ëOur Ladyí Takes A Lot of Shots but Misses the Target by Todd Hitchcock (see also: interview with Director Barbet Schroeder) "Our Lady of the Assassins" is Barbet Schroederís first non-Hollywood picture in nearly two decades. It would not be misleading to say the film has the hallmarks of Schroederís better works: stylish eccentrics play out their obsessions against the backdrop of an exotic locale, heavy dramatic material softened by the directorís louche taste and playful tone. But unlike "More," "MaÓtresse," or "Les Tricheurs," Schroederís latest lacks both cohesive and compelling characters and a narrative with drive and sensibility. Schroederís "Reversal of Fortune" made a bit of a splash in 1990 and garnered three Oscar nominations. His follow-up, 1992ís "Single White Female," was a hit, but since then the producer-director, one of the very few people to enjoy success working both in Hollywood and abroad, has stumbled through an embarrassing string of box-office flops. A change of pace would seem in order. Filmed in Medellin, Colombia, "Our Lady of the Assassins" is the story of a world-weary write r, Fernando (German Jaramillo), returned home from abroad, who takes up with a teen street thug, Alexis (Anderson Ballesteros), marked for death by a rival gang. Alexis provides an impressible audience to Fernandoís rantings against Medellin and Colombian life: He blasphemes in church, yells insults at the president on TV and at the statue of BolÌvar in the park. A pretty far-out guy, in Alexisís eyes. Alexis keeps busy defending himself from contract killersóvery romantic to Fernandoóand plugging a few people of mild annoyance to his older loverósomewhat less acceptable, Fernando finds. Are we to understand that this is the reality of Medellin? Guns, murder, not a cop in sight? It is hard to say. The movie, like the protagonists, luxuriates in violent-erotic decadence: Medellin chic. But the effect is mostly drearyódreary without convincing the viewer that this is how it is, let alone that this is wickedly clever. Perhaps it was a mistake not to go further and present a more stylized treatment of the violence and charactersí attitudes toward it. The result is merely an odd middle groundóit is too hyper for realism but fails to dazzle as arty non-realism. At various points Fernando declares himself to be "Colombiaís greatest grammarian," that he has "come home to die" and recalls the odd memory of his youth. But the character never coalesces for the viewer, a sense of his past does not come across and his worldóand peopleóweariness seems affected, not accrued. A similar but much better-drawn and motivated character was portrayed in Bernardo Bertolucciís "Last Tango in Paris," another middle-aged man seeking the edifying negation of sex, and perhaps his own destruction. There is something in Fernando and Alexisís relationship that fails to convince, and the actorsí physical performances fail to back their verbal ones. Again, the performance of Javier Bardem, as directed by Julian Schnabel in last yearís "Before Night Falls," comes to mind as a better realization of a similar character and milieu: gay, Latin, literary, doomed. The film does have its moments: the opening scene depicting Medellinís gayóand criminalódemi-monde, a secretive get-together sex party at a procurerís luxurious apartment, is promisingly mounted, as is the first meeting between the loversóstylish, sure, seductive. Schroeder can demonstrate an impressive facility with his cameras and mise-en-scene. But he is soon bogged down by a clumsy script and struggling with half-formed characters. "Our Lady of the Assassins" (Spanish with subtitles, 98 min.) is playing at the Cineplex Odeon Dupont Circle and Shirlington theaters. Todd Hitchcock is freelance writer in Washington, D.C.