Catwoman

By GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * )

By consensus, Halle Berry has one of the best bodies in Hollywood - which perhaps explains this under-dressed flesh-fest which is long on lingering shots of her leathers and somewhat shortchanged in other matters. You know, stuff like a decent script, a storyline that doesn't assume you are an idiot, dialogue which sounds vaguely plausible ... the little things.

The story, such as it is, goes like this: graphic designer Patience Philips (Berry) works in a high-powered cosmetics company owned by nasty George Hedare - played by Wilson, who is all sneers, megalomania, and off with a model while married to the aging but still gorgeous former model Laurel (Stone). For reasons which I missed because the fellow next to me was snoring, Berry turns into a catwoman when a kitty breathes into her mouth. Oh, and she's dead when this happens because she was killed when discovered in some off-limits area of the boss' factory.

It seems Hedare Beauty has developed a product which gives you an instantly youthful complexion but with the unfortunate side-effect that if you stop using it your face falls off. Fortunately the boss' wife hasn't, so she has a face as beautiful as ever - and as hard as a rock.

Catwoman prowls the night trying to sort all this stuff out but still manages to fall for the impossibly handsome Tom Lone (Bratt) who, like all cops in such comicbook flicks, doesn't recognise her when she has the kitty mask on.

As an Oscar-winner, Berry is hardly stretched in this, another minor league outing after the appalling Gothika. Her routine comes down to two alter-ego roles: as the coy, coquettish, nervous and permanently apologetic Patience; then the vampish Catwoman, who mostly leaps around in a manner more befitting a frog than a feline, or walks in that slightly disconcerting, hip-swinging manner models adopt whenever they're on the catwalk.

Either way, this slightly voyeuristic vehicle for Berry is also a minor embarrassment for all concerned - except perhaps Stone, who doesn't have to walk in an utterly ridiculous manner, has a marginally more meaty role as a rich bitch with a scheming mind, and gets to pose like she's going to say something sarcastic (but rarely does).

Patience's friend in the office, Sally (Alex Borstein) is only there to provide very small and obvious comic relief.

Catwoman - originally a Batman nemesis - has been in movies and television shows before and Berry's portrayal falls far short of the cool vamp quality that, say, Eartha Kitt brought to the part.

Berry might want to consider looking for a part more worthy of her talents than her toning.

CAST: Halle Berry, Benjamin Bratt, Sharon Stone, Lambert Wilson

DIRECTOR: Pitof

RUNNING TIME:105 minutes

RATING: M