BUG *½

In a film directed by William Friedkin and starring Ashley Judd (Agnes White), Michael Shannon (Peter Evans), Lynn Collins (R. C.), Brian F. O’Byrne (Dr. Sweet) and Harry Connick Jr. (Jerry Goss) you have a director and cast with enough experience to make one hopeful of a good film. Alas, in BUG, those hopes have been squashed.

Judd portrays a barmaid who leads a lonely existence in a cheap motel room. She's divorced but her abusive ex-husband Jerry, still considers her to be his. To get a little companionship, she occasionally gets together with R.C. in a relationship that seems more than friendship although neither appear to be gay. Along comes Peter who is nice, non-threatening and who thinks she's pretty. The develop a relationship rather quickly, and then the bugs start to appear.

I'm stopping the plot outline at that point because I'm not sure what happens, which is the primary problem with this pic. There are several possible interpretations of what happens but the plotline is not going to explain which one is true. If you stay through the ending credits you'll see a couple of still pictures that cast doubt on what you've seen before but don't really add anything to the story. I will say that Judd does a terrific job as an actress and the supporting cast is also fine but the overall film simply isn't satisfying enough to recommend. I will also tell you if dental visits bother you, avoid this film at all costs!