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Uncertainty reigns in 'The King'

Incest, murder, buried secrets and God all figure into "The King," a film that you might accuse of being gratuitously offensive if it weren't so calm and, frankly, dull.

ThinkFilm 'The King' 2 out of 5 stars The verdict: Plenty of symbolism, but it doesn't add meaning. Director: James Marsh Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, William Hurt, Pell James, Paul Dano, Laura Elena Harring Run time: 105 minutes Release date: May 19, 2006 Rating: Not rated. On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime [an error occurred while processing this directive]

A story about a kid named Elvis (Gael Garcia Bernal) who leaves the Navy, sets out to find the father who doesn't know he exists and then ruins a lot of lives, the movie's pulse hardly varies. Characters argue, lose their virginity, kill things and clean up the mess, but if they're worried or passionate, the emotions never leak off the screen to infect us.

It was shot in Austin (unless I'm mistaken, East Austin's Arkie's Grill appears in two films opening this week, "The King" and "A Scanner Darkly") though the action is meant to take place in Corpus Christi. Presumably, the filmmakers intend that city's name (along with some baptismal water imagery) to resonate with the story's religious themes.

But things don't resonate with meaning just because you give them a name. As with the title "The King" and the lead character's moniker, these touches are signs that signify nothing. Calling the whole thing an allegory might explain that muffled, unreal tone, but then you'd have to supply a plausible interpretation. It's an allegory of what, exactly?

The father Elvis finds turns out to be a man of God (William Hurt) who has renounced his wild-oats years (though not his extravagant sideburns or his fondness for bow hunting) and now leads his own congregation. He wants nothing to do with an illegitimate son, so Elvis satisfies himself with another kind of familial connection: He seduces his half-sister Malerie (Pell James), who has no idea they're related.

You know this isn't a happily-ever-after kind of tale, but when things blossom into full-on Greek tragedy, you might expect a little more gnashing of teeth. Elvis does something horrible halfway through the film, and when he comes clean, Malerie makes hardly a peep. He barely even has to justify himself.

But she's in love with him, you say. Fair enough. There does seem to be a whisper of unreasoning abandon in her first (tastefully presented) sex scene, but after that she's inert enough that it's pretty hard to believe she'd accept what's going on here.

This doesn't seem to be a failing on James' part as an actress. Director James Marsh seems to have encouraged his cast — particularly the women — to hide their personalities under a protective plastic shell. (Their light under a bushel, if we're going to be churchy about it.) Maybe he believes that's what Christians are like, though he never connects their behavior to their beliefs. More likely, he — like his protagonist — just hasn't quite thought things through.