Opens August 11, 2000

Hollywood has always had a love affair with the Devil. And why not? He's a pretty cool guy, 100% evil with no regrets to show for it. Isn't that how everyone in L.A. wishes they could act? However, after seeing Bless the Child, Hollywood acolytes and average filmgoers may change their minds about evil since the filmmakers have managed to make Satan boring, even laughable.

Things get off on the wrong foot with the first scene of the film when psychiatric nurse Maggie O'Connor (Kim Basinger) gets a visit from her strung-out sister Jenna (Angela Bettis), whose baby Cody is only nine days old. After berating her sis about giving birth while on heroin, Maggie stoically says that she'll help her raise the child, "but you gotta get off the drugs." Suddenly, a would-be horror film has morphed into an anti-drug commercial. Clearly, Jenna can see this as well because she hightails it out of there, leaving the baby behind. Good soul that she is, Maggie raises Cody (as a child, Holliston Coleman) on her own. Is it any surprise that Cody turns out to be "special"?

Here, "special" means potentially autistic, although Cody does talk and function well enough. Still, Maggie puts her in a special school, which just happens to be Catholic. Conveniently, Mags was raised Catholic (that means she'll believe in evil when she sees it) and she's okay with a religious school, "just so it's not too religious." Now, when were the Catholics not religious? Then, one day, out of the blue, Jenna shows up with her new husband Eric Stark (Rufus Sewell), a former child star-turned-savior of runaway kids. Eric saved Jenna and now wants to adopt Cody. Needless to say, Maggie is just a tad put off, so Eric (aka Satan's minion) solves the problem by kidnapping the little girl.

Maggie, of course, does what any upstanding heroine would do. She goes to the police. They shrug her off, but FBI agent John Travis (Jimmy Smits, in a real stretch of a role) is interested, especially because Cody has the same birthday as five other victims of recent ritual child murders. Oh, and did I mention that Travis is an ex-seminary student, who happens to be an expert on Satanic lore? Just another convenient little plot point brought to you by shamelessly in-your face writers Tom Rickman, Clifford Green and Ellen Green.

So, given the above facts, let's test your filmgoer I.Q. Do you think that (A) Eric Stark wants Cody for some Satanic ritual -- (B) Maggie and Travis have to race against time to save Cody and the world -- (C) Cody's Godliness will win out in the end -- or -- (D) all of the above. The answer, of course, is (D): Subtlety isn't high on the list of storytelling issues here. Indeed, if the stagnant opening anti-drug scene weren't enough to convince you that you are in for a very long ride, then the moment that Basinger first starts to see little flying demons (courtesy of Cheesy Effects 'R Us) clinches it.

And, just how does Basinger fare here? Well luminous face aside, her performance may convince the Academy that the Oscar was a mistake. Her wooden line readings grow more and more painful by the minute, aided admittedly by the embarrassingly stupid dialogue she is often forced to spout. As for Rufus Sewell, he and young actress Hollister Coleman come out relatively unscathed, and certainly pulling more than their share of the load. (Poor Christina Ricci, who gets billing, is wasted, hardly in the film for fifteen minutes.)

Given the religious silliness that ensues herein, one has to wonder if the writers ever went to church. Sure, they quote from the Bible and offer up suitable if predictable Satanic imagery, but there's no underlying understanding of the religious motifs. In this day and age, there's something almost anachronistic about a traditional religious thriller and the trite writing that characterizes this film only serves to drag down any potential complexity. The most profound line in the movie spoken by Reverend Grisson (Ian Holm) is "The Devil's greatest achievement is convincing people that he doesn't exist." Geez, where have we heard that before?

In any case, the Devil -- at least the fellow with curly horns and a pointed tail -- simply doesn't hold the same horror he once did. The fear needs to be more insidious and intellectual, less about leathery creatures who will steal your soul. Go to church and pray all you will. No amount of Hail Marys could save Bless the Child from itself.