Mother Night

"You are what you pretend to be" is the moral of this fascinating tale based on the Kurt Vonnegut novel. Married to an actress (Sheryl Lee) and living in Berlin, American playwright Howard J. Campbell, Jr. (Nick Nolte), decides to promote Nazi propaganda on the air waves in order to transfer coded messages to the U.S. government. After the war and his beloved wife's death, Campbell is ostracized by society and forced to confront his own demons. Director Keith Gordon imparts the film with a cunning moodiness, shooting the film in dark grays and blues that underscore the horrific war and its devastating aftermath. The only flaw here is in Lee's shallow and blank performance. Recommended. (L. Russo)