Under the Influence

Under the Influence was not a good movie. But something about it keeps it compelling enough to avoid turning off. I would imagine that this is even more true if you were to see it on a lazy Saturday afternoon on cable -- the occasional interruptions for commercials would break up its plodding monotony, making every 15-20 minute block of film interesting enough. However, in one 90-minute chunk, it's a little on the bland side. The film tells the tale of an insurance scam gone wrong -- someone dies, the cops get called, the lawyer filing all the fraudulent claims starts to crack under the pressure. Into this tale, you throw a bombshell-y foreign actress and some slimy thugs. The movie plods along slowly, and the actors all give wooden performances with very little emotional interest. What's worse, is the sound is kind of bad -- almost every time someone speaks, you hear a buzz in the background. 5.0, compared to IMDb's 7.1.