# Fatal Instinct > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fatal_Instinct > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fatal_Instinct.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Instinct > Source revision: 1347255438 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1993 film by Carl Reiner For the 2014 film, see [*Fatal Instinct* (2014 film)](/source/Fatal_Instinct_(2014_film)). Fatal Instinct Theatrical release poster Directed by Carl Reiner Written by David O'Malley Produced by Pierce Gardner Katie Jacobs Starring Armand Assante Sherilyn Fenn Kate Nelligan Sean Young Tony Randall Narrated by Armand Assante Cinematography Gabriel Beristain Edited by Bud Molin Stephen R. Myers Music by Richard Gibbs Production company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributed by MGM/UA Distribution Co. Release date October 29, 1993 (1993-10-29) Running time 91 minutes Country United States Language English Box office $7.8 million ***Fatal Instinct*** is a 1993 American [sex](/source/Sex_comedy) [comedy thriller](/source/Comedy_thriller) film directed by [Carl Reiner](/source/Carl_Reiner). A parody of the [erotic thriller](/source/Erotic_thriller) genre, which at the time had reached its commercial peak, as well as being a pastiche of 1940s [film noir](/source/Film_noir) and [psychological thriller](/source/Psychological_thriller) genres, in particular *[Double Indemnity](/source/Double_Indemnity)*, the film stars [Armand Assante](/source/Armand_Assante) as lawyer/cop Ned Ravine (a take-off on *[Body Heat](/source/Body_Heat)*, in which [William Hurt](/source/William_Hurt) plays the similarly named Ned Racine) who has an affair with a woman named Lola Cain ([Sean Young](/source/Sean_Young)). [Kate Nelligan](/source/Kate_Nelligan) stars as Ned's wife and [Sherilyn Fenn](/source/Sherilyn_Fenn) stars as his secretary. It also satirizes *[Sleeping With The Enemy](/source/Sleeping_With_The_Enemy)* many times. The film title is a combination of *[Fatal Attraction](/source/Fatal_Attraction)* and *[Basic Instinct](/source/Basic_Instinct)*, both of which star [Michael Douglas](/source/Michael_Douglas). ## Plot Ned Ravine, who is both a police officer and lawyer (who often defends the people he arrests), believes that he knows everything about women, and says that he will throw away his badge if anyone ever proves him wrong. While on a [stakeout](/source/Stakeout), he encounters a seductive woman named Lola Cain; the next day, Lola shows up at his law office, saying that she needs him to look over some papers she has come across. Meanwhile, Max Shady, who was just released from prison after seven years, starts stalking Ned, planning to kill him for failing to successfully defend Max in court. Ned's wife Lana and her car mechanic Frank, with whom she is having an affair, start plotting to kill Ned in order to collect on his accident insurance, which has a [triple indemnity](/source/Double_indemnity_(insurance)) rider; if Ned is shot, falls from a northbound train, and drowns in a freshwater stream, Lana will collect nine million dollars. Lola gets Ned to come to her house to examine the "papers", which are actually a laundry receipt and an expired lottery ticket, and the two of them end up having sex in various wild ways. The next morning, Ned says that they can never do that again because he loves his wife; this drives Lola to start stalking Ned. A few days later, Ned takes the train to go to a legal [symposium](/source/Academic_conference); Lana and Frank are also on the train, and so is Max. When the train passes over a lake, Lana shoots Max 36 times with a [revolver](/source/Revolver), mistaking him for Ned, and he backflips through the door to his death; Ned thinks that Lana had acted to save his life. He arrests Lana, and then defends her in court, getting her cleared of all charges. Lana later kills Frank, believing that he was going to abandon her, by pinning him against a wall with his power drill; Lola witnesses this, and starts [blackmailing](/source/Blackmail) Lana. Ned confronts Lola, and learns that she and Lana are [identical twin](/source/Twin) sisters; after Lana had smashed Lola's face with a shovel, the doctors had given her a whole new face, causing the man she loved to leave her for Lana; Frank was the man's son. Lola's plan from the beginning was to get revenge on Lana by seducing her husband and ruining her marriage. Later, Ned's secretary Laura tells Ned about Lana's plans to kill him, having figured it out herself. Upstairs, Lana is attacked by Lola, who drowns her in the bathtub. While Ned goes upstairs to investigate, Laura's abusive husband (whom she had escaped from three years ago) comes in and confronts her; she kills him with a frying pan. Lola and Ned fight, and Lola falls to her death from the second-floor landing after Ned pushes her back with a powered-up hair dryer through a broken handrail (which Lana had sawn off earlier). As Ned and Laura embrace each other (and Ned throws his badge away), Lola and Lana come back to life and attack; Laura shoots them both. Ned and Laura marry a few days later. ## Cast - [Armand Assante](/source/Armand_Assante) as