Downward ‘Spiral’

“Spiral” is a middling, if stylish, psychological thriller making a perfunctory big-screen pit stop before its DVD release next week. Unfortunately, this derivative creepshow about Mason (Joel David Moore), an aspiring artist who may or may not be harming the young women he sketches, would have made far more dramatic sense if it followed its 11th-hour, would-be twist instead of defaulting to a more straightforward conclusion that only underscores the script’s many inconsistencies.

Moore, who co-directed with Adam Green and co-wrote with Jeremy Danial Boreing, works hard portraying the socially stunted Mason, though it’s tough to muster any real sympathy for this charmless nerd. Even with a loaded back story, the character never feels truly dimensional, and Moore is ultimately unable to rise above Mason’s standard-issue array of strange behaviors.

As Amber, a lonely chatterbox who sidles up to Mason at their mutual telemarketing job, Amber Tamblyn possesses warmth and energy but also can’t get past her role’s inherent question marks. Amber’s eagerness to pose for the skittish, tight-lipped Mason -- someone even the neediest person could see is severely troubled -- is unconvincing, as is the inevitable romance that develops between them.

Even less believable is the longtime bond between Mason and his boss, Berkeley (Zachary Levi), a cavalier ladies’ man who, in reality, wouldn’t spend two seconds palling around with such an anxious clod. When Berkeley observes that his little buddy has “come a long way since the old days,” it’s hard to imagine Mason could have been any more messed up -- and, again, why a sharpie like Berkeley would have ever befriended him. Note to the writers: Just because a movie is a mystery doesn’t mean everything in it has to be.

-- Gary Goldstein

“Spiral.” MPAA rating: PG-13 for disturbing behavior, violence, some partial nudity and language. Running time: 1 hour, 31 minutes. Exclusively at Laemmle’s Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 848-3500.

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‘Summer’ can be a disjointed time

Outside of the musical, there is no Hollywood genre more codified than the western, and none so ripe for deconstruction. With “Summer Love,” the Polish conceptual artist Piotr Uklanski boils the oater down to its essence and reassembles the parts like a child pulling Legos from a bin.

The movie follows a (very) loose narrative, outlined too schematically for its characters to require proper names. The Stranger (Karel Roden) arrives in a small town dragging the corpse of a wanted man. But before he can even collect his bounty, he gambles it away in an obscure contest that involves punching the town’s sheriff (Boguslaw Linda) in the face. That act, of course, leads to an argument, played out with six guns across an abstract terrain that might be the American West or the dark side of the moon (or, say, a Polish beach).

Uklanski distances himself from the material at every turn, until it’s difficult to distinguish the ironist’s wit from the cynic’s smirk. The movie takes its title from a gloppy John Davidson ballad, and its climactic gunfight is scored to the stentorian kitsch of “Bonanza” star Lorne Greene’s “I’m a Gun.” As the gunfighters trade shots, their bullets puncture sacks of pigment, sending spouts of primary colors flying through the air.

The corpse, incidentally, is played by Val Kilmer, who lies in fly-specked stillness as the townspeople fight over his body. Uklanksi has a bit of a thing for flies, particularly their bulging eyes, which he conspires to evoke with circular blinders and other ocular adornments. Like an insect laying eggs in rotting meat, he makes life from a dead genre by destroying his source.

-- Sam Adams

“Summer Love.” MPAA rating: Unrated. Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes. Exclusively at Laemmle’s Grande 4-Plex, 345 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, (213) 617-0268.

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‘Ugly Me’ is pretty appealing

A terrible English title hides a modest Chilean charmer in “Ugly Me,” a battle-of-the-sexes comedy (called “Pretendiendo” in Spanish) that flies the flag of genre master Billy Wilder in its use of a self-created double life to allow for farce and feeling in equal measure.

Uruguayan-born beauty Barbara Mori stars as Amanda, a disillusioned Santiago architect fed up with men -- cheaters, oglers all! -- who moves to a sleepy coastal town to reinvent herself as homely and off-limits to all comers. That means a fat suit, fake teeth, splotchy makeup, a wedding ring and a car strategically filled with child seats. But when confronted at her new job with Lothario Marcelo (Marcelo Mazzarello), Amanda opts to add one more persona to her new life: a siren named Helena with vengeful designs on Marcelo.

Of course, as the deception thickens -- and Marcelo and “ugly” Amanda become confidantes over his infatuation with “Helena” -- his hidden vulnerabilities begin melting her hidden bitterness, and the romantic comedy gods smile. But director/co-writer Claudio Dabed not only grasps the juiciness of Mori’s and Mazzarello’s parts (which each nicely underplays), he also shows a deft hand dramatizing the ascendant flame of unexpected love. Despite some tonal glitches, including a regrettable score, there’s an appealing shagginess to “Ugly Me” in how it never forces its preposterous set-up.

Ultimately, Dabed cares less about string-pulling mechanics than inching his wounded impostors toward intimate epiphanies.

-- Robert Abele

“Ugly Me.” MPAA rating: R for sexual content. Running time: 1 hour, 49 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles. At the Regent Showcase, 614 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 934-1770, and Laemmle’s One Colorado, 42 Miller Alley, Pasadena, (626) 744-1224.