Playing God

If he chooses to be, David Duchovny can be a movie star; he has the looks, the smarts and the under-appreciated dramatic range to go places most fellow TV alums never go. If his choice of big screen scripts is any indication, however, Duchovny simply has no interest in cinematic success. To a resume which already includes unconventional fare such as Kalifornia and The Rapture, Duchovny adds his role here as a disgraced, drug-addicted former surgeon who hooks up with a crime boss (Timothy Hutton). Although Duchovny is suitably low-key, director Andy Wilson (fond of distorted imagery and awkward cross-cutting) lets the rest of the cast run rampant with the notion that louder acting is better acting. Hutton, in particular, goes irretrievably bonkers as the bleached beach-bum majordomo, though Michael Massee comes in a close second as an off-kilter Fed who would be a perfect partner for Duchovny's cross-dressing G-Man on Twin Peaks. The general tone of the performances makes Duchovny stand out like Buster Keaton in a Three Stooges short, his deadpan demeanor more a reaction to nutcase actors let loose on the screen than the appropriate personality for his redemption-hungry character. Then again, with a film this unfocused it's hard to say how much control Duchovny had over his own character. In real life, however, he's got to start making smarter choices with his film career...if he wants to have one. Not recommended. (S. Renshaw)