Nothing less than depression set in when Ashley Judd went from being an extraordinary indie actress to a dull studio-hack heroine, so it s gratifying to once again see her tackling offbeat roles. And in , she has one of her most memorable parts yet; she plays Agnes, a lonely waitress who s introduced to Peter Evans (Michael Shannon), a quiet man who right off the bat assures her that he s not an axe murderer. Clearly, though, there s something off about this brooding guy, but Agnes enjoys his company so much (or at least having company, period) that she invites him to stay with her.
This irks her thuggish ex-con ex-husband (Harry Connick Jr., about as menacing as a French poodle), yet even his threats seem irrelevant once Peter begins to complain about the insect infestation in her apartment. Yet do the bugs really exist, or are they only in Peter s (and maybe Agnes ) imagination?
Working from Tracy Letts screenplay (itself based on the latter s Off-Broadway play), director William Friedkin ( ) maximizes the claustrophobic feel of the intimate surroundings while drawing suitably anguished performances from Judd and Shannon. Lett s story is rather limited in its examination of how a lonely person s neediness will often overcome all other emotions, and its employment of government paranoia feels decidedly old-hat. Indeed, it might have taken David Cronenberg, that insect fetishist ( ), to truly turn this into a freak-out session.
As it stands, deserves some measure of buzz, even if it never truly gets under the skin. Nothing less than depression set in when Ashley Judd went from being an extraordinary indie actress to a dull studio-hack heroine, so it s gratifying to once again see her tackling offbeat roles.
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