Film

As you might tell from the title, Mary concerns itself with the spiritual. And not insincerely, either: A modern-day French actor (Binoche) finds herself obsessed with Mary Magdalene after inhabiting the role for a film called This Is My Blood. She flits off to Jerusalem in a state of fervor, bailing on her career. Her confused director (Modine) heads back to NYC to suffer a different kind of martyrdom: that of persecuted artist. (His movie, in which he also stars as Christ, is the subject of protests.) Finally, a Charlie Rose–like TV host (Whitaker) hopes to cover the sensation, but is distracted by a hot assistant while his wife suffers life-threatening pregnancy complications.

Sounds like some serious drama. Alas, the director is Abel Ferrara. Before contrarian fans of Bad Lieutenant raise a stink, know that this isn’t a slam on Ferrara’s penchant for going to lovably histrionic lengths. But why is he strapping himself into this relatively somber conceit? Mary, already three years old, received heavy attention at the Venice Film Festival, but it feels like the kind of snoozy artistic modulation that critics often confuse for maturation. Binoche and a pre-Oscar Whitaker deliver earnest performances, but Ferrara is stifled. Even New York, the city he loves, lacks character.

Only Modine’s profane, controversial blowhard sets the movie ablaze. (Clearly, he’s taken inspiration from the person behind the camera.) “I’ll show you a bomb!” he rages, trapped in the projection booth, as his opening night is rocked by phoned-in threats. Mary itself is far from a bomb, but you wish it had been made by Modine’s infidel.