cape Fear - 1991

Cape Fear is a 1991 thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and a remake of the 1962 film of the same name. It stars Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis and features cameos from Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Martin Balsam, who all appeared in the 1962 original. The film tells the story of a convicted rapist who seeks vengeance against a former public defender whom he blames for his 14-year imprisonment due to purposefully faulty defense tactics used during his trial.

The film received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor (De Niro) and Best Supporting Actress (Lewis).

Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) is a former Atlanta public defender who is now in private practice in the quiet town of New Essex, North Carolina. Max Cady (Robert De Niro) is an ex-client whom Bowden had defended 14 years previously in Atlanta. Cady, who was being tried for the rape and battery of a young woman, was illiterate at the time and unable to read a report Bowden had kept hidden from the court, which revealed that the victim was promiscuous. The report might have lightened Cady's sentence or even acquitted him had Bowden brought it to light. Bowden had kept it hidden, contrary to his duty as Cady's defense attorney, because he was appalled by the sheer violence in Cady's crime and wanted him to serve a severe sentence.

After his release from prison, Cady tracks down Bowden. The ex-con learned to read in prison and even assumed his own defense, unsuccessfully appealing his conviction several times. Cady hints strongly that he has learned about Bowden burying the report, noting that the judge and prosecutor in his case were trying to do right by their jobs but Cady felt betrayed by his own lawyer. Several incidents involving Cady begin to impact the Bowden family, which consists of Sam's wife Leigh (Jessica Lange) and their teenage daughter, Danielle (Juliette Lewis). The family dog, Ben, is mysteriously poisoned. Cady is seen at night perched on the wall just outside the Bowden property limits. Sam attempts to have Cady arrested, but local police lieutenant Elgart (Robert Mitchum) reminds Bowden that there is no evidence Cady has committed any crime.