Cinema

By RICHARD SCHICKEL

The film is nine-tenths exposition. Has to be, since there can be no easy (or convincing) explanation of how a 1940s murder mystery finally gets resolved, with a little help from reincarnation, in the '90s. Yet despite all that boring talk, DEAD AGAIN is a hit, the late-blooming rose of a movie summer that was mostly mulch. How come? Well, as a director, Kenneth Branagh is all distracting bustle, briskly shooing us past his picture's many dubious moments. As an actor he gives a flashy performance -- two accents, neither of which is native to him -- in a dual role. And he had the good sense to cast his wife Emma Thompson in both roles opposite him. She's an attractive lady no matter what era you encounter her in. But nothing quite accounts for this silly movie's surprise success. The idea of having but one life to lead has always been a bummer, but never more than it is for today's health-conscious audience. Movies like this one (and Ghost) suggest that working out and eating right are not in vain. If they can't assure immortality, they may at least keep you fit for the second go-around. -- R.S.