Playing God
After his bloody showdown with Brad Pitt's psychopathic redneck inKalifornia, David Duchovny used an off-season hiatus fromThe X-Filesto star in this 1997 thriller, in which he plays a doctor whose fall from professional grace leads to a dangerous career in the criminal underworld. Having lost his license after drug abuse caused him to lose a patient during surgery, he's recruited into his illegal career by a slimy but charismatic millionaire (Timothy Hutton) whose associates have a way of getting shot all the time. Before long, Duchovny comes to realize the extent of Hutton's evil, and he finds himself caught in a criminal trap that also involves an alluring femme fatale (Angelina Jolie) and a Faustian bargain that could cost him his life. The plot's rather absurd and fairly predictable, but fine performances by Duchovny and especially Hutton (who makes a memorable screen villain) make this stylish thriller intriguingly worthwhile. The DVD includes the original theatrical trailer.--Jeff Shannon