'Explicit Ills' is too obvious, preachy

A painterly eye clashes with thematic preachiness in actor-turned-filmmaker Mark Webber's earnest indie drama "Explicit Ills," set among inner-city Philadelphians of many colors and ages, and in various stages of tension and release. A 7-year-old asthmatic boy (Francisco Burgos) being raised by a single mom (Rosario Dawson) seems weighed down by world ills as much as his breathing condition. Another family, meanwhile, espouse the virtues of colonics, yoga and vegan living while also agonizing over starting a produce business. And is the drug-fueled romance between the pot dealer (Lou Taylor Pucci) and his cool-chick client (Frankie Shaw) the real thing, or are they falling in love with getting lost?

Initially tuned to an unhurried rhythm not unlike a soulful stroll through a detail-rich neighborhood -- with gifted cinematographer Patrice Lucien Cochet's camera in thrall of dilapidated houses and attractive faces alike -- "Explicit Ills" is undone by a deadly twofer: lack of trust in characterization coupled with single-minded faith in spelled-out messages. (Literally too, since the film leads up to a protest march.) As much as the scourge of poverty and inadequate healthcare demand our attention, a movie that too often feels comprised of arty public service announcements can only be considered a lost opportunity.

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-- Robert Abele

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"Explicit Ills." MPAA rating: R for language and some drug use. Running time: 1 hour, 27 minutes. At Laemmle Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 848-3500.

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Soviet ex-pat ina different world

In 1982, Russian emigre writer-director Slava Tsukerman made a controversial feature debut with "Liquid Sky," a venturesome and original pitch-dark comedy-fantasy centering on the sex- and drugs-saturated new wave scene in Lower Manhattan. The film's amusing conceit is that an alien, arriving via a flying saucer, is neither friend nor foe -- he's just looking for a heroin high.

Tsukerman's new film, "Perestroika," is about a man who feels like an alien when he returns to Russia in 1992 after the fall of the Soviet Union. Internationally renowned astrophysicist Sasha Greenberg (Sam Robards) had fled Russia in 1975 with the help of an American physicist (Ally Sheedy), who became his wife. Having left a "traitor" who did not want to aid the military -- and who was also fed up with Soviet anti-Semitism -- he returns a hero confronted with a society in chaos yet is expected to expound upon his theory about the coherence of the universe.