''Natural Enemy'' is a 1996 Canadian-American

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

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 Douglas Jackson and starring

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films ''Citizen X'' (1995) an ...

William McNamara William West McNamara (born March 31, 1965) is an American film and television actor. Personal life Born in Dallas, Texas, McNamara is the son of a Ford Motor Company employee and an interior designer. He attended Salisbury School, Columbia Un ...

Lesley Ann Warren Lesley Ann Warren (born August 16, 1946) is an American actress and singer. She made her Broadway debut in 1963, aged 17, in '' 110 in the Shade''. In 1965 she received wide recognition for playing the title role in the television musical prod ...

Joe Pantoliano Joseph Peter Pantoliano (born September 12, 1951) is an American character actor who has appeared in over 150 films, television and stage productions. After his early roles in the television series ''M*A*S*H'' and the 1983 comedy ''Risky Busin ...

, and

Tia Carrere Althea Rae Duhinio Janairo (born January 2, 1967), known professionally as Tia Carrere (), is an American actress, singer and former model who got her first big break as a regular on the daytime soap opera '' General Hospital''. Carrere played C ...

Filming

The film was shot in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

from 18 November 1995 to 15 December 1995.

Plot

Ted Robards, in the past a successful stock broker, is on the verge of financial ruin. His son, Chris, has disappointed Ted a long time ago, creating only troubles for him. His wife, Sandy, is obsessed with the idea of having the second child. Ted's last hope is a promising young employee, Jeremy Harper, a stellar Harvard alumnus, who is able to sign an important deal that will save Ted and his firm from imminent bankruptcy. However, Jeremy only pretends to support the firm. His real desire is to secretly destroy Ted's business from within, while also wreaking havoc on the whole Robards family. Trying to keep Jeremy in the firm, Ted tries to fulfill at least one of his requests—he offers Jeremy and his girlfriend to move in with him and thus solve their housing issue. Jeremy agrees, but his appearance in the house only accelerates the Robards' demise. In vain, Ted and Sandy try to understand what caused Jeremy's unexpected aggression. But flashbacks reveal Jeremy's traumatic childhood and his hidden motivation. Later, it turns out that Ted's now pregnant wife has some dark secrets that may explain Jeremy's twisted plans to destroy her family.

Cast

as Ted Robards *

as Jeremy Harper **Michael Caloz as Young Jeremy Harper *

as Sandy Robards *

as Stuart *

as Christina *

Christian Tessier Christian Tessier (born January 1, 1978) is a Canadian actor and singer who began his career as a child actor on '' You Can't Do That On Television.'' He has since appeared in numerous TV and film roles. Early life Tessier was born in Toronto o ...

as Chris Robards *

Lenore Zann Lenore Zann (born November 22, 1959) is a Canadian actress and former politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Cumberland—Colchester in the House of Commons of Canada as a member of the Liberal Party. Before ...

as Gina *

Rosemary Dunsmore Rosemary Dunsmore (born July 13, 1952) is a Canadian TV, film, and theatre actress, director, and educator. She was awarded a Dora Mavor Moore Award for her 1982 performance in ''Straight Ahead/Blind Dancers''. In 2009 she won the ACTRA Award f ...

as Judy *

Vlasta Vrana Vlasta may refer to: *Vlasta (given name) Vlasta is a woman’s name. The Slavic base of the word, vlast, means ''homeland''. It is also the short form of the masculine names Vlastimil and Vlastislav. Name Day *In the Czech calendar: ''December ...

as Stanley * Claudia Besso as Claire *

Serge Houde Serge Houde (born February 16, 1953) is a Canadian film and television character actor. He is best known for his role in Jon Cassar's Emmy-nominated miniseries '' The Kennedys'' playing the notorious Chicago mafia boss Sam Giancana opposite Tom ...

as Sherwood * Richard Zeman as Bob * Terry Haig as IRS Agent * Tedd Dillon as Father * Misha Jackson as Baby

References

External links

* * {{Douglas Jackson, state=collapsed 1996 films English-language Canadian films Canadian thriller films American thriller films C/FP Distribution films Films directed by Douglas Jackson 1990s English-language films 1990s American films 1990s Canadian films