# Nightwatch (1998)

### reviewed by
James Sanford

Conventional wisdom says any film that spends an inordinantly long amount of time on the shelf between its production and its release must be a piece of junk.

To get an idea of how long ``Nightwatch'' has been on hold, please note the trailer for it was attached first to ``Scream'' in December 1996 and then to ``Scream 2'' last Christmas.

Astonishingly, the movie turns out to be a stylish little horror show that's certainly better than most of its kind.

The film is a remake by Danish director Ole Bornedal of his own ``Nattevagten,'' a sizable hit abroad that has rarely been seen in America. A very boyish-looking Ewan McGregor plays Martin, a law student who takes a job as a night watchman in a decrepit Los Angeles morgue.

Business there is brisk, since a serial killer is butchering prostitutes and taking their eyes as trophies. Inspector Cray (Nick Nol-te) is not-so-hot on the case.

As the bodies pile up, Martin eventually becomes a suspect in the slayings, but more likely culprits include a pill-popping doctor (Brad Dourif), the unbalanced former security guard (Lonny Chapman) and even Martin's misogynistic best friend James (Josh Brolin), a twisted character who delights in manipulating and degrading the opposite sex.

Frankly, women don't fare too well in ``Nightwatch,'' and Bornedal's tendency to linger on images of abuse taints the picture as a whole. A restaurant scene featuring Martin and a down-and-out prostitute engaging in behavior that might make even George Michael blush is intended to be humorous, but comes off as crass exploitation.

The palpable erotic vibe between Martin and James, on the other hand, seems like something Bornedal and co-writer Steven Soderbergh may not have intended: The looks James and Martin exchange are ripe with suggestiveness, and when James pressures Martin into fooling around with a hooker James has already slept with, it feels like a sex-by-proxy situation.

What a decent-enough guy like Martin is doing hanging around with such a cretin is the movie's real mystery, much more difficult to figure out than the identity of the murderer.

Bornedal seems to have been more intrigued by Martin's adjustment to life in the morgue, and the director makes excellent use of the Cinemascope frame and some disturbing sound effects (such as the amplified flapping of moths' wings) to show how our hero is overwhelmed by his cold, spacious workplace.

In addition to creating an often unnerving atmosphere - even in its climax, which turns out to be exciting and absurd at the same time - ``Nightwatch'' is also notable as another one of the charismatic McGregor's quirky performances.

Though he struggles at times to suppress his Scottish accent, McGregor delights in capturing Martin's odd little details, such as the way his nose sweats when he's tense.

Brolin is memorably loathsome but Nolte and Patricia Arquette, as Martin's lover, are greatly underused and photographed so unmercifully they look ready for the morgue themselves.

    James Sanford

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