My favorite Neil LaBute film: "Nurse Betty." Rene Zellweger stars as a delusional innocent who witnesses the murder of her husband, loses her memory, and subsequently believes she is a character in her favorite soap opera. It was funny. Zellweger was cute. Neil LaBute did not write the screenplay. Therefore, "Nurse Betty" did not seem like a "Neil LaBute" production.

The most laughable Neil LaBute film: "Possession." It was dreadful. Gwyneth Paltrow plays the ice-queen intellectual, her hair pulled tightly back, who pairs off with the dashing, brash, American Ph.D. candidate to solve a literary mystery. I laughed through the screening to the discomfort of my guest, who thought that perhaps some people were enjoying the film. Neil LaBute did not have a hand in writing this one either. It was adapted from an A.S. Byatt novel by the same name. Therefore, "Possession," an inconsequential, forgettable film, also does not seem like a "Neil LaBute" film.

Of the real "Neil LaBute" films -- the real ones, written, directed and crackling with the mean-spirited, acerbic wit audiences have come to expect of Hollywood's most famous Mormon: "The Company of Men," "Your Friends and Neighbors" and "The Shape of Things." The most engaging, cruel but compelling, likable Neil LaBute film of this collection is, hands down, the one in theaters now: "The Shape Of Things."

From the first scene, where a hip graduate art student Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) exchanges dialogue with dorky security guard/graduate student Adam (Paul Rudd) in a university museum, the film feels like a play. In fact, LaBute adapted the film from his play which was previously performed in London and New York, featuring the same cast. I have no problem with a film feeling like a play. The hyper dialogue with its circular conversation is engaging and keeps the audience on its toes.

Evelyn is the female counterpart of those rogues in "In the Company of Men." If men can behave badly, so can women. You could call Evelyn an evildoer, though in the small sense of the word. She's not taking on the world, just one friendly, vaguely pathetic guy. Grateful and smitten, Adam is putty in Evelyn's hands. Soon he is losing weight, getting hair cuts, donning a new, surgically created nose, and a new Tommy Hilfiger jacket. Adam will do whatever Evelyn wants to make himself more worthy.

Into the picture come Adam's friends, Jennie (Gretchen Mol) and Phillip (Frederick Weller), who are planning their underwater wedding ceremony. Weller is laughably pompous and arrogant, and Mol is charming and lovely as the insecure bride-to-be. Neither is safe from Evelyn's manipulations.

What separates "The Shape Of Things" from LaBute's other films is the ick factor, which is considerably mitigated by the charm of Eveyln and Jennie. I loved the insidious, uber-creepy, hilarious monologue Jason Patrick delivers in a sauna in "Your Friends and Neighbors." But I have nothing else to say for this study of urban married couples but ick. Icky ick ick. Who are people, and why am I spending time with them? The same is true for "The Company of Men."

I always enjoyed Rachel Weisz' bad girl in action. She's as sadistic as any trademark Neil LaBute character, but for some reason, I have no problem with her. It's not just that Weisz looks great, which she does--long, fuzzy coats, funny caps and hair, tight T-shirts, the model bone structure--but the intensity of her character. Evelyn's cruelty is inspired by a lofty goal: the creation of high art. If Evelyn turns out to be not particularly talented, she is earnest--which is compelling and heartbreaking in its own right. In the end, with three trampled hearts on Evelyn's scorecard, my heart went out to the evildoer.