JUST FOR THE TIME BEING (USA/2000/GIL BRENTON)

I'm all for independent cinema - no matter how low the budget, no matter how tight the shooting schedule, there should always be a world of possibilities available when a rich imagination takes the helm. But if you can afford to cast Eva Herzigova, a woman whose net worth is $12.3 million (admittedly green in the acting department, but that's beside the point), surely a bit of quality control wouldn't hurt? Not so for this club-footed romantic drama. Christine is a moody femme fatale, whose irresistible frumpy charm wins over a father and son who come to stay at the house with her and her excitable mother.

And that’s pretty much it. The script is an abomination, each line necessitating heavy enunciation as if being read to a class of hard-of-hearing toddlers. Most of the characters are repugnant beings, making it difficult to identify with anyone – the sex-hungry mother is particularly unbelievable, having been ordered direct from the menopausal soap star catalogue. The cast do their best with awful material, but it’s all a bit futile really. Herzigova does her role some justice, and she certainly looks the part, but it’s not something she’d want to put on her CV. On the photographic side, the film wins back a few points for making good use of the gorgeous lighting. The film's prettiest moments are essentially VH1 music-video filler, and are luckily dialogue-free. To conclude negatively, you know a film’s bad when even Herzigova’s naked body can’t keep you from yawning.