'The Skeptic' review

Tim Daly
(Credit: Chris Shields/IFC)

Skeptical lawyer Bryan Becket (Tim Daly) lives his life with cool detachment. Nothing fazes him—whether it's his wife (Andrea Roth) asking for time apart to see if he cares about their relationship, or the mysterious death of his elderly aunt. An avid non-believer in religion, conspiracies and the supernatural, Bryan's convictions are put to the test when he moves into his aunt's home and discovers she believed it was haunted. Pretty soon he's meeting with a professor of paranormal studies (Bruce Altman) and a beautiful young psychic (a vibrant Zoe Saldana) to understand the strange things he starts experiencing.

The buzz: Not much, given the uninspiring track records of likeable leading man Tim Daly—who has awful luck on the big screen, starring in forgettable flops like "Year of the Comet" and "Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde"—and director Tennyson Bardwell, whose only previous film was the little seen coming of age/coming out indie "Dorian Blues."

The verdict: What initially seems like it might be a low-key burst of freshness in an stale and frequently overwrought genre eventually disappoints by refusing to go...anywhere. The tension never mounts and the scares never materialize as Bardwell works toward a "big reveal" that will leave most viewers shrugging with indifference. "The Skeptic" plays like a so-so "Twilight Zone" episode stretched to eightysomething minutes—there's simply not enough here to sustain a feature film. It would be easy enough to forgive Bardwell's lack of Hollywood flair, but his movie is too tepid to ever get your heart racing and too simple to engage the mind.

Did you know? This was the final film for character actor Robert Prosky, who had roles in classics like "Broadcast News" and "Dead Man Walking," but may be best known by some as the horror TV show host in "Gremlins 2: The New Batch."