Surveillance - C+

Another pre-theatrical release, pre-DVD HDNET preview happened last night. Surveillance stars Julia Ormond (Inland Empire) and Bill Pullman (Lost Highway) as 2 FBI agents on the trail of a serial killer pair who have struck again in Smalltown, USA. The film begins brutally as a man is hacked to death by a machete in his bed while his wife flees the house. Then the film settles down as the 2 agents interview local survivors, witnesses, and cops about the events of the past 2 days. They watch each other through video camera surveillance, though this device isn’t utilized nearly as effectively as it could, should, or would have been had the film been directed by executive producer David Lynch, rather than his daughter Jennifer . . .

Master Lynch’s imprint is all over the film, from the early scene where the woman escapes in a short nightgown (Ronette in TV’s Twin Peaks) to the FBI meets small town cops scene (Twin Peaks again) to the cast which Lynch has used previously. The most fascinating sequence in the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me has Agent Dale Cooper watching himself on video surveillance. Surveillance could have used more of that inspired craziness. D. Lynch’s worldview is often black and white with obvious good guys and bad guys, honor, duty, etc. He’s more interested in characters and so for awhile, you’re settled into the film honestly, looking past the overacting of the supporting roles, hyperviolence, and the many distracting expletives.

But after the interviews drag on for the majority of the film, you’ll realize there’s a huge, cheap plot twist coming which won’t be hard to spot. J. Lynch (who also co-writes) has made a watchable, pulpy film that never bores. It’s OK if she doesn’t reach the visceral and intellectual heights of her father; few have. The acting (especially by Ormond) is mostly good but some of the casting distracts (French Stewart, Cheri Oteri). Michael Ironside has put on a few pounds (so has Pullman), and isn’t given nearly enough to do. It’s an occasionally fascinating mess, worth seeing if you’re a fan of the horror, cop, or Ormond genres. C+