1996's Bottle Rocket introduced the world to director Wes Anderson and co-writer / co-star Owen Wilson who, with 1998's Rushmore and the upcoming The Royal Tenenbaums, have proved to be one of the most talented combos anywhere in film today. One other part of the Bottle Rocket equation was Luke Wilson, Owen's brother, who played Anthony and has had roles in their follow-ups as well. Luke's acting style seems to be to slowly croak out his lines like he doesn't quite believe what he was saying and smirk occasionally. It works. He's parlayed this talent into a few other memorable performances (an excellent X-Files guest spot springs to mind) and has played variations on Bottle Rocket's Anthony in films like Never Been Kissed and Legally Blonde (His Legally Blonde line "It smells... good" was practically a remake of "It was really... cool" from Rushmore). Other than that, it has seemed that his buddy Wes' movies have been the best place to see Luke.

Yet there he stands, in Jon Bokenkamp's Bad Seed, dripping wet from the rain, blood on his hands, with nowhere else to run. I would never have pegged Luke Wilson as the star of a dark, neo-Noir about murder, betrayal, and secrets. And there's good reason for that. He is about as wrong for the role as can be. Bokenkamp may have thought he was tapping indie-cool by casting Wilson but it just doesn't work.

The film itself is sort of a reverse Memento: A guy finds his wife dead and vows to get revenge on the killer, only this time it's the audience that forgets what's happening every five minutes. The twists and turns are ludicrous and the story is nowhere near as intricate as Bokenkamp thinks. Some of it is downright implausible. I know I've wondered aloud in these pages before how come new films keep getting made that cover the exact same material. It's really puzzling. Did Bokenkamp think he was bringing something new to the genre? His biggest innovation is cloaking every action in such muddled direction that it is tough to understand what anyone's motivation is.

Dennis Farina does pro work as a private eye named Dick and Mili Avital appears for about one minute (enough to get her on the box cover, apparently). Norman Reedus plays Wilson's inexplicably omniscient nemesis but seems about ten years too young.

As always, the film is recommended for die-hards of the twisty revenge drama, and big time Luke Wilson fans may be curious, but for everyone else, stick with Luke's comedy bread and butter. His stretching out days are still a ways away.

One more note: The title Bad Seed makes no sense. No one in the film is a "bad seed" as far as I can tell. The previous film called The Bad Seed (from 1956) was about a child born bad, which makes sense. The original title of this film was Preston Tylk, Wilson's character's name. While that was correctly deemed unworkable as a film title, Bad Seed is misleading and incorrect.

VIDEO:
The anamorphic widescreen video looks fine. Dirt is minimal, colors are muted intentionally, and the look reflects the director's Fincher-influenced vision.

AUDIO:
Dolby Digital 5.1. and Surround 2.0 tracks are available. The 5.1 track is the more dynamic although both reveal the limitations of some of the locations. They are well produced, however, as is the moody score by Kurt Kuenne.

EXTRAS:
Two commentary tracks are available. The first features Wilson and Bokenkamp, or "Bootcamp" as Wilson calls him. Bokencamp is obviously in love with his film and brags about working for three years on the script (incredible, given how simple and derivative it is) but the joy here is in Wilson's occasional interjections, like his speculating on the high-tech nature of law enforcement: "I don't understand why people even commit crimes anymore. With DNA and if you leave a fiber..." He's funny even when he's not trying to be and his participation makes the track a must hear.

The second track contains Bokenkamp along with producer Roni Egui and composer Karl Kuenne. Bokenkamp loves talking about the trials and tribulations of low budget filmmaking, which is an old story at this point, but the other participants have some good insight into the process.

A trailer, photo gallery, bios, and some interviews are also included.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Bad Seed is yet another Red Rock West-style Noir revival attempt. While there are entertaining moments (many unintentional) it does nothing new for the genre. The only unusual aspect is the presence of an actor who's usual work is on the other end of the film spectrum.