'Twin Peaks'ish tale of lawmen, serial killers

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree in Surveillance. Also not falling far from the tree in Jennifer Lynch's twisted, twisty thriller: cops with a jones for coffee, Feds with goofy epigrams ("There's only one way to unfold a note without tearing the paper"), grisly violence, a giddy, drugged-up blonde.

Exploring themes and motifs that her dad, the American noir filmmaker David Lynch, worked out in the early-'90s television series Twin Peaks, Jennifer Lynch heads for the heartland in this tale of serial killers, yokel police, a little girl who sees terrible things, and a pair of FBI agents brought in to clean up a bloody mess.

Lynch, in her belated sophomore effort - her controversial debut, Boxing Helena, came out in 1993 - lays out a blanket of jokey menace and dread. There's creepy humor in the depiction of a couple of rogue cops (Kent Harper is especially disturbing) shooting the tires of passing motorists and then messing with their heads - and bodies. Guns drawn, and psycho.

Bill Pullman and Julia Ormond are the visiting FBI agents, cocky and condescending as they pull into the local police station to take over the case, interviewing witnesses and grilling the bush-league local lawmen.

It's great to see Ormond, who had the thankless hospital-room role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, doing something fun and B-movie-ish. For a time, Surveillance is sick, smart fun. But then things get weird: yes, there's a big surprise, but its playout is predictable, and nasty.

Lynch upsets her own apple cart, so to speak.

Contact movie critic Steven Rea at 215-854-5629 or srea@phillynews.com. Read his blog, "On Movies Online," at http://go.philly.com/onmovies.