Marc Behm's novel, The Eye of the Beholder, has already been filmed several times, most notably as Mortelle Randone (with Isabelle Adjani) and Black Widow (with Theresa Russell), writes David Parkinson.

Now the role of the gold-digging serial killer has passed to Ashley Judd in a misfiring reworking by Stephan Elliott, whose reputation here rests on a very different kind of movie altogether, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

The dramatic emphasis is placed here on The Eye, a British surveillance agent, who divides his time between peering through a telephoto lens and chatting to the 'figmentary' daughter who keeps popping into his imagination. That is, until he becomes obsessed with Joanna and her crimes, which he witnesses from the respectful distance of a stalker who masochistically hopes to be spotted. So many Hollywood thrillers of late have been undermined by the 'May-December' nature of the romantic subplot.

But, for once, the film would have benefited from having leads with a significant age disparity, as Ewan McGregor is not only too young to carry the burden of a failed father fixation, but also still sufficiently physically attractive to conjure up fetishistic imaginings of voyeur coupling with killer.

However, the main reason this showy venture fails to compel is its nerdy reliance on gadgetry. Elliott spends as much time gazing at the various computer systems and bugging gizmos as he does speculating on Judd's psychological state, which is a shame, as this is one of her better performances. There are also effective supports from k.d. lang as McGregor's mission controller and Genevieve Bujold, as the sinister head of the orphanage that instilled into Judd the twisted confidence to kill. But McGregor is miscast and remains as much a puzzled onlooker as the rest of us.