UNFAITHFUL — ** — Diane Lane, Richard Gere, Olivier Martinez, Erik Per Sullivan, Chad Lowe, Kate Burton, Dominic Chianese, Zeljko Ivanek; rated R (sex, nudity, profanity, gore, brief violence); see the "On the Screen" column for complete listing of local theaters.

For his own good, as well as that of future generations of moviegoers, Adrian Lyne needs to stop making films in any genre that could be conceivably be labeled "erotic." The British-born director peaked with 1987's "Fatal Attraction" but then managed to follow that major success with an undeserved hit (1993's "Indecent Proposal") and a real clunker adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel "Lolita."

Lyne's latest, the erotic thriller "Unfaithful," further demonstrates just how far his storytelling skills have eroded. For example, he appears to be concentrating so much on staging the elaborate sex scenes that he fails to notice how far this train wreck has gone off the rails.

Of course, he's not the only one to blame. A lot of other talented people also participated in this surprisingly smarmy little movie, which thinks it's smarter than it is.

What story there is concentrates on a suburban New York family, the Sumners. Edward (Richard Gere) owns his own armored security-vehicle business, while his wife Connie (Diane Lane) is busy at home with their 8-year-old son (Erik Per Sullivan, from TV's "Malcolm in the Middle").

Though she probably should be content, Connie finds herself thinking more and more about Paul (French actor Olivier Martinez), a used-book seller she met by chance during a freak windstorm. And the next thing you know, the two are hitting the sheets on a regular basis, and the still quite-attractive housewife suddenly becomes energized and invigorated by her indiscretions. This doesn't go unnoticed by the couple's friends, or by Edward, who hires a private detective (Dominic Chianese, from TV's "The Sopranos") to trail her and confirm his worst suspicions.

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Not to give too much away, but from there the film takes some really ludicrous turns (it's hard to say what, if any, message the filmmakers are trying to impart). Also, the film never really survives it first-hour transition from being a story about Connie to a story about the much less-interesting character of Edward.

To her credit, Lane looks better than ever, but all that does is give Lyne an excuse to show her in various states of undress. As for Gere, he is an interesting choice to play a cuckolded husband, but he's not entirely convincing in that role, or as a devoted father.

"Unfaithful" is rated R for scenes of sexual contact, simulated sex, full female nudity, scattered use of strong sex-related profanity, gore and a brief scene of violence (a bludgeoning). Running time: 123 minutes.


E-mail: jeff@desnews.com

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