Case 39 *1/2 (out of four stars)

Case 39

*1/2 (out of four stars)

Directed by Christian Alvart. Starring Renee Zellweger, Ian McShane, and Bradley Cooper. Rated R (violence, terror). Playing at: area theaters.

"This girl is in trouble," Renee Zellweger's character declares in Case 39, her first horror movie in 16 years. "I can feel it." As can we all. Zellweger, at 41 not really someone we'd call "girl" anymore, appears in full career regression with this generic supernatural thriller. She's a fine actress with an Academy Award, so you'd think she would be far removed from playing a social worker trying to figure out if this creepy kid she has saved from abusive parents was the one who needed saving.

Emily Jenkins (Zellweger) is a case worker with child social services in Portland, Ore. She is so committed to the work that she can't really maintain a relationship, even with a guy played by Bradley Cooper. And she's developed instincts she can call on when the system is about to let somebody down. Mike (Ian McShane), a sympathetic cop, has on occasion watched a house where Emily suspects a child is endangered.

Zellweger, forced to play a character who lurches from rational to absurdly credulous, loses credibility by the minute. And McShane, whose character also must intellectually turn on a dime, is even worse off.

Frankly, Orphan did a better job of this bad-good girl thing, and without that M. Night Shyamalan-style supernatural/religious subtext.

- Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel