Patience frayed by "Bug"

The director of “the Exorcist“, William Friedkin, has returned to the horror genre - or at least that’s what your meant to believe in choosing this movie. Sadly, “Bug” is not a horror movie, more of a thriller with too much domestic drama. A good horror/thriller needs to build suspense from the very beginning and have main characters you care for. Friedkin succeeds at neither of these elements in “Bug”. Nothing happens in the first half of the film except watching people with lousy lives sitting around waiting for something to happen. The slow burn of “The Exorcist” does not work with this new film, as your patience will be frayed by the time the actual story begins.

Ashley Judd (“Double Jeopardy”) is Agnes White, a woman who has lived a hard life out of a run-down motel room. She is receiving prank calls, possibly from Jerry (Harry Connick Jr.; TV‘s “Will & Grace”), her abusive ex-husband who is now in jail. She works at a local bar and parties regularly with one of her co-workers. Her bar friend introduces her to Peter (Michael Shannon; “Lucky You”), an enigmatic wanderer. Agnes is so lonely she asks this stranger to stay the night with her, which leads them into a very odd relationship. Peter believes he is being followed by the government, who may have experimented on him. And then Peter begins seeing little bugs everywhere, bugs he thinks are the product of the government experiments. Agnes begins seeing these bugs too, as they take over the motel room and both their lives.

The story has a surprise which you’ll see a mile away, as both characters’ behaviors gives it away. The trick which is played on the audience - who is expecting a creepy, crawling horror film - is inexcusable. As experienced in another thriller, M. Night Shyamalan‘s “The Village”, a poorly placed plot twist, which betrays the basic premise of the story, can ruin an otherwise good yarn. Fortunately, there wasn’t a good story in “Bug” to ruin, just a sinking feeling as the story gets weirder, darker, and more foolish. Agnes is not a colorful character, more of a drab, listless person who has nothing going in her life. Peter - while more interesting than Agnes - is not the kind of character you can center a successful scary movie around. Initially the voice of reason, he quickly begins unraveling along with the rest of the plot.

While Judd and Shannon give their characters’ some conviction, creating all the suspense you’ll feel in “Bug”, their performances alone can not carry this empty promise of a film. Ironically, the indie crowd who may like this film would probably never rent it based upon its horror/thriller pedigree, while the scary movie enthusiasts who would be attracted to this movie will be deeply disappointed by this rental.