Bitter Moon by Stephen Farber In Bitter Moon, a film stuffed with flashbacks and voice-over narration, Roman Polanski has made a film about the art of storytelling and the impact of a tale on the person who tries to absorb it. The action begins aboard an ocean liner. A wheelchair-bound writer, Oscar (Peter Coyote), who is traveling with his wife, Mimi (Emmanuelle Seigner), meets a repressed English couple (Hugh Grant and Kristin Scott-Thomas) and tries to titillate them with an account of his bizarre marriage. Oscar's experiences then unfold in a series of flashbacks, which are designed to inflame the erotic fantasies of the English couple. Polanski attempts something unusual with Oscar's narration. Since Oscar is established as a poseur without a shred of genuine writing talent, we are prodded to giggle at his overheated language; the narration is not meant to be taken at face value. Unfortunately, Polanski is not in complete control of the tone of the movie. We're not always sure if we're laughing with or at the film. Some of the overripe moments are surely intended to be comic, but Polanski also seems to think he's making a serious and searing study of the consequences of romantic obsession. The picture drags on for well over two hours, a sure sign that the director is taking his story far more seriously than it merits. Another major problem is the casting of Polanski's wife, Emmanuelle Seigner, who isn't a great beauty or a great actress. She's a bit of a lox, to tell the truth, so we can't really fathom the fascination that she engenders in the other three characters. Polanski's work no longer boasts the sense of proportion and precision that distinguished Repulsion or Rosemary's Baby. Where once his style was tart and pointedly macabre, now it's windy, ponderous and pointlessly baroque. As Oscar blabbers on and on, and the film keeps veering from present to past, it loses its moorings and finally sinks. What did you think of this movie? Sound off in the Movie Forum.