Eversmile New Jersey

"Cavities have no mercy," saith Dr. Fergus O'Connell (Daniel Day-Lewis) to the unenlightened sinners in the backwaters of Patagonia, in this quirky comedy about a man with a dental mission. Day-Lewis (The Unbearable Lightness of Being, My Left Foot) delivers another winning performance as a traveling dentist for the DFDDC (DuBois Foundation for the Development of Dental Consciousness). Carrying loads of toothbrushes and a mini-dental station on his motorcycle, Fergus hooks up with a waif named Estella (Mirjana Kokovic) who becomes his devoted and enamored assistant. As they roam the dusty roads searching for cavities, Fergus espouses a philosophy of dentistry that borders on the religious. Everywhere he goes he brings people the good news: brush regularly and stay away from sweets. Though essentially plotless and meandering, Eversmile New Jersey is an engaging character study filled with memorable moments. In one scene, Fergus debates with a monk who has a whopping toothache the question of whether 'tis nobler to tend to the body or the spirit. Outside the room, a group of eavesdropping monks clap and cheer when their brother scores a philosophical point. Turning the story of a dentist into a comical religious parable is, to my knowledge, a previously unexplored theme for the movies. People looking for a slice of something decidedly different will enjoy the refreshing uniqueness of Eversmile New Jersey, and they'll probably want to brush their teeth after watching it. Recommended. (R. Pitman)