Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese have teamed up to make some of the most iconic films of all time, such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas. One of the most impressive aspects of their list of collaborations is that it covers multiple genres. They’ve done everything from a musical (New York, New York) to crime dramas (The Irishman) and everything in between. That includes the thriller Cape Fear, which earned De Niro an Oscar nomination for his chilling performance as Max Cady. Scorsese’s Cape Fear was a remake of the 1962 film of the same name, but it set the bar high for future adaptations. That didn’t stop Apple TV from green lighting a TV series, which is now a streaming hit.
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According to FlixPatrol, which measures the popularity of titles on various streaming services, Cape Fear is currently the No. 2 TV show on Apple TV in the United States, trailing only Your Friends and Neighbors. Cape Fear only debuted on June 5th, so it didn’t take long for it to make an impression on subscribers. However, it isn’t all great news for the series.
Cape Fear Is a New Apple Hit (But Critics & Audiences Are Split)
It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Cape Fear has surged to the top of Apple’s streaming charts. Not only is the series the latest take on a recognizable title, it boasts a star-studded cast. Javier Bardem headlines as Max Cady, with Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson portraying the married lawyer couple that Cady torments (a change from the original story, where only the husband worked in legal). Those are some impressive names at the top of the marquee, turning Cape Fear into one of the summer’s bigger TV events. There’s also some considerable talent on the other side of the camera, with Scorsese and Steven Spielberg serving as executive producers.
The pedigree of the people involved with Cape Fear all but guaranteed it would be a hit out of the gate. However, opinions about the show are mixed right now. On Rotten Tomatoes, the critics score is a respectable 74% (high enough for the series to be considered Certified Fresh), but viewers don’t think as highly of it. The audience score is 61%, so there’s a bit of a divide here. In contrast, Scorsese’s 1991 film is rated 77% with both critics and audiences. Many of the reviews for the TV series praise Bardem’s performance and the fresh twists the creative team put on the source material (updating the story for more modern times), but a common refrain is that there’s too much time to fill and the narrative can be stretched thin a bit.
It sounds like one of the biggest challenges Apple’s Cape Fear struggled to overcome was the change in medium. Scorsese’s film is a tight thriller that runs a little over two hours. The miniseries consists of 10 episodes that are around 50 minutes each. Sometimes, having that extra real estate can be a benefit, allowing the creative team to expand upon storylines and deepen character arcs. While Apple’s Cape Fear doesn’t completely miss the mark, it isn’t wholly successful either, if the professional reviews and audience ratings are anything to go by.
Cape Fear is scheduled to run through the end of July, so it’ll be interesting to see how the viewership figures fare over the course of that run. The word of mouth is solid, but it hasn’t received the type of universal acclaim and audience buzz that some of Apple’s other hit series have. The fact that it’s a star-studded adaptation of Cape Fear should keep it near the top of the charts for the next month and a half. Perhaps as the series progresses, audiences will start to view it more favorably. Sometimes, it’s hard to get a read on a TV show because you don’t have the full picture available right away. As people get a chance to see more episodes, Cape Fear could find its stride.
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