Under The Skin

A film where Scarlett Johansson plays an alien who picks up hitchhiker's and then harvests their skins? Hmmm..sounds kinda intriguing. What's that? You get to see Scarjo in the nuddy? Sold! Cynicism aside re that second point, this is a tough watch for anyone unless, like Monty Python once said, you're the type of person "...who talks loudly in restaurants". From it's bizarre 2001-style opening, Jonathan Glazer's latest film moves along in slow motion and just never gets going. Glazer's background is mainly in music videos and commercials and he struggles with this longer format of entertainment. Much has been made of the guerrilla style of filming Glazer used in making this (Johansson basically interacting with unsuspecting members of the public via hidden cameras), but that can't compensate for a lack of substance. What saves it from being a total disaster though is Johansson's superb performance and the actual portrayal of the difficulty of an alien trying to fit in to contemporary society is nicely realised. Plus, the way the unsuspecting humans are killed is different than the usual "killed by zappers" and somewhat queasy to watch (think implosion and innards). You'll also elicit a wry smile as well when you think of foreign audiences trying to decipher some of the molten thick Glaswegian accents. Things aren't helped along the way though by the obtrusive score that is so over the top it elicited a few unintentional laughs in the screening I was in. Glazer's approach has obviously been less is more, which works up to a point, though the script is far too clunky, shown up by a key moment in the film where the alien appears to want to understand humanity, but the first person she stumbles across happens to be an opportunist rapist! So, will this be remembered as an intriguing study of an outsiders perspective on the human condition? Or will it be known as that dull arse film where Scarlett Johanssen drives around Scotland in a van and not much happens? I suspect it will be the latter. Rating: 6/10.