BEFORE: OK, I stand corrected. It turns out the first "X-Files" movie was NOT made after the series was over, it was made to be seen between seasons 5 and 6. Fans of the show were supposed to head out to the theaters during the summer break, and then come back to a slightly different show in the fall. This makes a lot more sense now, because Mulder didn't make any references to the events of the season finale. Obviously, Duchovny and Anderson carry over from last night's film, and they make their return to the FBI and the world of the supernatural after what I assume is a prolonged absence.
THE PLOT: Mulder and Scully are called back to duty by the FBI when a former priest claims to be receiving psychic visions pertaining to a kidnapped agent.
AFTER: Ah, see now the pieces are coming together. As I said last night, I never watched the series, not in real time anyway, but I sort of paid attention through reviews and such. Like with a lot of movies, this leads to me knowing about stuff without really watching it, which is often a huge time saver. Reading between the lines, there came a time where Mulder and Scully acted on their long-time attraction, and they had a child who didn't live very long, and all this took place between the end of the show and the start of this film.
In many ways this is a return to form, because David Duchovny apparently didn't appear a lot in the last two seasons of the show, as part of a contract dispute. Oh, there was a narrative reason why he didn't appear, but I'm betting the real-life situation drove that storyline. So one last appearance of Mulder and Scully working together was probably what the fans were dying to see.
The relationship between the two leads is probably symbolic of every relationship - they go through the same four stages as everyone else, which are (roughly): 1) We are two very different people. 2) We've spent some time together, turns out we have a lot in common. 3) Now that we're living together, I'm noticing some differences in the way we approach things. 4) Turns out, we are two very different people. The only difference here from regular couples is that those things they have in common in stage 2 include contact with the supernatural and belief in alien invasion conspiracies.
So we see them in Stage 3, and when Mulder gets contacted by the FBI on a new case involving a psychic, he's got to decide whether to return to the X-Files, and if he does, he does so without his foil Scully, who resorts to her skeptical ways regarding psychic abilities. To be fair, most psychics have little more ability than carnival performers who guess your weight. They play the odds and say things like "Do you know someone whose name begins with J?" Well, given that James, Joe and John are very common names, and for that matter many last names begin with J too, you can start to see how the tricks are performed. And don't even get me started on that Long Island Medium, who forces her version of the afterlife onto complete strangers.
There are deeper questions about science vs. faith here, and the supernatural is depicted as something of a bridge between the two worlds. A pedophile priest may be an unlikely vessel for superhuman abilities, but results speak for themselves. Umm, unless he's lying. I treat psychic tricks the same way I treat magic tricks - I won't rest until I figure out how they're done. And those psychics who've genuinely tried to help law enforcement with missing person cases - they probably have to be careful to not be TOO knowledgeable, for fear of being accused of committing the crime themselves. That much rings true.
There are parts to the story I'm not talking about, which range from unlikely to impossible - but Scully faces a few crises of her own, ticked off by the ex-priest psychic, but involving her career as a doctor. A Catholic hospital is a fertile ground for storylines involving terminal illnesses, the right to die with dignity and the controversy over stem cell research. It's not exactly supernatural, but it's a gripping story in its own way - and it demands equal attention.
Also starring Billy Connolly (last seen in "Mrs. Brown"), Amanda Peet (last seen in "The Whole Ten Yards"), Mitch Pileggi (also carrying over from "The X-Files"), Xzibit, Adam Godley, Fagin Woodcock.
RATING: 5 out of 10 Rottweilers
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