DATE: Saturday, October 18, 1997            TAG: 9710200207

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E5   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Movie Review 

                                            LENGTH:   56 lines

RUN-OF-THE-MILL ENDING MARS WOULD-BE HIP FILM

Every gangsta oughta have a doctor.

And apparently every TV star oughta have a big-screen break.

Put the two theories together and you have ``Playing God,'' a kind of film noir set in broad daylight, starring ``The X-File's'' David Duchovny.

Duchovny, with a sardonic, brooding demeanor and a world-weary speaking voice, comes off well enough in his starring debut. In fact, he is often better than his material; although it starts off with some hip touches, it ends up with just another chase.

He plays Dr. Eugene Sands, who has been barred from medicine after he caused the death of a patient because he was high on amphetamines during an operation. This is the good guy? Going into what looks like a permanent sulk, he's wandering the L.A. bar scene when he witnesses a gangland shootout. Hopping into action, he saves the life of a lowlife in a makeshift operation atop the bar.

This attracts the attention of gangster Raymond Blossom, whose henchmen are shot up so often that he needs a permanent doctor. Hospitals ask too many questions.

We've heard of Baby Face Nelson, but still, All-American Timothy Hutton is woefully miscast in the role of Blossom. This doesn't stop him from going over the top in hysterical tirades. He seems amazingly well-heeled for a mere smuggler who began with Michael Jackson discs and is now planning to send ``merchandise'' to the Chinese. In a subplot, Russian bad guys fire quite a lot of ammunition.

The resident gun moll is Claire, played by Jon Voight's daughter, Angelina Jolie. She has thick lips and a perpetual pout but she hardly seems worth all the fighting she sparks in the male leads. As film noir heroines go, she couldn't hold a high heel or ankle bracelet to Barbara Stanwyck or Lana Turner.

This is the directorial debut of Andy Wilson and he's overly insistent that we notice him, with shaky camera tricks and scene wipes that are borrowed from the original 1940s style. It's more distracting than involving.

Duchovny's doc can make a diagnosis faster than the speed of light, but his bloody surgical cuts might better have been suggested than shown. Amateur bar onlookers seem to know how to sterilize knives immediately.

What plays quite well in the first hour falls apart in the last 30 minutes to the level of a TV movie. Still, there's some hip dialogue. It's quite an adequate star-debut for Duchovny. If nothing else, it's something for ``The X-Files'' fans to do while waiting for the show's Nov. 2 season premiere. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

MOVIE REVIEW ``Playing God''

Cast: David Duchovny, Timothy Hutton, Angelina Jolie, Michael

Massee

Director: Andy Wilson

MPAA rating: R (surgical blood, violence, drugs, language)

Mal's rating: two stars

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