Playing a cocky, arrogant "windy-city" attorney isn't much of a stretch for Richard Gere, and he's really in his element as Martin Vail, whose ego is bigger than the Chicago River.

But the script for "Primal Fear" doesn't help him much, as it's loaded with ridiculous plot twists (that I won't give away), which escalate the film's level of silliness until it ultimately self-destructs. In addition, the central murder mystery revolves around a gruesome, ludicrous Catholic-bashing series of events.

Vail is a pop-star attorney, one whose fame has eclipsed his work. He's more concerned with publicity than defending clients in trouble. So, when he takes on a sen-sa-tion-al case that is guaranteed to give him more front-page headlines, he concentrates on his image first, his defendant second.

The defendant is shy, naive, stammering Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton), an altar boy who was found running from the scene after the archbishop of Chicago was brutally murdered. Meanwhile, the prosecutor is a woman (Laura Linney) with whom Vail once had a relationship, and for some reason, neither side seems to care much about legal protocol or rules of evidence as they pull all kinds of surprises on each other during the trial.

The quip-laden dialogue seems clever in some early scenes, especially when Vail is being interviewed for a magazine profile and asks the writer for an assurance that it's going to be a cover story. But even the talk becomes campy, as when a deputy district attorney (Terry O'Quinn) tells Vail, "You're worse than the (expletive) thugs you represent!"

The performances are all good, especially newcomer Norton, who is quite charming in the film's first half and is later required to evolve in another direction. But it's a shame to see a movie populated by the likes of Alfre Woodard, Fran-ces McDormand and John Mahoney, and then see that they have nothing to do.

Director Gregory Hoblit, a TV veteran of shows like "Hill Street Blues," "L.A. Law" and "NYPD Blue," handles the material in a straight-forward manner, but the script, by veteran screenwriter Steve Shagan (whose work ranges from the Oscar-nominated "Voyage of the Damned" to the vampire-bat exploitation flick "Night-wing") and Ann Biderman ("Copycat") is replete with problems.

And worse, it treats audience members like idiots.

"Primal Fear" is rated R for violence, gore, sex, nudity, profanity and vulgarity.