The Secret Life of Dentists is a bit of a bore

The Secret Life of Dentists

Director: Alan Rudolf

Cast: Campbell Scott, Hope Davis, Robin Tunney, Denis Leary

Cert: 15

The warning is clear: never have an affair with your dentist's wife.

Well, not quite, for in this adaptation of Jane Smiley's short novel the message is: he probably won't get around to doing anything about it.

When the dentist here discovers his wife has been cheating on him he doesn't instantly reach for his sharpest drill; he simply avoids facing the problem.

It's a sort of fantasy built on doing nothing, which leaves the film hanging in a sort of frozen gums limbo.

The story clearly worked much better on the printed page.

Star Rating: 2/5