The X-Files: I Want to Believe

2008 20th Century Fox
Directed by: Chris Carter; Written by: Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz
Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, and Xzibit
MPAA Rating: PG-13; Running Time: 104 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 5/10

Former FBI Agent, Fox Mulder, has been wanted by his old bureau of employment for years. However, the FBI approaches Mulder's old professional partner, and current romantic partner, Dana Scully, with an invitation: if Mulder helps the FBI with a current case, he'll receive a pardon. That case involves a bevy of missing women, as well as a convicted pedophile ex-priest, who is allegedly having visions of the missing women's whereabouts. Meanwhile, Scully has left the FBI completely to focus on her medical career. As she seeks experimental treatment for a young patient with a rare illness, she faces opposition from the strict Catholic hospital at which she practices. As Scully tries to convince Mulder that he's being conned by the so-called psychic, the ex-priest gives Scully frighteningly prescient advice. Should she and Mulder press on toward their respective goals, even when belief is hard to come by?
A decade after The X-Files' first cinematic foray, and six years after the television series limped to the finish line, Chris Carter's landmark franchise returns to the big screen with 2008's I Want to Believe. Unfortunately, it does so in a way that's low-key, even for a more bare bones episode, featuring a story that goes nowhere, and a high-concept philosophical reach that far extends its grasp. Considering I Want to Believe's shockingly muted tone, slow pace, and quiet visual and emotional palette, it's unclear why Carter, who directed and co-wrote the film with franchise-vet, Frank Spotnitz, even bothered. 

The heavy-lifting is thus left to stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, who as Mulder and Scully, are still magnetic presences with incredible chemistry. As the plot dinks and dunks, Duchovny and Anderson continue on just as if they're in a top-tier episode, and their mere presence not only makes the film bearable, but actually engaging for at least some of its runtime. As a result, fans should catch I Want to Believe for a 2008 check-in with Mulder and Scully, but anyone else just looking for a good story or an involving film should watch the 1998 X-Files movie instead.