Noise

The black comedy Noise may be a one-joke movie but it's a resonant one.

Robbins plays David with the self-assurance that there's no combination sexier than smart, funny and self-righteously angry.

Noise is never quite as smart as it tries to be. But as summer and its mouth-breathing blockbusters loom large on the horizon, there's something touching about a movie that even tries.

Bean fills in some empty spaces with heady thoughts about the nature of power and beauty, but the movie's real appeal lies in the simple but by no means inconsiderable pleasure of watching Tim Robbins take a hammer to a parked car as it wails pointlessly, deep into the night.

Noise ultimately becomes a slice of city life instead of a great satire.

Bean always writes interesting scripts that toy with big ideas, but the films that result aren't always good. (Or even bearable.) Here he sets out to make an aural "Fight Club," but instead he's made a movie about a guy who really needs to buy earplugs.

Despite its intriguing premise, the movie is a disappointing misfire.