Playing God (1997)

Duchovny plays a surgeon who had his operating license taken away, he gets pulled into a criminal mafia where one action leads to a bigger one. Getting synthetic herion was his prime objective as he goes to a sleazy bar but he ended up saving a man's life. Not any man but a man within a overlord's keep. Leaving the bar he not only had the blood of the shot man and his drugs but the acquaintance of the overlord who would not forget him. Duchovny will always be Mulder to me but from this movie I can see that he can actually act outside of the X-files, with the help of Angelina Jolie and Timothy Hutton of course. Over all the movie had a unique plot but a foreseen ending. Out of ten I would give this movie a six, worthy to watch but not something I would watch over again.

Fmovies: David Duchovney creates a role that he was to replicate somewhat in Californication - the troubled talent. And it is a role he plays well.

This thriller starts off at a good speed and carries you through to the end. Timothy Hutton plays a fine villain and Angelina Jolie pouts. The story of a disgraced doctor finding his way into a criminal world is well scripted. Drug addiction and a desire for the sultry Jolie mix a heady cocktail. Unfortunately towards the end the story gets a little weaker and the relationships between villains and the FBI is muddled and rushed as if it was created only to develop the final scene. But, that aside, a movie worth seeing.

This film has a lot of raw potential. The script is sharp, the dialogue is (usually) excellent (though it could stand to lose the cheezy voice-overs), the direction and cinematography is surprisingly quite good, though some of the experimentation just doesn't work. The main problem here is David Duchovny. Once a geek-boy, always a geek-boy; and the sad, simple fact is that he's incapable of playing anything but Fox Mulder. He postures, he tries to be slick, he poses, he tries to be macho. In the end he just tries too hard. He overplays his character, he overspeaks his lines, and he's just outplayed in all ways by Timothy Hutton and Angelina Jolie, who are each in a class above him in terms of acting skill. Timothy Hutton was (as always) really good. There was a spotty moment or two where he over-dramatized his role, but you could tell he was having fun with it. He looked the part, and he became the character both physically and atmospherically. Angelina Jolie was also really good. She didn't have much of a role; in fact, I though she could have used a much stronger one...her character wasn't nearly developed enough, though she did remarkably well with what she had. And the chemistry between her and Hutton was apparent (gee, maybe that's why Uma left him...;) All in all, it was rough around the edges, but a solid effort by a good cast and great supporting roles. If David Duchovny hadn't ripped his role to pieces it would've been *that* much better. 7/10.

Playing God fmovies. Normally, I don't watch action movies because of the fact that they are usually all pretty similar. This movie did have many stereotypical action movie scenes, but the characters and the originality of the film's premise made it much easier to watch. David Duchovny bended his normal acting approach, which was great to see. Angelina Jolie, of course, was beautiful and did great acting. Great cast all together. A must see for people bored with the same old action movie.

David Duchovny plays the lead role in this film.Now a lot of people upon finding that fact out wouldn't even bother watching it.Very unfair to say the least.David made his name on the x-files and is a decent actor. Dr Eugene Sands(Duchovny)is a drug addicted doctor struck off for malpractice.By sheer accident he becomes a private doctor for criminal millionaire Raymond Blossom.However the FBI take an interest in using Eugene to snare Blossom. Angelina Jolie is cast in the supporting role of clare-the gangsters moll.She puts in a solid performance. Timothy Hutton playing Blossom is superb and immersed himself deeply into his character. Duchovny himself isn't as bad as many people would think and in the end i would rate his performance his credible.His familiar monotonous tone and straight face is present but dosen't detract too much from the film

I didn't expect much from this movie, as I must admit I only watched it to see David Duchovny. I was pleased to find that David was not the only member of the cast to turn in an interesting and entertaining performance. Timothy Hutton was very convincing as the "bad guy" with a real weakness for his beautiful girl friend, played by Angelina Jolie. Angelina is both a beautiful and talented actress. I have seen her in several movies since this one and enjoyed her in all of them. I thought she gave an especially moving performance in Gia. I enjoyed watching Playing God as the story moved along at a good pace, there was plenty of action and I especially enjoyed David's narrative which lent some humor at just the right times to what could have been just another bloody movie. I would recommend this film to any David Duchovny fans as he is at this best here, and also to any of you who enjoy Angelina Jolie. I give this movie 8 stars.