MovieChat Forums > Control (2005) Discussion > Similar to 'Second Nature (2003)'

Similar to 'Second Nature (2003)'


Anyone seen this movie Second Nature (2003) starring Alec Baldwin? The plot is very similar to Control: a deathrole inmate gets a second chance by participating in an experiment and so on.

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Second Nature was about Baldwin as an assassin and loosing his memory in a plane crash. Nothing at all like this.

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Actually Second Nature isn't just about what you mentioned.

Similarity: SN is also about a deathrole inmate (killer) given a chance to live if he agree to participate in a research.
Difference: In SN the research is in psychology while Control is a research on drug.

Similarity: Both movies explore the possibility that a cold bloody killer could be rehabilitated, both asked the question throughout the film: Is he really cured? Or will he kill again?
Difference: The nature of the "cure" is different, SN uses "brainwashing" method while Control uses drug.

I think both have the same theme and both plots are very similar if not the same.


Spoiler for the movie Second Nature:
By the way, Alec Baldwin's role wasn't an assassin who lost his memory and family in a plane crash. He was a serial killer who participated in a research that alter his memory (childhood etc) hoping that would change his behaviour from a cold blooded serial killer to another person. The research however was hijacked by a government agency and he was instead programmed to remember himself as an assassin.

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Actually, Control reminded me of Formula 51. Hmmm... wonder why...

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Maybe you guys haven't seen La Femme Nikita (1990). It came out before any of the films you've mentioned. Summary: "Convicted felon Nikita, instead of going to jail, is given a new identity and trained, stylishly, as a top secret spy/assassin." This movie was later remade as Point of No Return with Bridget Fonda.

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Yes, true. Control's premise doesn't bother me at all. As for the whole drug MacGuffin, I can't say the same.

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Perhaps nobody sees the similarity to a little-known film called, A Clockwork Orange?" A violent felon is given a new lease on life after undergoing behavior modification, only to be revisited by his "droogies" after he straightens out.
Sound familiar?

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