MOST WANTED (1997)

MOST WANTED (New Line, R) Inoffensive man-on-the-run fluff, and that's the problem: While mainstream moviegoers may instantly forget it, action addicts will be ticked that not enough stuff blows up. Keenen Ivory Wayans plays a covert-op hitman set up as the fall guy when his team kills the first lady (which -- nice pop-culture move -- allows the film to both cater to Hillary Haters and express outrage at them). He skedaddles around L.A. trying to get the goods on his boss, a Southern-fried general portrayed by Jon Voight with what can only be described as post-Anaconda dementia. You've seen a lot of this before: car chases through the L.A. canals, a leading lady (Jill Hennessy) who's a doctor only so that she can supply the hero with crucial medical records. But there are fresh touches: a bemusing scene in which Wayans is recognized and chased by hundreds of Angelenos, Eric Roberts underacting as a CIA spook. And at least Wayans (who also scripted) is learning to balance his comic and macho sides. Too bad he chose the dullest aspects of both. C

You Might Also Like

• Movie Commentary The stigma of X rated films (1984) | Tom Wiener
• Movie Commentary Killer movies (1967) | Doug Brod, Maitland McDonagh
• Movie News Wayans brothers doing cop movie spoof
• The Deal Report Who's making what? This week's announced projects | Adam B. Vary
• Movie News Julianne Moore reviews her movie roles (1999) | Dave Karger
• Movie Capsule Review THE REAL McCOY (1993) | Ty Burr