`BEST LAID PLANS' GOES ASTRAY.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

``Best Laid Plans'' is a suspense thriller where the scenery is more interesting than either the characters or the story. That's good news if you're a fan of production design, but less satisfying for those looking for some tension to go with the terrain. Director Mike Barker, a Brit making his U.S. feature film debut, tries to keep his audience distracted with an abundance of camera movement, but, ultimately, all the activity can't disguise the story's shortage of suspense.

Here's how the movie's first 10 minutes unfold: Two old college buddies, Bryce (Josh Brolin) and Nick (Alessandro Nivola), reminisce in a dive bar in the desolate town of Tropico. Patsy Cline plays on the jukebox; whiskey flows from the bartender. When Nick leaves to fetch another round, Bryce finds himself in direct eye contact with an alluring young woman, Lissa (Reese Witherspoon). She joins the party; Nick, thinking three's a crowd, calls it a night.

Later, in the wee, small hours of the morning, Nick's phone rings. It's Bryce. There's a problem. Lissa returned home with Bryce, one thing led to another, and now she's crying rape.

That would be bad enough, but a cursory look through Lissa's purse reveals two fake IDs. She's clearly underage. And that's why Bryce dragged her down to the basement and handcuffed her to a drainpipe. He needs time to think. And he needs Nick's help.

With its early noirish touches and plot-heavy opening sequence, you know it's a pretty good bet that you can't believe much of what you're seeing here. And sure enough, ``Best Laid Plans'' promptly transports us four months back in time, slowly revealing various motives and mysteries. Many of them are sort of interesting; few, though, are genuinely compelling.

Bryce and Nick enjoy a sort of forced chuminess, undercut by the bitterness Nick harbors toward his friend, and more than that, life itself. It's hard to blame him, seeing some of the burdens life tosses his way. And Bryce is a real pip, a rich kid who never lost his sense of entitlement, a grown man who feels like the victim even when he has a girl chained in his basement.

Looming in the background as all this unspools is Tropico, a suffocating town where we never see people walking its streets or driving its roads. It's Deadsville, reminiscent of the Red Rock, Wyo., in John Dahl's much superior ``Red Rock West.''

That ``Best Laid Plans'' was shot in Bakersfield is probably a fact that its chamber of commerce will ignore in future brochures. As eerily designed by Sophie Becher, this is one town that screams for you to pack your bags and leave.

If Ted Griffin's screenplay had evoked as much tension as Becher's claustrophobic production work, ``Best Laid Plans'' could have been elevated above the level of a serviceable thriller. (Griffin does deserve some credit, since this movie certainly improves on his first effort, ``Ravenous.'') The acting is fine, although the talented Witherspoon is largely wasted in a role that subordinates her to the male leads and, yes, the smothering charms of Tropico, U.S.A.

THE FACTS

The film: ``Best Laid Plans'' (R; language, some sexuality).

The stars: Alessandro Nivola, Reese Witherspoon, Josh Brolin.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Mike Barker. Screenplay by Ted Griffin. Released by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Running time: One hour, 30 minutes.

Playing: AMC Century 14 in Century City; Cineplex Odeon Broadway Cinemas in Santa Monica.

Our rating: Two and one half stars.

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Photo

Photo: An evening at a bar goes downhill quickly in ``Best Laid Plans,'' with Reese Witherspoon and Alessandro Nivola.