Eye of the Beholder

By RICHARD CORLISS

A British Secret Service agent known as The Eye (Ewan McGregor) is on the trail, and soon in the thrall, of a lovely mankiller (Ashley Judd). This murky mystery steals from Lolita and from many Hitchcock films (notably Vertigo)--but learns nothing from them, nor from its source novel, the complex thriller by Marc Behm about a detective with a daughter fixation, and a young murderess in search of a father figure. Read the excellent book, skip the incoherent movie, and wish its two attractive leads better luck next time. Odds are they can't have worse.

--By Richard Corliss