The Secret Lives of Dentists

An exposé into the nefarious nocturnal activities of randy tooth doctors? To a certain extent, yes: David (Campbell Scott) and Dana Hurst (Hope Davis) are partners in life and dentistry, but their ten-year, three-child marriage hits the rocks when husband suspects wife of infidelity. Fear dominates David’s reaction: should he confront Dana and risk having to take action and upsetting their stable, if predictable, suburban lives? Or should he bottle up his paranoia and thereby appear angry for no apparent reason? As a study of a middle-aged marriage in crisis, Craig Lucas’ script fails to achieve the required bite or depth. The best scenes feature David and Dana alone and struggling to make sense of their disintegrating lives. But bizarrely – disastrously – we also have to contend with Slater (Denis Leary), who is both one of David’s patients and, as his conscience, a figment of his imagination – a presence (invisible to all but David) who constantly mutters man-to-man banter in his ear and succeeds in ruining every sincere, real moment that the film threatens to offer. A fatal mistake.