Ned Ravine - [Sherilyn Fenn](/source/Sherilyn_Fenn) as Laura Lingonberry - [Kate Nelligan](/source/Kate_Nelligan) as Lana Ravine - [Sean Young](/source/Sean_Young) as Lola Cain - [Christopher McDonald](/source/Christopher_McDonald) as Frank Kelbo - [James Remar](/source/James_Remar) as Max Shady - [John Witherspoon](/source/John_Witherspoon_(actor)) as Arch - [Bob Uecker](/source/Bob_Uecker) as himself - [Clarence Clemons](/source/Clarence_Clemons) as himself - [Eartha Kitt](/source/Eartha_Kitt) as Trial Judge - [Tony Randall](/source/Tony_Randall) as Judge Skanky - [Bill Cobbs](/source/Bill_Cobbs) as Man In Park (uncredited) - [Rosie O'Donnell](/source/Rosie_O'Donnell) as Woman In Pet Store (uncredited) ## Reception On [Rotten Tomatoes](/source/Rotten_Tomatoes) it has an approval rating of 17% based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 4.3/10.[1] On [Metacritic](/source/Metacritic) it has a score of 33% based on reviews from 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[2] In his review for the *[Chicago Sun-Times](/source/Chicago_Sun-Times)*, [Roger Ebert](/source/Roger_Ebert) rated it one and a half stars out of four and stated "It's a strange thing about the parody genre: Some of these movies work ... and some don't. And you can't say why, except that sometimes you laugh, and sometimes you don't, and the reasons for that are not arguable."[3] [Janet Maslin](/source/Janet_Maslin) of *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)* felt the film's gags "vary much too wildly in terms of timing and wit. All that hold this comedy together are a playful outlook and a conviction that detective stories are intrinsically funny, especially if the detective is as much of a blockhead as Ned Ravine. As played by Armand Assante, Ned is a bit too convincingly dense, but he does make a useful [fall guy](/source/Fall_guy)."[4] The film opened on 1,886 screens in the United States and Canada on October 29, 1993, and grossed $3,502,569 in its opening weekend, placing sixth at the box office. It went on to gross $7.8 million in the United States and Canada.[5] ## Home media The film was first released in March 1994 on [VHS](/source/VHS) and it is available on [DVD](/source/DVD) and [Blu-ray](/source/Blu-ray), in North America and Europe.[6] ## See also - [List of American films of 1993](/source/List_of_American_films_of_1993) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Fatal Instinct"](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1046049_fatal_instinct). *[Rotten Tomatoes](/source/Rotten_Tomatoes)*. Retrieved August 9, 2023. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Fatal Instinct"](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/fatal-instinct/). *[Metacritic](/source/Metacritic)*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Roger Ebert](/source/Roger_Ebert). ["Fatal Instinct"](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fatal-instinct-1993). [Chicago Sun-Times](/source/Chicago_Sun-Times). Retrieved October 11, 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Janet Maslin](/source/Janet_Maslin). ["Mix at Will: Basic, Fatal, Instinct and Attraction"](https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F0CE2DB1739F93AA15753C1A965958260). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved October 11, 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [*Fatal Instinct*](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=fatalinstinct.htm) at [Box Office Mojo](/source/Box_Office_Mojo) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Fatal Instinct (1993) - Financial Information"](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Fatal-Instinct#tab=summary). *[The Numbers](/source/The_Numbers_(website))*. ## External links - [*Fatal Instinct*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106873/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) v t e Films directed by Carl Reiner Enter Laughing (1967) The Comic (1969) Where's Poppa? (1970) Oh, God! (1977) The One and Only (1978) The Jerk (1979) Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) The Man with Two Brains (1983) All of Me (1984) Summer Rental (1985) Summer School (1987) Bert Rigby, You're a Fool (1989) Sibling Rivalry (1990) Fatal Instinct (1993) That Old Feeling (1997) v t e Double Indemnity by James M. Cain Novels Double Indemnity (1936) Three of a Kind (1943) Adaptations Double Indemnity (1944) Apology for Murder (1945) Double Indemnity (1973) Body Heat (1981) Jism (2003) Characters Phyllis Dietrichson Related Ruth Snyder Fatal Instinct (1993) Category v t e Fatal Attraction Adaptations 2014 stage play 2023 television series Related Diversion (1980) Carolyn Warmus Fatal Instinct (1993) Fatal Attraction: A Greek Tragedy Category v t e Basic Instinct Films Basic Instinct (1992) Basic Instinct 2 (2006) Characters Catherine Tramell Related Last Action Hero (1993) Fatal Instinct (1993) Category --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fatal Instinct](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Instinct) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Instinct?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.