Dentist Dave Hurst's whole family has been stricken with the flu and he juggles vomiting children, while the requests of a half-conscious wife and visions of his dental hygienist dressed in a sexy dress crooning \You Give Me Fever"" follow him through his house. This is one of the many scenes in Alan Rudolph's latest film, ""The Secret Lives of Dentists,"" a film told from the perspective of Hurst, a husband and father on the verge of breaking down.
While this film uses themes that have become almost clich??-disillusion with suburban life and the challenges of monogamy and parenting-it still offers a compellingly twisted look at characters on the edge of falling apart. David and Dana Hurst, played by Campbell Scott and Hope Davis, are married and share a dentistry practice. They have three girls, a country house and two cars in the driveway.
As expected in most suburban dramas, not everything is well. Dave works all day peering into other people's mouths and comes home to a house with three needy girls and a wife who he suspects may be having an affair. The movie brilliantly communicates the Hurst's discomfort to the audience through a variety of annoyingly effective devices.
His youngest daughter, a toddler, refuses to touch her mother and likes to strike everything in sight. A family physician insists his oldest daughter's stomach flu is a result of marital tensions. There is also an obnoxious and confrontational patient, Mr. Slater, who eventually appears as subconscious council to Dave Hurst.
Featuring the excellent acting of indie film veterans Scott and Davis and the cynical and biting wit of comedian-turned-actor Dennis Leary, the movie lets the actors carry most of the weight. Leary adds energy to the story, which is painful in many ways yet full of amusing one-liners and in one instance he appears as Hurst is driving home confused.
""You're a dentist. Your best work never even sees the light of day,"" Leary says.
Much like Sam Mendes' ""American Beauty,"" Rudolph's ""The Secret Lives of Dentists"" uses dark humor to examine the suburban family and more specifically the suburban father. While it cannot be denied that this film uses what could be called recycled material, it features fascinatingly confused actors, who do the characters justice. ""The Secret Lives of Dentists"" is an offbeat film that deserves some attention.
