Continuity mistake: During the big sex scene you see red marks on Michael Douglas's back. These red marks are from when Sharon Stone scratches him. The thing is, she scratches him a minute AFTER you see the red marks on him for the first time.
Basic Instinct (1992)
Plot summary
Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Starring: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, Jeanne Tripplehorn, George Dzundza
Former rock star and San Francisco nightclub owner Johnny Boz is found murdered in his bed. Detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) is assigned to the case; he has a history of alcoholism and drug abuse although he is clean now. The prime suspect is Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone), an attractive and manipulative novelist who had been seeing Boz for a while. Police psychiatrist Beth Gardner (who happens to be Nick's ex-girlfriend) is brought in on the case when it is discovered that Boz's murder was copied directly from one of Catherine's novels. Nick starts to get too involved and everyone seems to be a suspect.
More mistakes in Basic Instinct
Nick: So where is this going?
Catherine: Ask me "What do you want from me Catherine?"
Nick: What the fuck do you want from Catherine?
Trivia: Director Paul Verhoeven actually has a PhD in mathematics. He received it back in the 1960's in Holland. He left the field and became a film director. (From Director's commentary on "Basic Instinct: The Original Director's Cut".).
Question: Why did Catherine change her mind about killing Nick at the end? Obviously she was planning on killing him anyway, but she changed her mind only hours after ending their relationship when her book was finished and was of no further use. So why did she spare him? Was it because she fell in "love" with him?
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Answer: There's no definitive answer to this and the ending is deliberately ambiguous and open to interpretation. The audience is left to speculate whether or not Catherine kills Nick, or if she intended to kill him but changes her mind because she loves him, or intends to kill him at a much later time, and so on.
raywest ★