Pretty on the outside, hollow on the inside

“Wicker Park” is a piece of entertainment as tired and throwaway as a discount Harlequin paperback, but it comes sheathed in the flashiest of book covers.

A remake of the French import “L’Appartement,” the film is your typical boy-stalks-girl yarn.

The story, set in the title Chicago neighborhood, follows a melancholy advertising executive, Matthew (Josh Hartnett), who bails on an important business trip and a gorgeous fiancee to locate a woman he believes is his lost true love, Lisa (Diane Kruger).

Two other characters get caught up in Matthew’s obsessive tangle.

His old friend Luke (Matthew Lillard) serves as confidant, jester and voice of reason, though he’s a bit deranged.

And then there’s the witchy young woman (Rose Byrne) who lives in Lisa’s apartment and has her shoes, yet claims it’s her place and footwear.

The plot thickens and gnarls as narrative puzzle pieces are added via flashback and shifts in perspective.

There are moments in which audiences may struggle to decipher past from present tense, since there are only the vaguest visual cues distinguishing now from then.

And all the twists, secrets and intrigue lead to a dead end of Hollywood triteness, not to mention complete implausibility.

The cast members make for photogenic fashion victims, but the main couple displays far less charisma than the supporting players.

The innately affable Lillard brings a little lightness to the otherwise laugh-deprived fable. Byrne really should be the headliner in the ensemble, graced with the most complex role in the piece.

“Wicker Park” is a pleasingly freaky head trip, commanding rapt attention from start to finish. Upon leaving the theater, however, it drifts out of memory like steam curling from a mocha latte. Any effort expended on plot computation is futile, since the movie has not only the look of a fever dream, but the logic of one.