Review: 'Stone' keeps the questions rolling

'Stone" isn't what you think it is, whatever you might think it is.

At first glance it appears to be some sort of gritty prison drama, with Edward Norton playing the title character, a wound-tight criminal, and Robert De Niro as Jack, the parole officer who holds the key to his release.

Enter Milla Jovovich as Stone's willing-to-do-anything wife, Lucetta, and you've got the setting for a standard erotic thriller, right?

Right and wrong. Because while all those elements are in play, neither writer Angus MacLachlan ("Junebug") nor director John Curran ("The Painted Veil," "We Don't Live Here Any More") are standard stuff guys.

Thus much of what's expected happens; but a lot also happens that's completely unexpected, from Stone's comical opening tirade to his (real or not?) conversion to a religious cult to Lucetta's downright demented demeanor and Jack's crumbling Christian home life.

The convict story ultimately turns into a question of transformation and honesty — is Stone, an outrageous character by any measure, actually undergoing a spiritual awakening, or is he playing Jack like a bad guitar?

All these questions and odd turns obviously make for an actors' showcase here, and De Niro and Norton have great fierce fun batting dialogue and duplicity back and forth. The Michigan-made "Stone" is probably worth seeing for their performances alone.

But Jovovich's unexpectedly strange sex kitten is just as enticing. As with everything in this film, she's hard to pin down, and that gives the movie its (admittedly odd) strength.

From its freak-squeak soundtrack to the questions that abound without answers, "Stone" is a disconcerting and challenging film. It leaves you wondering. How cool is that?

tlong@detnews.com (313) 222-8879