''Final Analysis'' is a 1992 American

neo-noir Neo-noir is a film genre that adapts the visual style and themes of 1940s and 1950s American film noir for contemporary audiences, often with more graphic depictions of violence and sexuality. During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the term ...

erotic

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Phil Joanou Phil Joanou (born November 20, 1961) is an American director of film, music videos, and television programs. He is known for his collaborations with the rock band U2, for whom he directed music videos and their 1988 documentary film ''Rattle a ...

and written by Wesley Strick from a concept by forensic psychiatrist Robert H. Berger. It stars Richard Gere, Kim Basinger,

Uma Thurman Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 and May 1986 cover ...

, Eric Roberts, Keith David, and Paul Guilfoyle. The executive producers were Gere and Maggie Wilde. The film received mixed critical reviews, but was positively compared to the works of

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

, particularly ''

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

.'' It was the final film of

director of photography The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

Jordan Cronenweth.

Plot

Psychiatrist Isaac Barr treats Diana Baylor for

obsessive–compulsive disorder Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder in which an individual has intrusive thoughts (an ''obsession'') and feels the need to perform certain routines (''Compulsive behavior, compulsions'') repeatedly to relieve the dis ...

. Diana suggests Isaac meet her sister, Heather Evans, who may be able to shed light on her neuroses. Heather tells him that Diana was sexually abused by their father after their mother left. Their father died in a fire, which Diana was suspected of starting. Heather further reveals that she is unhappily married to gangster Jimmy Evans. Isaac and Heather eventually have sex. At a restaurant with Jimmy, Heather has an episode of " pathological intoxication" after drinking wine and is taken to the hospital. After recovering, she sneaks away with Isaac to an abandoned lighthouse. While climbing the stairs, she drops her purse and lets loose a metal dumbbell handle, which she claims she keeps for protection. Isaac's friend, defense attorney Mike O'Brien, informs him that Jimmy is under federal investigation for financial crimes, and warns Isaac to stay away from Heather. Isaac nevertheless follows her and her husband to a restaurant and confronts Jimmy. Claiming she feels ill, Heather leaves the restaurant, and gets a ride home from Isaac. Later, she drinks cough medicine, which brings on another episode. As Jimmy forces a kiss on her, she grabs one of his metal dumbbells and hits him over the head, killing him. Heather is arrested for murdering Jimmy. Isaac hires Mike to represent her and enlists an

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

on pathological intoxication to testify on her behalf. Heather is found not guilty by reason of insanity. She is sentenced to confinement at a psychiatric facility, where she will be evaluated. Isaac assures Heather she will be released soon. Isaac later hears of a patient of

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

who had persistent dreams of arranging flowers, the same dream Diana had described to him during a session; Isaac realizes that she fabricated those stories. He talks to a bailiff who recognized Heather before her trial, and he recalls that she had been a spectator in the courthouse whenever Isaac testified as an expert witness. Mike tells Isaac that Jimmy's brother recently died, making Heather the beneficiary of Jimmy's $4 million

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typical ...

policy. Isaac goes to the hospital to confront Heather, who admits to the ruse and threatens to incriminate him with the dumbbell she used to murder Jimmy, which has Isaac's fingerprints on it. Police detective Huggins, who suspects Isaac of killing Jimmy, reveals that he is being watched. Isaac tells Heather that he has reported to two assistant district attorneys who want to interview her. She agrees, confident that

double jeopardy In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare cases ...

will protect her. During the evaluation, Heather fabricates a story about Isaac killing Jimmy. At her request, Diana joins her, but fails to bring the dumbbell; the investigators, meanwhile, are revealed to be psychiatrists. Heather loses her temper and threatens both Isaac and Diana, and has to be sedated. Isaac meets with Diana, who assures him that she dropped the dumbbell into the bay, but Isaac does not trust her. Isaac enlists Pepe Carrero, a former client, to follow Diana when she visits her sister. Although Heather wants Diana to deliver the dumbbell to Huggins, Diana is too nervous to go through with it. Heather coerces her to switch clothes in the bathroom, allowing Heather to escape the hospital as "Diana". Pepe follows Heather and tries to steal the dumbbell, but she shoots him in the chest. She telephones Huggins and arranges to meet him at a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

. Before going to the hospital, Pepe directs Isaac to the marina, where Isaac takes the dumbbell from Heather. She kidnaps both him and Huggins, and forces the latter to drive away from the marina. A rainstorm hits, and Huggins crashes into the ocean. Isaac escapes the sinking car and Heather follows him to the lighthouse. As she chases Isaac onto the balcony, he deduces that Heather was the one who was raped by her father, not Diana, and started the fire that killed him. Huggins appears to arrest Heather, who tries to shoot him. Isaac pulls her over the edge of the balcony, sending her falling to her death. Diana is tried as Heather’s accomplice but is found not guilty. She then goes on a date with a wealthy man, posing as Heather.

