A POKE WITH A PIG
TRIXIE
Written and Directed by Alan Rudolph
With Emily Watson, Dermot Mulroney
De Vargas R 117 min.
Quick.how funny is this: "Fish or get off the pot." Or "Grab the bull by the tail and look him in the eye." Or "Don't just sit there like a sore thumb." Or "Do you think I've got an ace up my hole?" Or.or..
Now imagine them multiplied a thousand-fold. Imagine a new one every time the title character opens her mouth, a mouth filled with gum and a painfully off-the-mark Chicago accent. It's like spending the holidays with your wiseacre brother-in-law who thinks he should have been a professional comedian. Worse than that. It's like spending two hours in an Alan Rudolph movie.
Emily Watson, an actress with a previously sparkling resume' ("Breaking the Waves", "Hilary and Jackie") but a shallow track record at comedy, is the eponymous Trixie, and the fall girl for Rudolph's embarrassing go at what he calls "screwball noir". She's a security guard who gets a job undercover at a casino spotting pickpockets, and comes to think of herself as a "private defective". There she falls for Dex (Dermot Mulroney), a two-bit Lothario who works for a scumbag building contractor (Will Patton), and gets mixed up in trying to solve the murder of a lounge singer (Leslie Anne Warren) who is the mistress of a state senator (Nick Nolte).
It's hard to tell what Trixie's main interest is - solving crime or mangling the language. Her relentless torrentof malapropisms could only be intentional, but she delivers them with a stonefaced determination that spreads a leaden pall over any spark that might ignite the story. Come to think of it, there is no such spark, and no story. There are, however, a few game performances. Nolte works hard as the obfuscating legislator with a mouthful of political platitudes, though Rudolph's determined lack of writing, pacing, and editorial sense leaves him high and dry, especially in a long, long restaurant scene that goes nowhere. Almost rising above the mess is Nathan Lane as a stand-up comic who does nifty impressions in his casino lounge act.
Alan Rudolph is a miracle of modern cinema. Backed by his producer/mentor Robert Altman, he has put out a numbing string of movies over the years without ever resorting to talent. It may be time to put him together with Keanu Reeves and see what magic they can make together.
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