Bug

The first thing you should know about Bug is that it is not a monster movie. The trailer is very misleading so take it with a huge dose of salt. The movie originated as a play from 1996 written by Tracy Letts, who also did the screenplay for the movie. The movie is closer in type to a character study crossed with a thriller. The film was directed by William Friedkin who also directed The Exorcist and Sorcerer (I have always loved the movie poster of this movie).

This is movie making on a small scale, 90% of the movie is set inside Agnes White's (played by Ashley Judd) motel room with her new strange friend Peter Evans (played by Michael Shannon who played the same part in the original play). Harry Connick Jr. plays the boyfriend though he does not have a huge amount of screen time.

If you wanted to see Ashley Judd without makeup then this is movie for you. The casting is point on and so is the acting. I read that Friedkin had to fight to include Shannon in the film. It is to his credit that he did so. Michael Shannon is pretty creepy in this movie; he reminded me of a human Frankenstein. Agnes is down on her luck and living in a dingy motel room. She then is introduced to Peter through one of her friends, and it goes quickly downward from there.

The movie feels about 20 minutes too long but at least it is a movie that goes for the jugular and doesn't wimp out like many Hollywood movies do. This is as long as you will forget the trailer, and if you can't shake the trailer out of your mind then you will come out of the movie mad for the movie being sold as something it is not. The movie includes a couple of quick side shots of blood and bugs that don't add anything to the movies as whole, but thankfully there are not many of these interruptions. If you are in the mood for a quirky movie, it reminded me of David Cronenberg's Spider from 2002, then think about giving it a shot. Just remember this is not an action film or monster movie, if you go expecting this then you will be disappointed.

You can write James Harper at movielover77061@yahoo.com