Beyond skin deep, thanks to a runaway mole

Writer-director Rhett Smith’s “The Enigma With a Stigma” is an amusing allegory about the perils and power of being different. Smith frames it as a documentary on a nice guy (Michael Naughton) who’s getting married in two weeks but has just discovered what looks to be a boil on the left side of his chest.

His airhead fiancee (Jennifer Elise Cox) insists that it must be removed before they walk down the aisle, but a doctor (Roy Jenkins) tells him it is a Euclid and may grow anywhere from 6 inches to 2 feet. Why, even he, the doctor, has a Euclid, as does 20% of the human race. Some of the most creative and influential people in history have had Euclids -- for example, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Pliny the Elder -- declares the doctor. Therefore, it would be a shame to remove it when it has the potential to change one’s life for the better. The doctor enthusiastically presses on Naughton a booklet, “You and Your Euclid” and sends him off to a Euclids Anonymous meeting.

“The Enigma With a Stigma” certainly has its moments as the sudden emergence of an admittedly odd but harmless physical difference starts to shake up Naughton and spur him into thinking about his actually quite dull existence and scarcely promising future with his spoiled, shallow fiancee. There are some very funny lines throughout, and it’s a pleasure to discover Taylor Negron among the members of Euclids Anonymous. He’s a guru who declares to his acolytes “God is my butler! I want it, and I want it now!!!”

But the film ultimately suffers from typical low-budget indie curses: It’s way, way overwritten and therefore devoid of energy. Even so, Smith is to be encouraged. (And what’s most encouraging is that he’s an equal opportunity satirist, evenhandedly poking fun at everybody.) He has a sweet sensibility, a relaxed way with actors -- there’s something like 50 speaking parts in the film, and every actor is ideally cast and right on target -- and above all he has a delightful off-the-wall comic imagination. With fewer characters, and more zip, style and outrageousness, Smith might well generate more impact the next time around. In being too talky “The Enigma With a Stigma” ends up being too slight for theatrical venues and is better suited for DVD release.

*

‘The Enigma With a Stigma’

MPAA rating: Unrated

An Anthem Pictures presentation. Writer-director-producer Rhett Smith. Cinematographer Mark Ritchie. Editor Sergio Villa. Production designer Jamie Neese. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.

Exclusively at Laemmle’s Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 274-6869.