Dans Papers - June 8, 2007 - Guy de Fraumeni's Hollywod in The Hamptons

Just as the scare-the-wits-outta-ya film, The Exorcist, gave new meaning to the occult and pea soup, the film's director, William Friedkin, gives new meaning to the phrase "the place is bugged." Don't laugh - his current creepfest, Bug, can crawl into your anxieties and infect your imagination for days. I might say, "It gets under your skin." Especially since that's the premise of this very intense psychodrama. Imagine a guy who has been used in an experiment by government doctors that combines surveillance technology and bio-warfare. They have implanted bugs in his skin that signal his position. It's bad for him as "they" are after him. He has escaped their mind-control combined with the itchy skin problem that he's convinced is contagious. Are you scratching your head or any other part of your body yet?

Charging the intensity of the movie Bug are the performances. The fleeing (or flee-bitten) escapee is Peter and, as compellingly acted by Michael Shannon, the insanity of paranoia is totally believable and highly disturbing. Mr. Friedkin could have chosen a big-name but Shannon did the role off-Broadway in the small, unnerving play written by Tracy Letts. Regardless of Shannon doing the 2004 play, I'm sure there's no other who could have conveyed the horror as well as he does. I must be careful of placing Bug in the horror genre. It does not fit tidily into that niche, not with a quality performance by a masterful underrated actor like Ashley Judd. She has been taking roles not up to her ability and some might say the same of her character Agnes in this movie but, Holy Moses, don't let the bedbugs bite! It gives her the opportunity to show what great chops she has. In lesser but equally rash roles are Lynn Collins as Agnes' friend R.C. and Harry Connick, Jr. as Agnes' recently paroled ex-husband, Jerry.

The director wisely opens the picture on open, desolate plains that convey the isolation of Agnes. Also, it underscores her alienation. Her ex-husband had abused her and their six-year-old vanished ten years earlier. Now, she's living in a sleazy efficiency in a dumpy motel and eased by vodka and cocaine. She works as a waitress in a hot lesbian bar along with her fellow server, R.C. Agnes is physically warm with her but only because she badly needs human contact. Then, R.C. brings to her a nice (not an ax-murderer) drifter. It is Peter. He says he needs a place to crash and sex is not a part of it. Yes, but what about the boring bugs? Together, Agnes catches Peter's mania and the little buggers have been sending their rundown address to "them." Anonymous calls ring the phone off the hook. Heavy buffeting shakes the motel. Not helping the disturbance is Agnes' ex-husband leaving prison. He's as volatile as an active volcano and Connick's menace is a great surprise to us, as it is to the couple under siege.

Peter's lunacy has taken in Agnes largely because he's there to explain her problems as she adheres to his conspiracy theories. What has become of Agnes' child? So why was her ex pardoned early and is now pounding on the door? She has fallen for Peter's lines and taken in his little ones. He has answers for all her doubts and she needs them.

When her sanity begins a tight spiral towards death, the couple methodically wall themselves into a cocoon. Bizarrely, Agnes allows in a Dr. Sweet for a crack pipe hit and a bleak talk. Otherwise, the claustrophobic tension mounts, as does the pain. If you can take Peter's digging the bugs out of his body, the sounds employed by Friedkin may shake your own pain level. Ms. Judd's emotionally jarring, naked performance swirls out of this world, even in the strict confines of the close, airless and suffocating scenes. The directors' deliberate contrast, built by his vast outdoor opening landscapes, make the interiors more minute than can be imagined. You may be prepared for an extremely abrupt ending that could unglue your sane, sensible wig. But, maybe not. Be prepared for more shocks from director William Friedkin who, like Ms. Judd, is vastly underrated - possibly because of his own scary choices.

Guy- Jean de Fraumeni is the producer/writer/director of award-winning European and American feature films. He has been a judge at Major Film and TV award competitions, including the Oscars, the Emmy's and various film festivals. He is assisted by Sarah Halsey.