'GHOSTS' A NOT-SO-HAUNTING PORTRAIT OF CAMBODIA.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

MATT DILLON vacationed in Cambodia 10 years ago, returned home and decided he wanted to set a movie in the exotic locale, which isn't a bad idea in and of itself, provided he came up with a good story, a la, say, Richard Brooks' ``Lord Jim.''

Instead, Dillon delivers the murky muddle ``City of Ghosts,'' his directorial debut, which is long on atmosphere (not to mention running time) and short on just about everything else.

The most interesting character in ``City of Ghosts'' is a monkey that has been trained by a world-weary bartender (Gerard Depardieu, playing the film's second-most-interesting character) to steal the belongings of guests at the hotel across the street from his hovel. The monkey only has a couple of scenes, though, which leaves too much time to ponder the film's thinly sketched relationships and wonder just how the perpetually perspiring Dillon kept his T-shirts so white.

Dillon, who co-wrote the film with novelist Barry Gifford, stars as Jimmy Cremmins, a con man looking to hook up with his mentor, Marvin (James Caan), after pulling a multimillion-dollar insurance fraud. After all these years of working with Marvin, Jimmy seems to be feeling the pangs of conscience. So he travels to Cambodia to look for the mysterious Marvin, not the easiest man to find since he's got both the feds and the Russian mafia on his tail.

The relationship between the two men is the crux of the movie, but it's so underdeveloped that you can scarcely be bothered to care. Instead of fleshing out the nuts and bolts about what should be a rather complicated connection, the film serves up tired cliches about the apple not falling far from the tree. (``You're just like me,'' Marvin tells Jimmy). When Dillon's brooding loner asks the age-old movie question, ``How am I supposed to trust anybody when I can't trust myself?'' you get the feeling that Dillon is simply content to coast on atmosphere and hope nobody notices.

Luckily, there are plenty of interesting locales and sweaty ambience, which Dillon the filmmaker puts to fine use. There's also Stellan Skarsgard as a shifty go-between and Natascha McElhone playing Dillon's unlikely love interest, an archaeologist who must be traveling with a bottomless bottle of hair conditioner. As a travelogue, ``City of Ghosts'' works just fine. Too bad the movie intrudes on our good time.

CITY OF GHOSTS - Two stars

(R: language, violence)

Starring: Matt Dillon, James Caan, Natascha McElhone, Gerard Depardieu, Stellan Skarsgard.

Director: Matt Dillon.

Running time: 1 hr. 58 min.

Playing: Art Theatre in Long Beach; ArcLight in Hollywood; Laemmle's Monica in Santa Monica.

In a nutshell: Matt Dillon's directorial debut is long on atmosphere and short on just about everything else.