Don McKay

Writer-director Jake Goldberger's Don McKay is a decidedly off-kilter mystery starring Thomas Haden Church as the title character, a lonely high school janitor who receives a letter from Sonny (Elisabeth Shue), a gone-but-not-forgotten girlfriend whom he hasn't seen in 25 years. Everything seems out of balance from the moment Don returns to his hometown, where the purportedly terminally ill Sonny is attended to by a live-in nurse (Melissa Leo) and a doctor (James Rebhorn), both of whom have an interest in her that seems to go beyond the professional. Whether this negligee-sporting vamp is really even Sonny is hardly a certainty, as everything about her seems fake. So why does Don seem so suggestible and pliant? Don McKay grows stranger at every turn, sporting violence and murder (ever seen anyone offed with a frozen roast?), hidden secrets galore, and enough twists to not only do the Coen brothers Blood Simple but also noir classics like Double Indemnity proud. Unfortunately, as a guy who's grown weary of a long-held emotional burden, Church delivers a downbeat, somewhat monotonous performance, and the stilted dialogue and sometimes silly plot developments do him no favors. Still, there's enough good elements here to make this a strong optional purchase. (S. Graham)