First Love, Last Rites

Director Jesse Peretz, former bassist with the Lemonheads, lays on the sultry atmosphere in this romantic coming-of-age drama that sinks in a swamp of symbolism, from blood-red waters to dreams about eels. It's summertime in the Louisiana bayou, and Joey (Giovanni Ribisi) and Sissel (Natasha Gregson Wagner) are in the throes of sexual passion. Left to the imagination is how these two ciphers met; how did Joey, who hails from Brooklyn and states he is "on vacation," wind up in Louisiana? What do they do for money? What little drama there is in this languid film is supplied first by a scratching rat trapped in the wall of their bayou bungalow, and then by Sissel's estranged father who recruits lunkhead Joey for a scheme to catch eels and sell them to sushi restaurants. Wagner brings to mind Dorothy Parker's wisecrack about Katharine Hepburn exhibiting the dramatic range from A to B. Not recommended. (K. Lee Benson)