Cast

* Richard Gere as Dr. Isaac Barr * Kim Basinger as Heather Evans *

as Diana Baylor * Eric Roberts as Jimmy Evans * Keith David as Detective Huggins * Paul Guilfoyle as Mike O'Brien * Robert Harper as Dr. Alan Lowenthal * Agustin Rodriguez as Pepe Carrero * Rita Zohar as Dr. Grusin * George Murdock as Judge Costello * Shirley Prestia as D.A. Kaufman * Tony Genaro as Hector * Wood Moy as Dr. Lee * Corey Fischer as Dr. Boyce *

Rico Alaniz Americo Zorilla "Rico" Alaniz (October 25, 1919 – March 9, 2015) was a Mexican-American actor. Early years Alaniz was born in Juárez, Mexico, and began riding when he was a child. Selected filmography * '' The Capture'' (1950) - Policema ...

as Hugo * John Roselius as Sheriff's Deputy * Erick Avari as Moderator (uncredited) *

Harris Yulin Harris Bart Goldberg (November 5, 1937 – June 10, 2025), known professionally as Harris Yulin, was an American actor who appeared in over a hundred film and television series roles, such as '' Night Moves'' (1975; filmed in 1973) with Gene Hack ...

as Prosecuting Attorney (uncredited)

Production

Harold Becker Harold Becker (born September 25, 1928) is an American film and television director, producer, and photographer from New York City, associated with the New Hollywood movement and best known for his work in the thriller genre. His body of work i ...

, Joel Schumacher, and John Boorman were variously attached as director. The original script was set in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, but was changed due to an ongoing union strike.

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

was chosen due to its "character" and iconic locations. The climax originally took place on the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...

, but the sequence was re-written due to budget constraints. The climax instead took place at a lighthouse, filmed at Pigeon Point Lighthouse in Pescadero. Other filming locations included the San Francisco County Superior Court, the Letterman Army Hospital, and the Kimpton Sir Francis Drake Hotel. Television comedy writer Susan Harris provided uncredited script rewrites.

Reception

Box office

The first week's gross was $6,411,441 and the total receipts for the film's run were $28,590,665. In its widest release the film was featured in 1,504 theaters across the United States.The Numbers
box office data. Accessed: August 9, 2013. The film grossed $47 million overseas for a worldwide gross of $75 million.

Critical response

''Final Analysis'' has an approval rating at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

of 56% based on 27 reviews. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a score of 40 out of 100 based on 23 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

liked the screenplay and thought director

, known for these types of thrillers, would have liked it as well, though he thought the film was needlessly complex.

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. ...

, film critic for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', praised the acting in the film and called Roberts "the film's electrical force". '' Variety'' magazine called ''Final Analysis'' "a crackling good psychological melodrama" with "tantalizing double-crosses". Kathleen Maher of the '' Austin Chronicle'' said the film does not live up to its influences and was critical of the leads, calling the buildup to their sex scene "excruciating". Rita Kempley, writing in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', called the film "an implausible psycho thriller" and said director Joanou "doesn't have any of his own ideas."

Accolades

Nominations

MTV Movie Awards The MTV Movie & TV Awards is a film and television awards show previously presented annually on MTV. It began as the MTV Movie Awards in 1992, when its 1992 MTV Movie Awards, first edition was held, and adopted its current name in 2017, beginnin ...

** Most Desirable Female, Kim Basinger (lost to

Linda Hamilton Linda Carroll Hamilton (born September 26, 1956) is an American actress. Known for portraying tough, resilient characters, she made her film debut in 1979 before achieving fame with her starring role as Sarah Connor (Terminator), Sarah Connor i ...

for '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day'') *

Golden Raspberry Awards The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic failures. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, the Razzi ...

** Worst Actress - Kim Basinger (also for '' Cool World''; lost to Melanie Griffith for '' Shining Through'' and '' A Stranger Among Us'') ** Worst Picture - Charles Roven, Paul Junger Witt, and Tony Thomas (lost to ''Shining Through'') ** Worst Screenplay - Wesley Strick (also story) and Robert Berger (story) (lost to '' Stop! or My Mom Will Shoot'')

References

External links

* * * * * {{Phil Joanou 1992 films 1992 romantic drama films 1990s American films 1990s English-language films 1990s erotic thriller films 1992 psychological thriller films American erotic thriller films American neo-noir films American psychological thriller films American romantic drama films Films about incest Films about obsessive–compulsive disorder Films about psychiatry Films about sisters Films directed by Phil Joanou Films produced by Charles Roven Films scored by George Fenton Films set in lighthouses Films set in San Francisco Films set in the San Francisco Bay Area Films shot in San Francisco Films with screenplays by Wesley Strick Warner Bros. films English-language erotic thriller films English-language romantic drama films