UNDER THE SKIN – The Review

So this weekend we’ve seen Jude Law take a walk on the wild side in the title role of DOM HEMINGWAY. Now, we also get a new film starring a stateside screen beauty, Scarlett Johansson as she takes a walk on the weird side. Very weird. She stars in almost every minute of  UNDER THE SKIN from director Jonathon Glazer who gave us the enormously entertaining SEXY BEAST (Ben Kingley’s character might have been “mates” with Dom!). But SKIN is no look at the cockney criminal class. This film is based on a 2000 science fiction novel from Michel Faber. Now we’re used to seeing Ms. J dashing about in CG backdrops in big budget blockbusters like Michael Bay’s THE ISLAND  and over at Marvel Studios as the sublime SHIELD agent the Black Widow in, so far, three epics. But this film’s not in the same arena as those since there’s just a couple of brief effects shots and its budget would barely cover the catering of the current Captain America box office king in which she co-stars. It seems though that SKIN is getting some attention because we’re seeing (ahem) another side of the lauded, glamorous star (got your attention now?). Look, she’s pulling up in the van. Let’s hop in for a very dark, strange trip.

UNDER opens next to a deserted road on a dark night in rural Scotland. A motorcyclist parks his bike, walks down an embankment, and returns seconds later with a young unconscious woman slung over his shoulder. Next we’re in a room filled with bright white light, actually there’s nothing there but the light.  Except at its center is the sleeping (or is she deceased?) woman. Entering from the right is a nude woman (Johansson) who proceeds to strip the clothing from said prone woman (there, you didn’t have to wait too long!). The now dressed brunette hops behind the wheel of a van and begins her endless cruise through the Scottish neighborhoods and streets. She approaches men walking along the streets to ask for directions, and then offers them a ride. The woman immediately peppers them with questions (“Got a girlfriend?”,”A family?”, “Live around here?”). If they’re unattached loners, she takes them to the back of a nondescript cottage. She leaves the vehicle, walks to the door, and beckons her passenger to follow her inside. This time the interior is pitch black save for her as she walks ahead while peeling off clothing. The men follow behind and disrobe, but the floor she has just strode across sucks them down like a pool or a bog. Once the men are swallowed up, they never resurface. The film follows her as she observes humanity and seeks new victims until she pick up a man with a facial deformity. This encounter sends her on a different path while the motorcyclist attempts to find her. The woman now appears to be trying to adapt to humanity instead of preying on it.

So Johansson here is doing the old “fish out of water” character, the alien who can observe the oddness of us. She’s not ET or STARMAN , but more like “the vamp who fell to Earth”. With her black, frizzy mop-like hair she resembles a cross between Maria Schnieder from LAST TANGO IN PARIS and Fleischer cartoon icon Betty Boop. Much has been made of the improvisational nature of her pick-up scenes. Hidden cameras were placed around the interior of the vehicle as she conversed with locals (the men were told after the filming and, I assume, signed releases). Most of the conversations are head-scratchers. While SJ speaks with a light British lilt (like a Dinner theatre Eliza Doolittle), her passengers’ Scottish chatter is almost indecipherable (I was yearning for subtitles). These driving scenes just go on and on with the monotony broken up by the two or three striptease/drownings. Are these fellows food for her and “motorcycle guy”? A power source, since she never seems to stop for “petrol”? When she’s out of the van, the scenes have little payoff. She observes a beach tragedy, joins a rowdy bachelorette party, shops at a mall, and stumbles while walking down a city street (no doubt another hidden camera bit). Her encounter with a young man living with neurofibromatosis (I was reminded of Lon Chaney Jr. in THE HAUNTED PALACE) seems exploitive, there just to shock us out of the stupor the film’s pace has produced. She gives up the auto for the film’s lengthy last act and trudges through a forest preserve for what feels like an entire rainy season (most of the film has a cold, overcast grey-gloom). In the last moments there’s a clever bit of special effects magic, but the finale’ makes as little sense as the rest of the nearly two-hour tedious trudge (not helped by a ‘tinny’ two or three note music score). You’re left to wonder what Johansson saw in this. Perhaps the role was an acting challenge or perhaps she felt a need for some “indie cred” after so many studio films (she does have a role in the third biggest box office hit of ALL time!). Some adventurous audiences may enjoy the modern gothic feel and the improved dialogue scenes, but for those of us who appreciate coherent plotting, consistant pacing, and compelling characters…well, we’re just stuck out in the constant chilly drizzle along with those duped Scotts. The “artsy-schmartsey” vibe acts like quicksand on the story and actors. Now, is there any news about that proposed Black Widow solo feature?

1.5 out of 5

UNDER THE SKIN opens everywhere and plays exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre