DARK CRIMES

Signature Ent, cert 18 DVD £7.99 It’s no more Mr Funny Guy, as Jim Carrey suppresses his usual face-contorting schtick to star in a straight role. Sadly he isn’t as successful as the late Robin Williams was at escaping his usual image in the chilling One Hour Photo, because the star of Ace Ventura and The Mask, tones his performance down so much he’s in danger of frowning his way into his own stubble playing troubled Polish cop Tadek who botched an investigation and ended up shuffling paper in the records room. Then he stumbles onto a twisted murder case that could bring him redemption. The victim was one of the girls working at a sleazy sex club. She was tied up, raped, and her body dumped in a river. Tadek has a suspect in would-be highbrow author Kozlov (Marton Csokas) whose latest sex and gore novel seems to be a blueprint for the murder. Also in the frame is the writer’s ex-partner (Charlotte Gainsbourg - pictured with Carrey) who is a masochist. Trawling for evidence to snare Kozlov, the worldweary cop glowers over an audio tape of the book, which fails to add the dramatic depth the Danish director hoped it would. All in all a very murky thriller in every sense that lacks the gripping edge of the Scandi TV hits it seeks to emulate on the big screen. Name another ‘straight’ Carrey film. Entries to Alex Gordon, Crimes competition by July 19.