D: Jean Veber / 80m

Cast: Andrew J. West, Emma Bell, Beatrice Rosen, Andrew Howard, Lenny Jacobson, Taylor Nichols

At the AltaVista clinic, Dr Lanyon (Howard) is embarking on a series of trials to determine if a new drug is of any benefit to sufferers of bipolar disorder.  One of the volunteers, a young man named Harry Poole (West) is nervous, fidgety and lacks self-confidence.  He stays at the clinic for the trials where he’s assigned a nurse, Anna (Bell), to oversee his treatment.  He soon becomes attracted to Anna and as the trials continue, the new drug prompts a change in Harry’s outlook and his demeanour.  He is more confident, he looks and acts differently, but when the drug he’s taking begins to wear off he becomes aggressive.

Dr Lanyon calls a halt to the trials when similar reactions occur in other volunteers.  Unable to accept this, Harry’s new, more confident alter-ego, Edward Grey, takes over and steals a supply of the drug.  Back at his brother John’s (Jacobson) house, Harry/Edward begins treating his brother badly, as well as his friend Ivy (Rosen) who visits often, and Anna, who is attracted to Harry but finds herself dealing more and more with Edward.  As Edward’s personality dominates Harry’s, Edward’s violent tendencies also come to the fore, until he decides to confront Dr Lanyon when his meds run out.  Lanyon goes to Harry’s home but by now, Edward is in full control… or likes to think he is.

Although the mood swings associated with bipolar disorder can provoke violent reactions and/or outbursts, the illness depicted in Bipolar is more akin to split personality disorder (or at least the movie version of it).  With its premise owing more to the story of Jekyll & Hyde than any accurate medical diagnoses, the movie opts for a found-footage style that is awkward and inconsistent (the two cameras Harry uses at home are moved around to accommodate the action on too many occasions for their use to remain credible), and a denouement that is plucked from the bucket marked “crazy and ridiculous”.  (And if the viewer doesn’t “get” the central conceit, there are two scenes from John Barrymore’s 1920 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde shown to reinforce the idea.)

As Harry and Edward, West is either pale and sweaty (Harry) or suave and distant (Edward).  Playing bad for the most part, West never really convinces in either role, and when called upon to release Edward’s evil nature, appears more petulant than frightening.  Bell and Rosen struggle to make much of an impact due to the script’s need for them to be victims (albeit for different reasons), while Howard does “man on LSD” as if he’s only heard rumours about it.  Behind the camera, Veber directs with all the certainty of someone who hasn’t made a movie in eleven years and hammers out any subtleties his script might have had in the first place.

Rating: 3/10 – scattershot and unconvincing, Bipolar is too intent on making Edward a sexist, murderous thug to worry if it makes sense (which it doesn’t); with annoying performances and a script that keeps the viewer at a distance, this is one Jekyll & Hyde variation that is both tedious and uninventive.