Double Vision

For its first three-quarters, Kuo-fu Chen's Double Vision unfolds as a smarter-than-average buddy cop drama. In Taiwan, a series of grisly murders leads authorities to suspect a serial killer, but in a society where such crimes are rare, they send for Kevin Richter (David Morse), an FBI agent haunted by past failures. Richter is paired with Huang Huo-To (Tony Leung), an honest cop in the midst of a family and personal crisis, and the murders lead the two men deep into the world of Taoist fundamentalism to a killer who may be seeking immortality. Neither man matches the archetypes of the American procedural, opting for the wounded vulnerability that regularly drives the heroes of Asian action films, where emotion isn't taboo. Unfortunately, with 30 minutes to go, the film launches into a series of twists and false conclusions that cheapen the fine performances by the leads as well as Chen's up-till-then deft touch at producing suspense in unpredictable ways. Optional. (D. Fienberg)