By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * )
Some days you're the windshield, some days you're the bug," was Mary Chapin Carpenter's laconic philosophy, and this movie is a bit like that, too. Some good bits, some bad bits, and in the end it doesn't matter very much.
It claims to be
based on a true story, but the true bit is that some people in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, believe that a mothlike creature with red eyes is sometimes seen around the countryside. Some say he is a spirit called by an ancient Indian chief, others blame him for a deadly bridge collapse.
Richard Gere stars as Washington Post reporter John Klein, who is happily married (to Debra Messing) until they are in a car crash. Before she dies, she draws a picture of a creature that she saw flattened against the windscreen. Klein's life slides into the twilight zone and he ends up in ... oh, you've guessed, Point Pleasant where the only person who believes his story is the local cop, Connie Parker (Laura Linney). Together they get involved in a strange series of events, which culminate in ... oh, you've guessed, a potentially deadly bridge collapse.
Far-fetched. It'd have to be a very slow night on TV.
• DVD features: movie (119min); Half Light music video, trailer, production notes.
