Solid Acting Can’t Save Routine ‘Bird’

Director Temistocles Lopez and his actors try hard to lift “Bird of Prey,” said to be the first privately financed Bulgarian-American co-production, above the routine, but succeed only by a couple of notches.

More than anything else, the picture points up the challenges facing the formerly government-subsidized Eastern European cinemas in the post-communist era. In need of financing from abroad, the Eastern Europeans are understandably tempted by becoming involved in genre material designed for international audiences. But the risk is in turning out standard fare that in today’s highly competitive marketplace is better off going straight to video stores or cable, at least in the United States.

“Bird of Prey” is a tale of love and revenge as Boyan Milushev’s Nick Milev, fresh out of prison for an attack on the Sofia-based drug-and-arms dealer (Richard Chamberlain) responsible for his policeman father’s death, is still out for vengeance. He’ll be aided by an American journalist (Lenny Von Dohlen), a fellow convict, also just released for having probed too deeply in the affairs of men like Chamberlain’s suave, reflective Jonathan Griffith. The arrival of Griffith’s daughter Kily (Jennifer Tilly), the ultimate naive American who barely knows her father and who seems to have little curiosity about the source of his obvious wealth, complicates matters when she and Nick meet and fall in love.

Lopez wisely plays against plot, emphasizing characterization. He brings to the very different relationships between the lean, dark Nick and the free-spirited Kily and between Griffith and Carla (Lesley Ann Warren), an entertainer at Griffith’s casino, the keen sense of observation and sensuality that characterized his “Circle of Love,” his wise and engaging updating of “La Ronde.” Like “Circle of Love,” “Bird of Prey” is handsome and makes splendid use of Sofia’s beautiful and unfamiliar settings.

Written by Milushev and others, “Bird of Prey,” while topical, just isn’t distinctive enough to be special. By far the film’s strongest presence, Warren is memorable, both as a skilled and loverly cabaret performer and a seen-it-all woman who has fallen in love with a cold, evil man, who has nevertheless given her the only security she has ever known. Tilly’s abilities go a long way toward making Kily seem naive instead of dumb and Chamberlain brings a well-mannered, sophisticated worldliness to the nefarious Griffith. Rounding out the key cast is Robert Carradine as Griffith’s casino manager, also in love with Kily.

Hampering “Bird of Prey’s” effectiveness is a sizable framing story that takes place entirely in Bulgarian--and without subtitles. The lack of subtitles, which works against involvement in the film, actually underlines the redundancy of these sections. Without them “Bird of Prey” might have had a better chance at taking flight.

* MPAA rating: R, for sexuality, language and some violence. Times guidelines: The film is relatively mild for its R rating but is still not for children.

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‘Bird of Prey’

Jennifer Tilly: Kily Griffith

Boyan Milushev: Nick Milev

Richard Chamberlain: Jonathan Griffith

Lesley Ann Warren: Carla Carr

A Cabin Fever Entertainment presentation of a BM 5 Film and Sneak Preview production in association with First Private Bank, Sofia Bulgaria. Director Temistocles Lopez. Producers Boyan Milushev and Jonathan Debin. Executive producer Steven J. Wolfe. Screenplay by Milushev, James J. Mellon, Tracy Hall Adams and Lynette Prucha; from a story by Milushev. Cinematographer David Knaus. Editors Ila von Hasperg and Tracy Hall Adams. Costumes Karen Perry. Music Brian Clifton. Production designer Robert Harbour. Art director Ivan Andreev. Set decorator Simeon Krastev. Running time: 1 hour, 43 minutes.

* Exclusively at the Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 274-6869.