The Red Dwarf

Fans of arty European cin-e-mah who've been in withdrawal since the death of Fellini may rejoice at this black-and-white story of a dwarf attorney, the voluptu. . . er, fat countess he's infatuated with, and the young circus trapeze artist who adores him. Most people will just shrug. Beautifully photographed by Danny Elsen, the movie nevertheless fails to hold our interest simply because virtually every action taken by the lead character seems unmotivated. Even when he becomes a murderer, it's hard to care one way or the other. The amusing French character actor Arno Chevrier (Agnes Browne) livens things up a little as Bob, a wealthy boor who always refers to himself in the third person and runs away with the circus after being framed for murder, but that's not enough to make the movie compelling. Writer-director Yvan le Moine needs to learn that there's a difference between deliberate incoherence and dreamlike surrealism. Mike Myers' freaky "Dieter" character on SNL would probably embrace The Red Dwarf as genius, but it's unlikely that anyone else will.