Quiet, please.

Since there was no baseball tonight (egad) I took a break and watched a film I had meant to see in the theater, but alas, it didn't last in theaters very long.

Tim Robbins stars as a sort of superhero/vigilante who tries to rid the world (or New York City specifically) of all the background noise to which most of us have either become accustomed or have accepted as the normal way of life.

It starts out nicely enough and builds to something ... or so I thought ... but quickly degrades into a bit of a farce, as though the screen writer's supply of dope ran out midway through the film and he suddenly resorted to using his normal brainpower. The built-up angst eventually scatters into space as our hero winds up taking the normal route (through politics) and gives up his thrilling car-smashing and tire-slashing because (here we go) his family is ashamed of him.

OK, is he a bit of a lunatic? Sure. But, in his heart you know he's right, and if you live in an area that is at least plagued by car alarms and loud motorcycles at all hours (like me), you'll see his point if not understand his motives.

Where the film misses the mark is in not pursuing Robbins' character as a bit of a Dark Knight, patrolling the city in search of wayward car alarms and the din of building burglar alarms. It could have been a charming effort and made us sympathetic of him, but instead made me look at the clock and wonder how they were going to wrap this up in 89 minutes.

There's the obligatory sex scene, with a European girl wondering about the beauty of her vagina (hint: don't worry, be happy) and Robbins eventually finding his soul mate, only to have her wander off somehow.

In the end, it leaves us with more questions unanswered than answered. It's a nice idea - that the world is too noisy and we have only grown to accept it - but the idea isn't realized on film. It might make you think about all the background noise in your life - cell phones, leaf blowers and burglar alarms - but it won't make you want to run out and do anything about it.