neumu [ cinematronic ]




	The Secret Lives Of Dentists
	Alan Rudolph Campbell Scott, Hope Davis, Denis Leary, Robin Tunney 2002		With a filmography that includes sharpies ("Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle," "Choose Me") and stinkers ("Trixie") alike, director Alan Rudolph is a risky bet. When he pays off, it's a treat. When he falters, it's an irritation. "The Secret Lives of Dentists" lands somewhere in the middle of Rudolph's oeuvre, more fascinating than terrible. It's a low-key, moderately stylized family dramedy about the trials that beset the ideal-on-the-surface marriage of Drs. Dave and Dana Hurst, a suburban husband and wife (Campbell Scott, Hope Davis) with a shared dental practice. Their happiness is tested by questions of infidelity, particularly when a disgruntled patient, Slater (Denis Leary), begins to provoke Dr. Dave. As frustration turns to suspicion and recrimination, the tranquillity of the Hursts' home life and the well-being of their children suffer. All the while, Dave imagines conversations with Slater, who badgers him about Dana. Dave's warped perception as he struggles with jealousy and fear is well handled by Rudolph and the actors, but it's the tumble into marital discord and the poignancy of the Hursts' struggle to hold their family together that gives this significance.