Hollow Man (2000) 1/2 star out of 4. Starring Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shue, Josh Brolin, Kim Dickens, Greg Grunberg, Joey Slotnick, Mary Randle and William Devane. Screenplay by Andrew W. Marlowe. Story by Gary Scott Thompson and Andrew W. Marlowe. Music by Jerry Goldsmith. Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Rated R.
"Hollow Man" is as empty as its name implies.
This cynical updating of "The Invisible Man" is turgid and preposterous.
From the outset, director Paul Verhoeven sets a nasty tone by showing the gruesome demise of a lab rat.
Things merely go downhill from that memorable moment.
Kevin Bacon stars as hot-shot young scientist Sebastian Caine who has been working on a top-secret Pentagon-funded project to turn people invisible.
So far, his experiments have worked on animals, but now comes the time to test it on humans. So Caine, who is an obnoxious, self-centered and selfish genius, nominates himself as the test subject.
And, being the brilliant scientist he is, the first thing he does when he fades out is to go around scaring women and making sexual advances.
In other words, director Verhoeven merely is content to tap into the adolescent fantasies experienced by every 16-year-old who pondered the advantages of invisibility.
It's sick, disgusting and shameless, but what else can you expect from the man who brought the world Showgirls.
At the outset, it is obvious that Bacon is a few cards short of a full deck, so why do his colleagues, whom seem to have more sense, allow him to inject himself? Simple, to move the plot - if you want to label it as such - along.
Elisabeth Shue and Josh Brolin play Bacon's main assistants. She, of course, is his former lover, giving him another reason to go bonkers when he discovers that she is now carrying on with Brolin.
You think of any mad scientist-invisible man cliché, and Verhoeven is shameless enough to exploit it.
The movie is not helped by an overwrought and bombastic cacophony of music, cobbled together by Jerry Goldsmith, who has done much better work in his career.
"Hollow Man's" only positive is its eye-popping special effects, which are stunning in their anatomical grossness.
Unlike the Universal "Invisible Man" films of the 1930s and '40s, people just don't fade away to nothing in Verhoeven's world. They disappear bit by bit, and every vein, artery and organ is put on display.
"Hollow Man" is a travesty, a sick and twisted vehicle unworthy of the talents of such fine performers as Bacon and Shue.
Bacon has a lot of fun hamming it up (sorry, I couldn't resist), which is probably the only reason he took on the role.
Otherwise, this is one science fiction movie that could go straight to "Mystery Science Theatre 3000," if it was still airing.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net Bloom's reviews can be found at the Internet Movie Database Web site at: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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