"The X-Files: I Want to Believe" Review - Written by Spaldy

Written by: Frank Spotnitz and Chris Carter

Directed by: Chris Carter

Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson

This is an odd little entry into “The X-Files” lore. Traditionally on the television show the episodes were split into strange stand alone episodes and the conspiracy episodes. As the first movie centered on the government conspiracy, it is only fitting that the second outing involved a stand alone thriller story. Ultimately this movie plays like an arthouse thriller. The episodes of the television show similar to this alwayas played well on the small screen. To some extent is does here as well.

The movie picks up a few years after we last left our dour duo. Former Agent Dr. Dana Scully is now working in a Catholic hospital and more specifically, she is obsessing over the case of a terminally ill boy who is about the same age as her long lost son William. While Scully struggles with her emotions over the case, the F.B.I. comes knocking at her metaphorical door with an urgent request to get in touch with her former partner, Fox Mulder. The case the F.B.I. is working on involves a missing female F.B.I. agent and the fact that the only lead has come from a psychic. Reluctant at first, Scully goes to Mulder with the offer from the F.B.I. to clear his record in exchange for his help on the case. We find a bearded and bleary eyed Mulder hiding in his home office, still obsessing over the disappearance of his sister when he was a boy. Mulder tries to decline the case, but a leopard never changes his spots and Fox’s zest never changes for unexplained phenomena. Mulder eventually agrees to assist on the case and though he keeps his distance at first, his first insight into the case quickly starts the old gears grinding and soon, Mulder is back to his old quirky form. Albeit with an oddly muted sense of humor. Though Scully seems to be on board, she quickly begins to pull away because of both Mulder’s immediate obsession with finding the missing woman and because of her total aversion to the psychic at the heart of the case. Instead, Scully becomes increasingly determined to find treatment for the dying boy in her hospital. For all of Scully’s accusations over Fox’s obsession with his sister, she really needs to turn her judgmental eye on herself and her feelings about the son she gave away.

Though Mulder and Scully are still intimately connected by their special emotional bond, the extent of their physical or romantic connection is just as ambiguous as it always was. Their emotional intimacy was always the profound touchstone in how they related to one another on the job and in many ways, that element of their relationship is still present and accounted for. However, the playfulness of their long term relationship is almost entirely absent from the story. They went through serious times, but even in the worst of it, they still maintained some sense of light heartedness. That seemed to be missing in this movie. There was some humor up front, but then it just seemed to fall off of a cliff

What was often the problem in the stand alone killer episodes as well as in this movie is that Scully loses all traces of a sense of humor. Mulder still has his moments but it seems like the wet blanket afflictions of Scully have seeped onto Mulder as well. For all the pluses and minuses to this movie, the lack of playfulness was the most memorable thing about this movie. That is a great disservice to the story, which is actually quite interesting. Frank Spotnitz always was a bit of a sick son of a bitch storyteller, but he really could have used a bit of a punch up here to Scully’s demeanor. If they wanted to go with the thriller angle to the story, they should have tightened up Scully’s B story with the sick boy, and reigned in the romantic aspect of the movie. Though we all know that Mulder and Scully are perfect for one another, it makes it very difficult to remember that when the appearance of classic Scully doesn’t occur in the film until Skinner enters the scene. Why was there so little Skinner anyway? As much as I love Dana Scully, I would have preferred a Mulder and Skinner tag team investigation rather than sit through the joyless countenance of Scully in this outing. I realize Scully is conflicted, but she was never this unwelcome.

I think I expected far too much for this movie to deliver. Carter’s direction was a bit distracting at times (do we need to see the back of one guy’s head in front of the face of another?) and more importantly, Carter’s pace was all off. This movie had the feel of an extended episode that would have been much better with a healthy editing eye. If this were not an extension of the show and simply a thriller about some missing women, I think it might have played better. The partnership of Mulder and Scully was slow played in the midst of a action paced and horrifying story. The conflict between the two worlds was evident, leaving the Mulder and Scully aspect to feel shoe horned in. I kind of resent that. I love Mulder and Scully and I have loved how they relate to one another. There is one scene in the movie that shows an inkling of that connection, but unfortunately it is quickly over. This left me with the nagging feeling that Spotnitz wrote a thriller and decided to adapt it as an X-Files story somewhere down the line.

I can not say this outing was a complete failure. That would be a lie. There was a lot about this movie that I really liked. The story of the missing women was actually quite interesting. The problem was that the feel of the whole Mulder and Scully world just never felt right here. If you can overlook that aspect of it, or if you like a very stern and neurotic Scully, I think you might enjoy this movie. However, there is too much history here to be of much use to anyone who wasn’t a fan of the show, and there is too much of a lack of character here to satisfy those who watched the show.

Perhaps with time (and a viewing on the television) I might grow to like this movie. It is about as good as the average episode of the show, but that said, I think it does a bit of a disservice to the franchise. I think the approach of doing a small thriller could have worked spectacularly if only they had got the classic feel of the characters right here. It is a bit of a wasted opportunity, which I fear will do in the series for good. Maybe I am being too critical, but then again, I may actually be too kind. This might just be one of those movies that you have to judge for yourself. I know some people really loved this movie, but for me, it just felt off.