Goodbye Lover

(Warner)

Patricia Arquette is the embodiment of self-absorbed depravity in Roland Joffé's noir-tinged tale of double-crossers and double indemnity, the sexy center of a twisty caper that convenes Dermot Mulroney as her drunkard husband, Don Johnson as an organ-playing PR pro, Mary-Louise Parker as a high-strung junior exec, and Ellen DeGeneres, as a cynical, take-no-guff cop. It's familiar, Coen Brothers territory, yet the film packs enough sly dialogue, narrative surprises, and arty touches to hold its own. Besides, any world that scores a murder scene to Julie Andrews's "So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye" can't be all bad.