‘Search and Destroy’ Careens Into Chaos

Despite the title “Search and Destroy,” this isn’t a military piece, but at times it’s so irritating that one wishes writer Howard Korder had taken the title as advice for this script. Under the dual direction of Kent Dalian and Jeremy Renner at the Tamarind Theatre, this play is whiny, unsteady and not well-paced.

Martin (John David Hartfield) owes almost $50,000 in back taxes, and his last alimony check to his coke-sniffing ex-wife (Michelle Levinson) just bounced. In his sweaty, grasping desperation, Martin latches onto a 3 a.m. television infomercial for small-time psychobabble spiel-meister Dr. Luther Waxling (Craig Stark). If Martin can produce a movie on Waxling’s last book, he’ll be rolling in the bucks. Or so he thinks.

Hartfield isn’t charming enough to win our sympathy. Jeremy Renner oozes confidence as Martin’s shady partner, but like all the other relationships in this play, theirs is underdeveloped.

There’s harmless, sometimes campy humor in Korder’s script. But the play suddenly screeches into violent confrontations, and Dalian and Renner do not resolve these disparate tones.

Dalian and Renner could tighten up the action somewhat, but even that wouldn’t make this play enjoyable.

*

* “Search and Destroy,” Tamarind Theatre, 5919 Franklin Ave., Hollywood. Thursdays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Ends Feb. 22. $12. (213) 660-8587. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.