Intermission: Verhoeven's hit-and-miss record adds another flop

"Hollow Man"

Directed by: Paul Verhoeven

Starring: Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shue and Josh Brolin

Rated: R

Director Paul Verhoeven

Paul Verhoeven got lucky with his latest release, "Hollow Man," a couple of times over.

First, it's not the worst big-budget movie of the new millennium, as the John Travolta and L. Ron Hubbard turkey, "Battlefield Earth," will no doubt retain that honor for at least a century. Secondly, it's not the worst film Verhoeven has directed. No, that would be a toss up between "Showgirls" and "Starship Troopers."

What's amazing is this is the same guy who gave us the original "Robocop," as well as "Total Recall" and "Basic Instinct."

While "Hollow Man's" basic premise, a staple of the horror genre, is a good one, Verhoeven seems to have developed a penchant for ham-fisted drama and simplistic, overstated dialogue and not just from his actors.

Several times during the film, a computer screen flashes such "duh"-inducing information as "status: unstable," a fact that only the slowest witted among the audience has not already figured out.

Kevin Bacon plays Dr. Sebastian Caine, the head of a secret Pentagon research project.

This experiment enables people to "phase shift out of quantum sync with the visible universe." That means "turn invisible" to the layman.

Besides being a brilliant scientist, Caine is also somewhat of an insecure megalomaniac, with messianic delusions. Never mind that, he does look like Kevin Bacon, but even that isn't enough to hang onto girlfriend/co-worker Linda (Elisabeth Shue) who has taken up with fellow team member Matthew Kensington (a nearly unwatchable hammy performance by Josh Brolin).

After success at rendering rodents, canines and a large primate invisible, one would think all was well at the research lab.

Not so the rub is getting them back to the visible realm. For nearly every formula that Caine runs on his laptop we see molecules explode and the dreaded "status: unstable" message appears.

But, as usually happens in Act 1 of films such as this, we finally see a "status: stable" message. So, the team decides to make the big gorilla they've been working on get back in quantum sync with the visible universe.

It's an ugly sight, but to be fair, the special effects are pretty good during this part of the film as we see a bunch of gorilla innards appear, followed by the skeleton and finally skin and hair.

By now, you're probably betting the research is a success. But never underestimate the ego of a megalomaniac with messianic delusions.

Caine is afraid the boys at the Pentagon if they know the whole truth will take over the project and shut down his funding. So he tells them he's getting close, but no re-visualized cigar.

What happens next is a given. Caine uses his serum on himself and plans on staying out of sight for three days while the rest of the team runs tests. At that time, he'll be brought back, but you guessed it "status: unstable."

If you've ever seen an Invisible Man movie you know that, for some reason, being invisible tends to warp a person.

In Caine's case he didn't have far to go. All the usual plot devices are here: he hangs out in the ladies' restroom, he sneaks in on a sexy neighbor, and the always sex- and violence-laden Verhoeven throws an implied rape scene as well.

Caine then starts stalking his ex-girlfriend, and when he finds out she's sleeping with a fellow doctor, he cracks completely.

The last act of "Hollow Man" features Caine locking himself in the lab with his co-workers and destroying them one by one.

No doubt you've probably guessed that one or two survive, so I won't spoil it by telling you which ones.

I actually thought the previews for the film looked promising, and the visual effects are pretty interesting. I'm also a fan of James Whale's 1933 interpretation of the H.G. Wells novel, "The Invisible Man," but even with the state-of-the-art digital effects available today, Verhoeven's reworking pales in comparison to that classic.

Even the choice of titles proves to be fairly ironic, as this film, on the whole, is a rather hollow experience.

"Hollow Man" is playing at Campbell 16 Cin, Battlefield Mall 6, and Town & Country 6.

(Jim Wunderle works at Associated Video Producers and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.)