Nomads

Directed by John McTiernan, Nomads follows Lesley-Anne Down’s Eileen Flax as she begins experiencing hallucinations centered around a French anthropologist named Jean Charles Pommier (Pierce Brosnan). First-time filmmaker McTiernan, working from his own script, has infused Nomads with an extremely stylized (and extremely dated) feel that does, at the outset, hold some promise, as the director offers up an atmospheric, Michael Mann-like production that benefits from an appealingly oddball opening stretch loaded with off-kilter elements. It’s equally clear, however, that Nomads eventually (and lamentably) progresses into a tedious and hopelessly wheel-spinning midsection, with the decision to emphasize Eileen’s often stunningly tiresome visions ensuring that it becomes exceedingly difficult (if not impossible) to work up an ounce of interest in or enthusiasm for her exploits. (It’s all just so repetitive and incoherent.) By the time the potentially intriguing yet predictably underwhelming finale rolls around, Nomads has definitively cemented its place as a thoroughly inept and incompetent debut for a moviemaker who would certainly go on to much, much better things.

1/2* out of ****