Cape Fear
Apple TV+ · Starring Javier Bardem & Amy Adams · 10 Episodes
5 / 10 — Bardem Saves ItI just want to start by saying the 1991 movie directed by Martin Scorsese, which starred Robert De Niro as Max Cady and Nick Nolte along with Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis as the Bowden family, is one of my favorite movies of all time. De Niro is terrifying as the convicted rapist Cady.
So I knew going in that the Apple TV series had a lot to live up to. I also read the original 1957 book that inspired the movies and show, titled The Executioners, written by John MacDonald, which I thought was just ok. It had the sprinkling of something special, but Max Cady was hardly in the book. Most of his actions were "off the page" and we just saw the family reacting to their discoveries.
That brings me to the new show. Apple TV tends to produce some high quality series, and when I saw the cast (specifically that Javier Bardem would be playing Max Cady), I got excited. I typically love Patrick Wilson and Amy Adams as well.
Right off the bat we see that the writers made significant changes to the story. I won't spoil plot points, but casting wise the Bowdens have a teen daughter AND a teen son who didn't exist in the previous versions. And that was my biggest issue with the show. There were many characters added that weren't part of the original story, which I understand — to take a 200 page book and turn it into a 10 episode series you need to add some stuff.
"The best part of this show was easily Javier Bardem as Max. Every time he's on screen he brings a sadistic energy that you want to keep watching."The issue here isn't Max. It's the Bowden family. I can't understand why certain decisions were made, but this was one of the most unlikable families I can recall in recent memory. All of them, including the kids. I found myself rooting for Max and I'm not sure that's a good thing.
The last two episodes redeemed the show somewhat, as they were tense and action packed. Still, that isn't enough to make up for so many strange subplots that did absolutely nothing for the show. This is a situation where I think it would have benefited from a 6-8 episode series instead of 10. More isn't always better.
I think it's still worth checking out for Bardem's performance alone, but go in with lower expectations. I give this series a 5 out of 10 overall, with the last two episodes up around an 8. It's really those middle episodes where things go off the rails.