The tried and true film noir formula follows a man seduced
by a femme fatale into murdering her significant other, then digging himself
into a deeper hole as he tries to stay one step ahead of the authorities. Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice are two
of the best examples. Better Living
Through Chemistry takes a comedic approach to the basic noir story.
Doug Varney (Sam Rockwell) is a pharmacist and a family man
living in the small, picturesque New England town of Woodbury. Too bad his life
isn't as equally picturesque. Doug is married to the emasculating Kara
(Michelle Monaghan), who constantly undercuts his abilities as a father and a
husband. Their son Ethan (Harrison Holzer) is obviously troubled as he paints
his bedroom windows black and smears feces everywhere at school. Kara denies anything
is wrong and shows more concern for spin classes and bike marathons. Doug's
father-in-law, Walter Bishop (Ken Howard), doesn't have much confidence in him
either. Despite selling the town's pharmacy to Doug, he refuses to change the
name from Bishop's to Varney's.
It's easy to see why Doug would fall fast for the glamorous
Elizabeth (Olivia Wilde), the trophy wife to an absentee husband (Ray Liotta).
Elizabeth shares with Doug her passions for sex and popping prescription pills.
Their torrid love affair ignites something within Doug as he begins concocting
his own medications by mixing everything from Prozac to valium. He even manages
to become more assertive and reestablish his relationship with Ethan. However,
things start to unravel when Elizabeth suggests they murder her spouse by
tampering with his heart pills and using the insurance money to run away
together. There's also a DEA agent (Norbert Leo Butz) snooping around the drug
store.
In spite of a stellar cast, Better Living was released direct to video with very little
fanfare. The humor falls flat on its face due to terrible jokes revolving
around STDs and poop. For an inexplicable reason, Jane Fonda provides voiceover
narration, the kind that unnecessarily spells out every little detail for you. Fonda
later makes a cameo as a customer shopping for douche. How classy.
For what it's worth, Rockwell is one of my favorite actors
working right now. He truly excels at playing smarmy and conniving characters
as evidenced in Iron Man 2 and Seven Psychopaths. Here, Rockwell gets
to go over-the-top as Doug spirals out of control as well as play it
understated as the henpecked Doug. He's the movie's saving grace.
Better Living Through Chemistry was written and
directed by newcomers David Posamentier and Geoff Moore, who have been tapped
to pen Paramount's remake of Explorers. You wish the pair had
delved deeper into the premise beyond one-note characters and tired gags.
Better Living is full of wasted potential.
Rating: * ½ (*****)
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