Bug
Length: EP
Studio: Lions Gate
Rated: R
Website: http://www.bugthemovie.com/
Release Date: 2007-05-25
Cast: Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon
Director: William Friedkin
WorkNameSort: Bug
Our Rating: 2.50
William Friedkin hasn’t directed a movie worth remembering since The French Connection and The Exorcist back in the ’70s, which is probably why Bug ‘ an above-average but not especially good horror flick ‘ is such a welcome surprise. The story of a lonely waitress (Ashley Judd) who shacks up with a paranoid-delusional schizophrenic war veteran (Michael Shannon) in a small-town hotel room and slowly goes mad alongside him, Bug (amazingly) doesn’t entirely suck. This feat is even more impressive when you consider the absurd third act and over-the-top double psychotic breakdown that amounts to little more than an excuse for Friedkin to use pyrotechnics intended, one guesses, to distract from the lack of profundity behind all the metaphors he likes to suggest. Consider, though, how low Friedkin has fallen when ‘doesn’t entirely suckâ?� is a reason to celebrate. Then again, at least it’s not Jade or, gasp, Blue Chips.
This article appears in May 23-29, 2007.