CHILL FACTOR

Apparently, if Hollywood shows Cuba Gooding Jr. enough money, he’ll appear in just about anything — even a film that features a chemical weapon nicknamed “Elvis.”

The once-promising actor is quickly becoming one of Hollywood’s least reliable performers. In 1998, he starred with Robin Williams in the nightmarishly corny “What Dreams May Come,” and earlier this year he appeared with Anthony Hopkins in “Instinct,” a rotten film that proved Gooding lacked any cinematic instincts.

Where has Gooding gone wrong? Certainly not just in his choice of films. For four years, he has been playing exhausted variations of the role that won him an Academy Award in “Jerry Maguire.” It’s as if the actor can’t accept a role that doesn’t require him to be manic — which, for this critic, is becoming rather, well, depressive.

“Chill Factor” is no exception. The film, which has more meat and potatoes than a Hungry Man frozen entree, is about a chemical weapon tucked within a canister (the aforementioned “Elvis”) that must be kept below 50 degrees — or else it will explode!

That’s the premise, but who cares if the canister explodes or if it’s caught by a group of unintentionally hilarious commandos fighting to steal it so they can sell it on the open market? When you have two bumbling idiots like Arlo (Gooding) and his sidekick Tim (Skeet Ulrich) trying to save the world, you have to question whether this particular world is worth saving at all. Grade: D-

OUTSIDE PROVIDENCE

If it weren’t for its cute, one-legged dog and the names of its characters (Dildo, Jizz, Drugs, Mousy and Thunderturd,) Michael Corrente’s “Outside Providence” would be difficult to peg as a Peter Farrelly movie.

Farrelly, who, along with his brother Bobby, brought audiences “There’s Something About Mary” and “Dumb & Dumber,” is actually the focus of this film, a coming-of-age story based on his 1988, semi-autobiographical novel set in 1974.

The film, which is being touted as “an outrageous comedy,” does have its funny, sometimes outlandish moments, but it’s equally a drama; it feels like “Rushmore” crossed with “Dead Poets Society” and “A Separate Peace.” It follows Tim Dunphy (Shawn Hatosy), a blue-collar pothead kid with a bigot for a father (Alec Baldwin), who sends him to a Connecticut prep school after he crashes into a police car.

There’s very little new here, and the film truly is a hive of cliches, but it’s nevertheless a likable mix saved by its good performances. The scenes between Hatosy and Baldwin aren’t as good or as affecting as those shared between Nick Nolte and James Coburn in “Affliction,” but they’re strong — certainly strong enough to make you wish Baldwin was making more movies. Grade: B-

Christopher Smith’s “Week in Rewind” appears each Thursday in The Scene. Each Tuesday on WLBZ’s “News Center 5:30 Today” and “News Center Tonight,” he appears in Cinema Center. His reviews now can be seen statewide each Saturday and Sunday on WCSH and WLBZ’s “Morning Report.”