Ashley Judd is one of those rare actresses who are worth watching even when their movies aren't. She's about the only thing that works in Eye of the Beholder, an arty mess of a thriller from Australian writer-director Stephan Elliot (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert). A British spy known only as the Eye (Ewan McGregor from The Phantom Menace) finds himself tailing a chameleonic serial killer (Judd, whose disguises often include exotic underwear). Instead of busting her or notifying the authorities, the Eye chooses to merely follow her and occasionally protect her from harm. It seems the Eye has never recovered from losing his daughter in a messy divorce and is now haunted by her spirit. All of these shenanigans are supposed to be disorienting and eerie. Instead, Elliot gets carried away with silly camera editing tricks (an endless stream of snow globes lets audience members know what city the two are in). Logic, character development, and audience attention suffer. What self-respecting spy hides out in a church bell tower where his microphones would be useless? The normally capable McGregor, like the viewers, appears lost and in search of the point to this confusing drivel. (R) Rating: 2
