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Nice-guy dentist Dave Hurst (Campbell Scott) has had a brush with a difficult patient, a snarling musician (Denis Leary) who won't get his wisdom teeth pulled until he's in agony. But he's got another problem: he's just found out his dentistry-school sweetheart wife Dana is having an affair. Does he roll up his sleeves and operate immediately? Or does he wait and see? Either way, in Alan Rudolph's brilliant The Secret Lives Of Dentists, this may hurt a bit...

Scott (The Spanish Prisoner) can come across as a cold fish on screen, which is why he's magnificent here. Dave's a little stiff, but he's a devoted husband and a tireless, loving dad to his and his wife's three young daughters. When his perfect nuclear family shows signs of meltdown, he reacts by fantasising conversations with his least favourite patient. While Dave continues to be his normal, generous self with his wife and kids, Leary - reviving the splenetic shtick that made his name - sits dispensing venomous advice at his shoulder like a meddlesome bad angel. These scenes are both funny and poignant, as the repressed family man tries to contain his anger at his wife's betrayal.

"A RIVETING AND EMOTIONAL JOURNEY"

A perfect script turns this button-down family drama into a riveting and emotional journey. Scott is maddeningly restrained but totally sympathetic, while Hope Davis as Dana is victim as well as villain. Even the kids - notably little Cassidy Hinkle - are great. This is one trip to the dentists you'll be glad you took.