Roman is a welder who is unhappy with his job and a loner who is unhappy with his life. His only thrill is his attraction to a girl that he's been watching (more like stalking) at his apartment complex. When he finally gets to meet her, he sits on his butt and doesn't say much. But no problem. The pretty girl, Isis, is inexplicably drawn to him and immediately carries the conversation. One thing leads to another and within days they end up inside his apartment. Being the dweeb that Roman is, he refuses to let Isis leave and accidentally kills her. Again, no problem. Roman merely ices her up in the bathtub, cuts off her body parts here and there, and buries them in a pastoral setting in the country. Meanwhile, he meets cute eccentric neighbor Eva, who likes to wear plants in her hair and on her clothes (no kidding, folks). As with Isis, Eva seems inexplicably drawn to Roman, though she could certainly do much better than the jerk. But it's also possible that Eva is even nuttier than Roman. Or maybe not. Maybe she has other ideas. Could be she's an undercover cop. Maybe she's the sister of the murdered girl, looking for revenge on Roman. Whatever the case, she is about to have a big impact on his life.

A quick glance through the credits of this movie might cause the viewer to blink. Yes, ROMAN is directed by none other than Angela Bettis, the star of MAY and the TV remake of CARRIE. And yes, it's written and produced by Lucky McKee, who wrote and directed MAY. McKee also cast himself as Roman, the title character. Whether one likes MAY or not, everyone pretty much agrees it's a weird thriller that steps away from the mainstream. So, one would think that ROMAN is the same kind of off-the-beaten path flick. Guess again. Oh, it tries hard to be different. Really hard. And in some ways it even succeeds. But there's one big problem that keeps getting in the way – the lead character. McKee jumps into the character Roman with everything he has, but it doesn't stop Roman from being a dullard who is, well, basically a loser. Even if it is McKee's intent to play the character exactly that way, it doesn't matter. What you get is a psychological profile of a tedious guy – period. It doesn't work.

Some of Bettis' vision momentarily brings high points to the project. She engages in colorful imagery during dream sequences that closely resembles some of the visuals found in trippy 70's LSD films. It's actually kind of cool. I also like some of the framing and angles of other shots throughout the picture. But something is flat out wrong here, and I suspect the root of the problem can be found in the screenplay. I have read that McKee wrote the script in three days when he was in college. There could be something to that. I mean, this production feels as if it awkwardly over-dieted, causing it to shed pounds of plot and character substance. If the story about McKee slamming through the script in a short time is true, then perhaps it explains the project's filler moments and puzzling emptiness, not to mention why it seems so creatively anorexic.

The characters cause some concern as well. The monotony of the film falls squarely on lead character Roman's shoulders, because he's simply not interesting. We've seen far more fascinating psychological studies on much more complex and compelling demented loners in other films. Yes, the murder is an accident, but his behavior before, during, and after the crime suggests that he's a wacko. But he's a dull wacko and that's bad news. Then you have the two girls. Isis is played convincingly by Kristen Bell. That's not a problem. But what the heck is her character doing flirting with a geek like Roman? There is no believability in her being attracted to him. It's not in his charisma that intrigues her, because he hasn't any. It's not his conversation, because he says nothing that should fascinate her. At least Nectar Rose's Eva has a somewhat justifiable agenda in getting involved with Roman, though a lot of that is based on the fact that she's an oddball.

I received a screener copy, so I didn't get to see any of the extras. According to the box, the special features on the disc sold at stores contains a commentary track by Bettis, interviews with the cast, deleted scenes, and outtakes. Both the picture and sound quality are just okay. Do I recommend ROMAN to genre fans? Not really. Perhaps Angela Bettis fans might enjoy the novelty of the production, but even they will probably get restless while viewing the movie.