'90s Trash or Class?: Raising Cain (1992)

 Surprisingly, this is my first De Palma Film in a long, long time!  This is Raising Cain, his 1992 Film about, what else, an insane man committing crimes.  He might have a pattern.

In this one, John Lithgow is the man and he's kidnapping children for his Father.  So why does everyone say that his Father is dead?!?  As the Film goes on, there are even more questions raised and...only a few answered very well.

To note, there is a Director's Cut of this which changes the order of the Intro Scenes around.  I'm not watching that.  So if you wonder why I'm describing the 'original' version, this is why.  My DVD is from 2007 and that wasn't even discussed until 2012.

Can a good Lead Actor make a ridiculous premise work?  Is Lithgow that good?  To find out, read on...

Lithgow is a nice, normal guy who's wife forgot to pick him and his Daughter up from the Park.  

Another Mom gives them a ride as he discusses taking their kids to a special Study done by his Father in Europe.

She's less than enthused.

So he chloroforms her and has to act quickly to explain why their car suddenly pulled onto the side of the road.

Thankfully, Cain- his more so-called-Alpha Personality- tells him what to do and they...I mean, he escapes.

After briefly stopping at home- leaving the still-sleeping kid in the backseat the whole time-, he takes the kid to a Motel, which we see from far away.

Director flourish or Plot Point?  You decide!

The next day, his Wife meets an old flame- think every generic Handsome '90s Guy- at the Park...even though he doesn't have a kid.  This is, at least, a Plot Point for later.

He wants her to get back with him after an earlier 'accidental' meeting and...she gets to third base with him in the middle of a Field.

A bit later, we see Lithgow acting nice and then suddenly smothering her with a pillow.  

She's not dead- since that is almost never fatal- and she wakes up in the back of the car as it goes into a lake.

Does De Palma like to be like and homage Hitchcock?  Since when?!?

We see Flashbacks revealing that Lithgow- as the normal Personality- saw this and Cain took over, leading to this.

Why show stuff in order when you can be intentionally-confusing?

She's not dead- for a second time- and attacks Lithgow some time later, after he's talked to the Police.

And no, she's not imaginary like I thought for the first few minutes of this Scene.

De Palma fakes out her death by revealing a different body- the lady from the Intro!

Now we get to Exposition Dump part of the Film.  Deep breath...

Lithgow's Dad intentionally gave his son Multiple Personalities (the '90s term) for a Book and a Study.
He got in trouble for experimenting on kids and died.

A lady working with him- a long-time Character Actress- reveals all of this in a pointless DePalma one-take (see the Stinger).

After that, Lithgow- with Cain in charge- escapes in that lady's wig and the Wife tracks 'the Doctor' to the Hotel.

As it turns out, the Dad (also played by Lithgow) was alive the whole time and controlled Lithgow.

He's stabbed by Lithgow and the kid survives, literally falling into the 'other man's' arms.  Dad Lithgow is dead and we get that last bit explained to us.

So he paid homage to Psycho...by copying the worst Scene in Psycho?  Weird choice.

Some time later, the kid runs off and says that Dad was there.  She says that he's not and bends over...to reveal Lithgow in drag.  The good...or bad...End?

A very silly, but not terrible Film.  Is there a reason that this Film is not mentioned as much as De Palma's other Films?  Is it worse than Dressed to Kill?  Not as good as Blow Out?  Or, is it like with Dario Argento and his later stuff just isn't regarded as well?

For my part, Cain is fine, but can definitely be too flashy for its own good.  He manages- I believe- to not do a Split Screen in this one, but his usual excesses are still on display.  Part of me wonders if the Director's Cut is stronger...but not enough to buy another copy of this.  Granted- this copy (which came with 2 other Films) was only like $2.  If I see it, I'll consider it.

The Plot is a muddled mess that eventually comes together and it is shown out of sequence in key parts for no good reason.  The finale where they just tell you what happened is the worst case of Tell, Don't Show I've seen in a while.

That said, there's a goofy charm to this one and it probably deserves more attention than it gets.  Take us away, One Take that goes on for several minutes (needed to explain this Plot)...

Next time, another dive into the pile of DVDs.  I'm leaning towards another Thriller, I think.  Stay tuned...