EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

directed by Stephan Elliott

with Ashley Judd and Ewan McGregor

opens January 28 at Metro, Meridian 16, other theaters

Visiting a dozen different American cities, Eye demonstrates how excess only compounds the stupidity of a bad script. Stripped of the charm and sex appeal he showed in Trainspotting and Velvet Goldmine, Ewan McGregor plays a dorky intelligence agent (the “Eye”) who becomes inexplicably obsessed with a chameleon-like murderer (Ashley Judd). He first witnesses Judd murder his boss’ son, then he watches her kill two more men. Shirking duty, the Eye does nothing but tail her as she changes wigs, identities, and victims. The two are supposedly bonded through fear of abandonment: Judd kills men because her father left her when she was nine (“Merry Christmas, Daddy,” is her reprisal after each murder) McGregor sympathizes because he lost his own daughter through divorce. Blecch. Pop star k.d. lang is the only one to come out clean from this mess, showing precision and a sardonic smirk. A disappointing turn from Aussie writer-director Stephan Elliott (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert), based on Marc Behm’s 1980 cult favorite novel.