Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (**1/2)

Perfume is a well-directed (by Run Lola Run's Tom Tywker), stylish tale with a strong beginning and ending, but a muddled-up middle section that can't sustain the proper tone. It's definitely a weird film that takes chances, and does a decent job of capturing smells on screen, but it never really connects with the audience. Dustin Hoffman is really out of place here, hamming it up as the lead character's mentor.