Instinct

Drama, Thriller

Anthony Hopkins	Ethan Powell
Cuba Gooding Jr.	Theo Caulder
Donald Sutherland	Ben Hillard
Maura Tierney	Lynn Powell
George Dzundza	Dr. John Murray
Thomas Q. Morris	Pete

Director	Jon Turteltaub
Producer	Hunt Lowry; Barbara Boyle
Writer	Gerald Di Pego; Daniel Quinn
Cinematography	Philippe Rousselot
Musician	Danny Elfman

Instinct is an intriguing story about how people can be more savage than animals. Dr. Theo Calder (Cuba Gooding Jr) is a psychologist who takes on the case of the famous anthropologist, Dr. Ethan Powell (Anthony Hopkins). Dr. Powell disappeared into the jungles of Africa for two years. He resurfaced again when he killed two poachers and injured several more. He was then imprisoned in a Florida mental institution where he remains silent. Dr. Calder begins to probe into Dr. Powell’s past, with the help of his daughter, Lynn Powell (Maura Tierney). Finally getting Dr. Powell to speak, Dr. Calder learns that, while in Africa, he was adopted by and became a member of a family of guerillas. Dr. Powell’s story of how noble and civilized the guerilla clan was opens Dr. Calder’s eyes to how inhumane people are. He is even more convinced of this upon seeing the cruel mistreatment of the patients in the institution. Dr. Calder learns important facts about the human condition and how little control people have.