The X- Files (1998) 3 stars out of 4
The truth is out there, but you will only learn bits and pieces of it in The X-Files movie, and that's the fun - and charm - of this big screen adaptation of the cult television show.
The X-Files follows the investigations of two FBI agents, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Mulder (David Duchovny) is the paranoid one, seeing conspiracies, hidden agendas and aliens behind every occurrence.
Scully (Gillian Anderson) is the rational one who tries - and often fails - to shed light on the paranormal and explain it as normal.
Together, these two over the past five TV seasons have investigated the weird crimes that fall into the bureau's lap.
Now the show's creator, Chris Carter, has brought the entire mythos to the big screen. Along with Mulder and Scully come the black helicopter, the Cigarette-Smoking Man, the Well-Manicured Man, the Lone Gunmen, the oozing black goop, the autopsies and the convoluted rantings and whispers about worldwide conspiracies and a planned alien domination of the planet.
Plus, the sight of cornfields and bees will now become part of the ominous lexicon.
And who is heading up all these black ops. Well, you'd be surprised to learn that it's those friendly and caring folks at FEMA. Yes, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Helping out in disasters is only a front, it seems. The agency's real agenda is to suspend the Constitution and take over running the country during a national crisis.
Those who have never seen The X-Files still can follow the movie. There's just enough expositional dialogue to get you caught up on who Mulder and Scully are, what their assignment was (and is), what is the Syndicate and its members about, and what that nefarious group's ultimate aim is.
Plus, director Rob Bowman, a veteran of the TV show, also stages enough action to keep the die-hard X-philers from getting bored.
The movie, thankfully, does not take itself too seriously. It has a wry wit and a laconic charm as well as a bit of tongue-in-cheek, as if telling the audience not to worry that it's only a bedtime fairy tale for adults. The plot has some holes, which are glossed over, just as in the TV series, but the real focus is the Mulder-Scully relationship. Before that, all else in the film pales and seems rather trivial.
It's really not worth going into the performances of Duchovny and Anderson. Basically, they act intense, surprised and smart. They've been under the skin of their characters for a long enough time that making the transition from small screen to large was no big leap.
They look good, they look sexy and they do ...
Well, some things you will have to find out for yourself.
It's a sad state of affairs when the biggest questions about the movie doesn't concern the plot, but rather if it contains any shots of Agent Mulder's derriere or if Mulder and Scully lip-lock.
No answers will be given here. You'll have to fight the future lines at the box office to find the answers.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or cbloom@iquest.net
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