New ‘Cape Fear’ is nasty, addictive and perfect for the Trump era

Every generation gets the “Cape Fear” it deserves.

That’s one way of looking at Apple TV’s new 10-episode series, the latest take on John D. McDonald’s “The Executioners.” It’s the gilded White House ballroom of adaptations. No one asked for it, but here we are. Its too-much-is-never-enough aesthetic overshadows everything but Javier Bardem’s delightfully unhinged performance as Max Cady.

He’s a charming lunatic, a disgrace of a human being you can’t help but be fascinated by — and who fools a lot of people into thinking he’s some sort of decent man. Sound familiar? Only eight of the 10 episodes were made available to critics; Cady doesn’t put his face on a $250 bill or anything, but there’s still time.

Javier Bardem strikes a balance between Robert Mitchum and Robert De Niro

In the 1962 version, directed by J. Lee Thompson and more closely modeled on McDonald’s novel, Cady, played with serpentine menace by Robert Mitchum, terrorizes lawyer Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck) and his family. Although Bowden gets drawn into some questionable choices by Cady’s harassment, the lines are pretty clearly drawn. Bowden is the good guy, Cady the bad guy. (In the original, Bowden isn’t Cady’s lawyer; he saw Cady assault a woman and testified against him.)

Martin Scorsese remade the film in 1991 with Robert De Niro as Cady, going so far over the top he needs air traffic control to bring his performance down to earth. (De Niro earned an Oscar nomination for his effort, as did Juliette Lewis as the Bowdens’ daughter.)

This version gets cloudier on the morality front, with Nick Nolte’s Bowden having withheld crucial evidence when defending Cady. De Niro’s performance is almost a parody of a villain, smoking a cigar the size of a submarine sandwich while cackling with insanity and homicidal intent.

The lines between good and evil have been blurred, though this version of Cady is so hilariously overbaked it tends to strengthen the distinction.

Of course, “Cape Feare,” the classic episode of “The Simpsons” that aired in 1992 and sends up the 1991 film perfectly (it’s the one with Sideshow Bob first stepping on all the rakes), is brilliant. It’s OK to be that far over the top when you’re a cartoon (albeit a cartoon that is the best show in the history of television). I suppose there will always be some moral ambiguity when Bart is involved.

Javier Bardem as Max Cady in the Apple TV series “Cape Fear.”

Everyone is complicit in the latest ‘Cape Fear’

Which leads us to the newest version, created by Nick Antosca and “inspired” by Scorsese’s film (he and Steven Spielberg are producers), but reflective of a continuing moral slide. This time Anna Bowden (Amy Adams), Tom’s wife, defended Cady. Tom (Patrick Wilson) was the prosecutor. Anna convinced Cady to take a plea deal, but shortly after the trial ended, Tom and Anna were married. Like the other Max Cadys (and Sideshow Bob), Bardem’s Cady has been stewing in prison, obsessed with revenge.

But now, in the age of social media, Cady is the good guy. Sort of. At least in the eyes of those willing to see him that way, which includes a fame-hungry local TV reporter (Anna Baryshnikov) who longs to be an influencer.

The audience knows better, of course, as do Tom and Anna. But how do those two know? There are lots of twists, some of which haven’t been fully revealed by the end of the eighth episode. But everyone is complicit in this version.

Amy Adams stars in and executive produces "Cape Fear" for Apple TV. — Amy Adams stars in and executive produces “Cape Fear” for Apple TV.

The Bowdens have children (Lily Collias and Joe Anders) whose lives are complicated by the addition of a new character, whose identity should remain a secret. Along with the other new character, who, ditto. If you’re going to make it five times longer, you have to fill the time with something. Plot swerves and new characters start piling up like insults on Donald Trump’s Truth Social account.

What makes odious people attractive?

Speaking of, what is it that attracts people to figures they know somewhere inside should repel them? What about this age, this moment in the social contract, accounts for so many following a twisted path without hesitation — not just following the path but elbowing each other out of the way to get to rock bottom first?

I don’t know. Desperation? Anger? Jealousy? You figure, and hope, that at some point the scales fall from the eyes of the so eagerly converted, but it can take a long time. In “Cape Fear,” about, oh, six episodes.

Bardem oozes an oily charisma. He commands every scene he is in. He’s having a blast here. It’s easy to see why the townspeople can’t get enough of him — he is a profitable example for the law group that represents the wrongfully accused, for which Anna works. It’s also easy to see why viewers are attracted to him. I mean, it’s Javier Bardem, playing a character who is, essentially, playing a character. Both of those performances are exceptional.

That’s what it takes, really, right? To be an odious person doing bad things, yet command the attraction of people who want to believe in you. It’s a scam and it’s bad for everyone whose life you touch. And yet some people keep coming back.

Don’t misunderstand, this version of “Cape Fear” is entertaining, fun to watch. Adams is oddly muted for such a choice role. But Collias is affecting as the too-perfect daughter whom Cady has his eye on. (She also bears a striking resemblance to Dakota Johnson.) The stakes are low, after all. The danger isn’t real. It just feels like it.

Real life is different. And a lot scarier.

This is not the perfect version of “Cape Fear.” The 1962 version is (along with “Cape Feare”). But it is the perfect version for our time. Which makes it less of a thriller and more of a tragedy.