Copious Notes: Ashley Judd

There are some moments of Ashley Judd's performance in Bug that set you on the edge of laughter, and those are the moments that make it great. Specifically, there is a segment in which she connects all the dots in her life and that of her paranoid companion to validate a vast conspiracy theory. That monologue ends with her declaring, "I am the mother bug!"

If Bug gains any traction at the box office and in pop culture, it's a line that could wind up a punchline on the order of "I'm the king of the world," or "Damn you all to hell!" Yes, it's absurd.

But Judd (Copyrighted photo, above, by Anthony Friedkin for Lionsgate) delivers it with the conviction of a woman who firmly believes her declaration. Bug asks a lot of Judd. As Agnes, she's a character who runs opposite most of our impulses. When casual acquaintance Peter Evans, played by Lexington-native Michael Shannon, starts to tell her his belief that he is infected with bugs and is on the run from the military, instead of calling a doctor or the police, she begins to buy into his theories and even takes on his psychosis. It is a profoundly disturbing film, due in part to the best performance of Judd's career.

Judd immerses herself in Tracy Letts' script without an ounce of self consciousness. What makes it really frightening is that she starts the film as a hard-drinking Southern woman, a familiar part we've seen Judd in before. It's a part she's often revered for because so many of us have met this character -- maybe some of us are her. And then she takes her on a tragic journey, slowly slipping from the tethers of reality. Along the way, we are frequently reminded of the tragedies and sadness in Agnes' life that have brought her to this path, not because Letts reminds us in word, but because those things are in her eyes as she clings to Peter.

In the character and the performance, Agnes is a part remininscent of Halle Berry's role in Monster's Ball or Charlize Theron's turn in Monster, and we know how those choices turned out.

Bug obviously has huge competition at the box office this weekend. But if you have followed Judd's career, and felt she had tremendous promise, you'll want to see that promise fulfilled here.

(Do be warned, Bug is a grisly, disturbing film.)

~ Just in case you think we're being homers on this one, check out this review from New York Magazine.

~ Check out Friday's Herald-Leader for our take.