SPLICE (2009) ¢ ¢ ¢
D: Vincenzo Natali
Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley,
Delphine Chanéac, Simona Maicanescu
Brody and Polley play scientists whose genetic research results in a mutant life form, a strange, temperamental girl-creature called "Dren". Brody, sensing danger, wants to cancel the experiment, and Dren with it. But Polley grows attached and protective, so Dren gets a reprieve. When Brody discovers the reason for Polley's care and concern, he's drawn closer to Dren himself. And Dren keeps evolving. It's like "Frankenstein" for the 21st century, with DNA patches replacing recycled body parts, a crazy bit of sci-fi with a new implausibility turning up about every other minute. Which doesn't mean the questions it raises - a lot of them as old as "Frankenstein" - aren't worth thinking about. Delphine Chanéac makes the grown-up Dren both vulnerable and frightening. The scene where she and Brody dance in the barn unmistakably echoes Kelly McGillis and Harrison Ford in "Witness". And the costume designer who came up with Brody's T-shirts and lab coats must've had a real good time.
