Playing God

Director: Andy Wilson
Cast:
David Duchovny
Timothy Hutton
Angelina Jolie

David Duchovny is a has-been doctor whose license has been stripped because of a past drug infraction. His life spirraling deeper into addiction and despondency, he is hired by super-bad-guy Timothy Hutton to treat the mobsters who can't go to the hospital. Lured deeper and deeper into an underworld he hates—and growing closer to Hutton's girlfriend (Angelina Jolie), whom he sorta likes—Duchovny tries to escape from his addiction, the bad guys, the FBI and his own self-esteem without gettin' killed.

A failed project, "Playing God" still gets a 'B' for effort. Duchovny is twice the leading man that George Clooney (the other TV star trying to make a go of it in movies) wants to be. While Clooney continues to jitter his head about like the increasingly unlikable Doug on ER, Duchovny's Fox Mulder-esque zeitgeist translates much better to any other role on the screen. His laconic humor and casual acceptance of the surreal make for better characterizations and better movies. Angelina Jolie is just fine as the forbidden fruit, but one gets the idea that her humongous lips should have their own zoning laws.

Too bad Timothy Hutton continues his post-adolescent, 15-year downward career spiral with his role as Raymond Blossom. I mean, I appreciate a wacky villian as much as the next guy, but how long are audiences going to have to suffer through the same one? Screenwriters seem to think that having their bad guys spout philosophy as they weave their way through carnage means that they are "charismatic," but to me, they are fast becoming boorish and boring.

—Ian Williams

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