PLAYING crazy often leads to an Oscar nomination. Playing a Holocaust survivor often leads to an Oscar nomination. So Jeff Goldblum plays a crazy Holocaust survivor in “Adam Resurrected,” a semi-unbearable attempt at profundity set in a mental institution 15 years after WWII.
In flashbacks, we learn that Goldblum was a cabaret comedian who survived the death camps when he learned to amuse a Nazi officer (Willem Dafoe) by behaving like a dog. Years later in the loony bin, his guilt – or maybe it’s a Pavlovian response – has a tendency to make him do the dog act seemingly against his will. At least a saucy nurse (Ayelet Zurer) enjoys the dog act: She finds it a kinky turn-on.
Goldblum’s wobbly German accent and the staginess of the script doom this effort by Paul Schrader (“American Gigolo”).
Running time: 107 minutes. Rated R (profanity, sex, nudity, disturbing behavior). At the Quad, 13th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues. – Kyle Smith