MOVIE REVIEW

The implausible film is a riddle wrapped in a muddled enigma

By Mark Olsen, Special to The Times

A mysterious South American powder causes powerful hallucinations that may actually be genuine links to memories of the user's genetic ancestors. No, it's not a tabloid cover story on young Hollywood, it's just another day for a dashing medical researcher played by Billy Zane. Right from the first shots of Zane, with the usually bald actor sporting what may be the hardest-working hairpiece of all time, it becomes apparent that "Memory" is a film not afraid to flirt with the flagrantly silly.

Director Bennett Davlin, adapting his novel with co-screenwriter Anthony Badalucco, is somehow able to find the balance between taking the material seriously — Zane's new memories put him on the trail of a child-snatching serial killer — and recognizing the inherent ridiculousness of its plotting.

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Zane and costar Dennis Hopper seem to be performing from within quotation marks, often looking as if they are each struggling to maintain a straight face. Ann-Margret brings an unexpected lightness as one of Zane's friends, and she pulls off a series of enigmatically meaningful close-ups — all is revealed in the end — with flair. The oddball cast, also including Tricia Helfer and Terry Chen, is if nothing else a real boon to those who play variations on the "Six Degrees" game — not many other films can so swiftly connect "Giant," "The Swinger," "Titanic" and "Battlestar Galactica."

Early on, Zane's character marks "pick up scuba gear" off a to-do list, and not long after — voil–! — he needs to go for a dive in a mysterious lake. Thank goodness for an organized hero. It's this kind of willful wackiness that makes "Memory" oddly enjoyable at its most implausible.

"Memory." MPAA rating: R for language and frightening images. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes. Exclusively at Laemmle's Monica, 1332 2nd St., Santa Monica, (310) 394-9741.