Mister Lonely

Directed by Harmony Korine. With Diego Luna, Samantha Morton, Denis Lavant, James Fox and Melita Morgan. Distributed by IFC First Take. 1 hour, 52 mins.

No MPAA rating

(adult themes). Playing at:

Ritz at the Bourse.

Harmony Korine's oddball Mister Lonely is about people who have chosen to "be" other people: The title character (Diego Luna) is a Michael Jackson impersonator who moonwalks on the streets of Paris, dressed in full regalia. Passersby stop, smile, occasionally toss him money.

Then "Michael" visits a cafe and meets "Marilyn" - as in Marilyn Monroe - a mopey impersonator played with all-too-much earnestness by Samantha Morton. The would-be sex bomb tells the ersatz King of Pop about her commune in the Scottish highlands: an old manor inhabited exclusively by impersonators. Her husband, a Charlie Chaplin lookalike (kind of), is one. Other members of this strange sect include a man who acts like Abe Lincoln, another who pretends to be the pope, a Sammy Davis Jr. mimic, a Madonna wannabe, and James Dean and Little Red Riding Hood studies, too.

And then, for no apparent reason, Korine cuts to nuns jumping out of a plane.

Decidedly loopy and nonlinear, Mister Lonely is precious and artsy, but there are moments when Korine's, er, unique vision brings something bold and beautiful to the table. Back in his Paris garret after a star-crossed interlude, Michael sits before a row of handpainted eggs - each one representing an impersonator. And then the faces move, brought to life in a deft touch of animation, and Michael gets all misty-eyed, the memory too much for his delicate soul. - Steven Rea