The Caveman's Valentine

By EWAN McDONALD

(Herald rating: * * * )

Samuel L. Jackson's admirers will seek this one out for his off-the-wall creation, Romulus Ledbetter, a schizophrenic (the moviemakers' word, not necessarily a valid diagnosis) who was a brilliant pianist and now lives in a cave in a New York park.

When a young man's body is found outside his cave the police believe the transient froze to death. Romulus thinks he knows better and leaves his lair to unmask the killer. His daughter, Lulu (Aunjanue Ellis), is a policewoman drawn into the web of Ledbetter's suspicions about a fashionable photographer, Leppenraub (Colm Feore).

Jackson is superb; the tale is further than far-fetched.

Rental video, DVD: Today

• DVD features: movie (115min); trailers.