It's not too often that a film starts off with an interesting (if offbeat) premise, but then proceeds to deteriorate, getting worse with each passing minute.

The Eye (Ewan McGregor) is a reclusive British agent, based in Washington, DC, who specializes in high tech surveillance. His chief orders him, via a computer talking head named Hilary (k.d. lang), to figure out why a well-known politician's son has been withdrawing large amounts of money from his trust fund.

The Eye tails the youth to an apartment building, replete with dozens of uncovered windows, and sees him brutally murdered by the very woman he took up to his room. This woman is Joanna Eris (Ashley Judd), who turns out to be a full-on psycho, and master of disguise.

Naturally, The Eye is smitten with her.

He now follows her all over the U.S. (which looks too much like the actual Quebec locations) where she commits several more murders. To make matters worse, Eye is haunted by the specter of his daughter Lucy (Ann-Marie Brown), who, along with his wife, left him years earlier. The notion of Eye identifying with Joanna is at the heart of the novel this pic was based on, whereby a detective protects a serial killer because he believes her to be his long lost daughter. The problem is that, if anything, McGregor looks considerably YOUNGER than Judd, so this angle is D.O.A.

Obsessed with Joanna, Eye meets up with her reform school warden, Dr. Brault (Genevieve Bujold), who is revealed to be her mentor, and possibly her lover, as well.

The action now shifts to San Francisco, where Joanna meets, and eventually marries, Alex Leonard (Patrick Bergin), a blind wine baron. If there were any doubt that Eye had lost it, he is definitely confirmed as loony as he holes up in a bell tower, and shoots and kills Alex.

Joanna leaves Frisco soon after, and just drives, tailed by the ever- present Eye. Her car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and she is helped into the next town by Gary (Jason Priestley--film's best perf), a bleached blond druggie/all-purpose thug.

That evening, Gary puts the move on her, but is rebuffed. Not willing to just walk away, he starts to rough her up. Actually, we hope that he'll put her out of our misery--but it's not to be. Eye steps in, Guardian Angel like, and saves his serial killer.

Even though she was badly beaten, the next morning, she is off at the crack of dawn. Relying on ever-faithful Hilary, Eye is able to locate Joanna, now working as a waitress at the End of the World diner somewhere on the North Slope in Alaska. The Feds are after her, and even bring Dr. Brault along to the diner for an ID. Naturally, the good doctor lies and says that the suspect isn't Joanna, but the Feds aren't so sure.

Eye arranges for them to escape the diner and the cops, but Joanna ends up injured (or dead) in Eye's arms. Th-Th-Th-Th-That's all folks.

Unfortunately, the movie, when viewed, makes far less sense than this plot summary. It ends up being a tale of two psychos, played out as a travelogue.

The studio, realizing it had a dud on its hands, geared the trailers toward giving the very false impression of lots of voyeuristic nude shots of Judd. Sorry, guys. Blink and you'll miss the one nude scene.

Better yet, don't bother. A definite early candidate for worst pic of 2000.