Cracker

The pleasure of seeing Robbie Coltrane as police psychologist Fitz probe a suspect's psyche is worth about three of the four points I gave his long-awaited return as "Cracker." But the heavy-handed production and mawkish direction drained all the sap out of what have should have been an exciting reunion. Since the thin plot clearly doesn't merit some two hours, the camera lingers on long, dull shots of angst-ridden characters mixed with time-killing news clips of the war in Iraq. Several contributors have pointed to the anti-American tone of the piece and true, the American characters (particularly one arrogant philandering victim) range from nasty to clueless. Fine, if the writer thinks we're all a bunch of clods, that's his privilege. But boring dialogue and an overdose of deus-ex-machina (the coincidental encounter of a criminal and a witness) is less excusable. I'd love to see Coltrane play Cracker again. But til someone comes up with a better script and a decent production, I'll settle for the Harry Potter series.