Scarlett Johansson, who gave the best performance of her career while appearing only as a voice in “Her,’’ is far less effective as an extraterrestrial who lures Scotsmen to their doom in the tedious and pretentious sci-fi thriller “Under the Skin.’’
Dialogue is very sparse in this arty snoozer, which may be for the best, since the de-glamorized Johansson’s English accent is shaky and most of the Scottish accents bordered on the incomprehensible to these ears.
Jonathan Glazer, who directed the wonderfully funny crime thriller “Sexy Beast’’ and the ridiculously morose Nicole Kidman vehicle “Birth,’’ is working very loosely from a well-known novel by Michel Faber.
In Faber’s novel, Johansson’s unnamed character is sent to Earth to harvest muscle tissue as a delicacy, but Glazer’s movie avoids the human-eating angle for something much, much vaguer.
Taking human form after arriving on Earth via a low-budget homage to “2001,’’ a naked Johansson — possibly digitally augmented by a body double — dons a dead woman’s black wig, stiletto heels, fishnet stockings and come-hither shorts to go trawling for men as a hitchhiker.
Those unlucky enough to pick her up — she’s assisted by a mysterious man on a motorcycle — generally end up sinking into a thick black liquid that sucks out their life essence, or something like that.
This rambling film, which feels much longer than its actual length, might have worked as a distaff version of Nicolas Roeg’s “The Man Who Fell to Earth’’ if it weren’t for director Glazer’s decision to turn the movie into something like a TV reality show.
The press notes claim that most of the men in the movie are non-actors who weren’t aware they were being filmed with hidden cameras until they were asked to sign releases following their “appearances.’’
The result is a rather shapeless film where what’s happening onscreen is often less interesting than trying to figure out whether the participants recognize they’re sharing the cab of a truck with a world-famous actress.
Some who are in the final product clearly do; even in a black wig, Johansson is not exactly Sacha Baron Cohen when he made “Borat.’’
“Under the Skin’’ finally abandons its monotonous rut when our callous protagonist learns some empathy after meeting a man who serves as her protector. But it’s too little, too late for a film whose appeal is not even skin deep.