Don't be fooled by the character names in Nicolas Roeg's well-received, ironic and thought-provoking comedy drama. They may be called The Professor (Michael Emil), The Actress (Theresa Russell), The Senator (Tony Curtis) and The Ballplayer (Gary Busey), but screenplay and performances - particularly that of Russell, who is seen standing over a subway grating while a gust of air blows her dress above her knees - make it quite clear who the protagonists really are - Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Senator Joseph McCarthy and Joe Di Maggio. Terry Johnson, ingeniously adapting his play for the screen, comes up with a fascinating proposition. The famous four meet in a New York hotel room one night in 1954 during which, among many strange delights, Monroe explains the Theory of Relativity to Emil's Einstein! Roeg has always been an ambitious filmmaker, both in terms of subject and style, as such films as Walkabout, The Man Who Fell To Earth and Eureka have demonstrated. Here subject and style are smartly integrated.

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