Volume CXXXIII, Number 14 February 1, 2002 f

The moth: your new worst enemy
MONICA GUZMAN
COLUMNIST

Nothing wakes you up like a good thriller. I found this out the fun way one drowsy Friday night after snuggling comfortably into my seat at a showing of The Mothman Prophecies. No more than five minutes passed before my butt found its home on the teetering edge of the seat-a position that is anything but snug. Yes, there were plenty of jump scenes in this film. Even when they weren't coming, freaky music and weird camera angles made me think they were. At those times I leaned forward, heart pumping, with my hands over my ears and my eyes clamped shut. Pathetic, yes, but fun.

The film tells the story of John Klein (Richard Gere), a well-known reporter who becomes entangled in the paranormal phenomena in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. He and the local cop Connie (Laura Linney) work together to uncover the origins of the freaky "mothman" sightings that John suspects may have something to do with his lost wife, Mary (Debra Messing).

Critically, the film is nothing special; this is due to its very unbelievable premise and non-spectacular acting. More on that later. Visually and audibly, however, it's effective. Mark Pellington, the director, proved his worthiness in the thriller genre with Arlington Road a few years back. The guy knows how to film suspense. The well-composed scenes combined with some sneaky sound editing combine to elicit such classic thriller responses as the following: "Holy S***!" "What the hell?" and the traditional "Ahhhh!!!" accompanied by the pitter-patter of airborne popcorn crash-landing.

Okay, now for the nit-picky stuff. I feel it my duty as a wanna-be film critic to point out that, entertaining as this movie was, it was not… ummm… artful (the reader boos and hisses). Sorry guys, but the fact is that some movies just don't try hard enough; this is one of them.

For starters, I can't believe that Richard Gere is still playing the same hurt little puppy dog he always has. The man is not that sexy anymore. Hollywood-get him away from female leads twenty years his junior for goodness's sake! Poor Debra Messing (Will and Grace) deserved a bigger breaking role into film than playing the wife of this loser ("Ouch," says the reader, "she called him a loser.").

Story-wise, I didn't believe any of the paranormal crap the film fed me. Just when it would start to make sense in a "suspension of disbelief" kind of way, I would remember that this supposedly actually happened, giggle softly, and then wait for the next jump scene.

Anyway, go watch this movie for a good time. You'll forget it in a few weeks (The Mothman what?), but at least you will get to play two delightful hours of peek-a-boo.