Long ago in a previous life working at a government TV production facility, one of my tasks was creating custom length fiber optic cables. While the process has probably changed in the intervening years, it basically involved cutting off the end of the cable, exposing the interior, and then cutting the resultant and nearly microscopic glass line so that it could be polished.
That was done with a razor blade equipped device that, if handled correctly, would result in the cut glass safely landing in a piece of tape. If not, the glass could pop off and fly anywhere, a point we were warned about since you couldn't see the glass that could then pierce your skin and result in a trip to the emergency room for extraction.
Accordingly, we were very careful in the procedure, but I remember one time a piece flying off and my coworker then becoming paranoid -- and consequently quite itchy -- that the glass had landed on his skin somewhere. As far as we know, it missed him, but that didn't matter, as it was just the thought that made him feel any and every little sensation on his skin.
The fear, of course, was being penetrated by that, which is why most people freak out regarding the thought of bugs or other parasites purposefully doing the same to them (with the old joke being that the worst case scenario would be such an intruder being a pregnant female).
Not surprisingly, bugs are a big deal for those suffering from any number of delusional states (and I'm not referring to vacuous starlets thinking they have talent). Such is the case with Peter Evans, a paranoid soldier who's gone AWOL after believing the military infected him with bugs, and not just the parasitic variety, but also the kind that broadcast signals out to who knows who.
His beliefs and physical reactions to the infestation -- including what appear to be vicious looking bite marks -- eventually convince a lonely waitress that he's telling the truth and that she too, is now similarly afflicted. From that point on, their delusions and paranoia threaten to overwhelm and consume their very beings.
Such is the setup in the appropriately titled "Bug," an initially compelling but ultimately and progressively preposterous and then silly examination of mass paranoia. Orson Welles proved long ago that it's fairly easy to induce hysteria, which was not the intention, but certainly the result of his radio play adaptation of H.G. Wells "War of the Worlds."
Many decades later, playwright Tracy Letts looked to examine that phenomenon, albeit on a smaller and more intimate scale with his off Broadway play, "Bug." Critically acclaimed, it now makes it to the big screen, courtesy of William Friedkin who works from Letts' adaptation of his earlier effort.
Verbose like a play and pretty much confined to one set, the film can't shake its theatrical aura, but that actually works to its advantage, at least early on. That's when we're introduced to the main characters -- played by Michael Shannon and Ashley Judd -- as well as some supporting ones, Lynn Collins as a lesbian fellow waitress, and Harry Connick, Jr. as a recently paroled con with a penchant for dominating and abusing his ex-wife.
Aside from the dialogue that sometimes comes off as too stagy and thus artificial, all are believable in their roles, resulting in good to strong performances. And for a while, we wonder what's really occurring with the titular subjects, as the previews make the pic look like a horror film, a point exacerbated by the fact that Friedkin once directed the greatest one of all time, a cheery little flick called "The Exorcist."
The horror here, however, (and beyond wondering what happened to Friedkin's career after that film and "The French Connection") is in watching the movie unravel, slowly but surely. With things progressively becoming harder to believe, it starts to get ever more silly (including when Judd is made to shout, "I am the super bug mother!"), although not quite to the point of being a guilty pleasure.
Its shot at turning things around is when a "doctor" character -- played by Brian F. O'Byrne -- shows up and may truly be a professional who's concerned about his delusional patient or could be a spooky government type trying to reign in an experiment gone awry.
Unfortunately, and beyond a disturbing bit of violence that signals where things are headed, this doesn't amount to much, especially when I was expecting something akin to a similar scene in "Total Recall" when the future governor of California is told by such a specialist that everything he's been experiencing is just in his head as he's really back at the company's lab experiencing a bad memory trip. Alas, nothing that clever arises from the situation, or the deluded protagonist's assertions that figures such as Jim Jones and Timothy McVeigh were really bugged by the government.
Appropriately trapped in its mostly one-set locale, the film has potential, but this cautionary tale about modern day paranoia and delusion (not to mention war-based post traumatic stress syndrome) ends up making viewers squirm, but not always for the "right" reasons. "Bug" rates as a 4.5 out of 10.
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