The Mothman Prophecies
Starring Richard Gere, Laura Linney

Directed by Mark Pellington, PG-13

**1/4 out of 4 Stars

Released January 25, 2002

Running time: 113 minutes

**1/4

(CLICK ON THE MOTHS IN BUTTERFLY COSTUMES TO GET RID OF THEM)

by Kevin Lang

Several months ago I ran into an old screenwriter friend of mine. He told me that one of his scripts had made it into the quarterfinals of the Nichol Screenwriting contest, which is an annual contest put on by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. I congratulated him, and I asked him which script he had submitted. It was the first one that he wrote, an action-drama about the experiences of a group of soldiers in Vietnam. He went on to tell me that he spoke with the director of "The Patriot," Roland Emmerich, about his script. Mr. Emmerich told him that he liked the script very much, but that there was no demand for war pictures at that time. The movie studios were looking for supernatural thrillers.

As I sat in the theater waiting for "The Mothman Prophecies" to begin, I recalled in my mind the brief conversation that I had with my friend. I couldn't help but think of the last thing that he had told me. I began to wonder if the movie that I was about to see was made in an attempt to help fill the supernatural void that he had spoken of. Would it be a spine tingling thriller? Or would it just be another mediocre film hastily made in an attempt to meet the demand of a large niche of the movie going public? I have to admit that I was skeptical.

The movie was based on the Mothman sightings that supposedly took place during the nineteen sixties in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Since then, other sightings have been reported from all over the world. The movie's website, www.spe.sony.com/movies/mothman/, describes several of these accounts, and also offers theories that attempt to explain the Mothman, something that the movie failed to do. Supposedly, it looks like a man, but with wings. From the movie we learn that it can predict when and where large losses of human life will occur. What we don't know is if the Mothman is somehow responsible. This is just one aspect of the Mothman mystery that was left unexplained.

Sometimes movies work better when the filmmakers allow the story to go to their heads, letting their imagination take a good concept to another level. On a side note, this sometimes spells disaster for films where the original story could have been good enough on its own. In the case of "The Mothman Prophecies," the truth behind the actual events is not certain, and little is actually known about the Mothman. The film didn't attempt to offer much of an explanation either. We are left to ponder the mysterious creature on our own, even though we are not given much to ponder.

The climax offered a good bit of suspense, and there were several eerie moments during the film. However, none of them were as chilling as I'd wished they'd been. We never really knew if the Mothman is bringing harm to anyone, or just warning the people that it reveals itself to of upcoming danger. Therefore, the element of fear that arose in me during the film was more of a moderate fear of the unknown, rather than a hair-raising fear of something truly evil.

In reviewing this film, I feel obligated to mention that it starred Richard Gere. Gere's performance was barely noticeable, and his attempts at bringing forth honest emotion seemed contrived and unbelievable. Richard Gere is an actor who can play a limited range of characters well, but when he goes beyond that range, the characters that he plays all seem similarly flat, and ultimately fail to have a significant impact on the audience. (I know that many middle-aged women reading this review will disagree, given just how hard it is for them to look beyond their one track minds.)

Laura Linney played the part of the local police sergeant, Connie Parker. She filled the role well, but we never really get to know Connie as a rounded character. The Mothman seemed to get in the way of any attempt that could have been made to develop her more deeply. To see Laura Linney at her best, rent 2000's "You Can Count On Me," or even 1998's "The Truman Show."

Another mistake that the film made was in not introducing us to the characters in the town of Point Pleasant before they encountered the Mothman. As a result, many of the characters act strange, and it was hard to imagine how they were before their experiences with the Mothman. Therefore, it was harder to see how much they'd changed since the Mothman's arrival. This limited the strength of the bond that we as an audience could develop with the people of the town.

I left the theater realizing that much of my earlier skepticism had been proven true. I once again recalled the encounter with my friend. I found myself wishing that movies would be made solely on the strength of the underlying story, not because of a big name star or a particular trend in Hollywood. I wished the best for my friend, hoping to one day see his story on the big screen, even if it meant waiting for that genre to come back around, but who knows, maybe he'll start a new trend.