Many moons ago, Vincent Gallo was often cited as the next big thing in Hollywood. It was his turn in the indie film Palookaville that first caused a stir, soonly followed by the remarkable 1998 Buffalo 66, which he wrote, directed and starred in alongside Christina Ricci.

Unfortunately for Gallo, his success got the better of him and he did a Mickey Rourke in thinking he wasn't just the next big thing but in fact simply the biggest thing. Seemingly suffering from a form of celluloid gigantism – Gallo becoming too big for his boots and having too big a head for hats – Hollywood decided to give him a harsh reality check and kicked his career to the curb.

Since then he has appeared in numerous forgettable titles, including the recent Francis Ford Coppola film Tetro which no-one bothered to see.

Essential Killing is a collaboration with Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski. With its interesting premise, this is exactly the kind of niche project that you would expect to see Gallo involved in, but perhaps it’s not one with mass appeal.

After killing three US troops, Mohammed (Gallo) gets captured by US forces and taken to a secret location, somewhere in Europe.

During his time being transported from one location to the next, the vehicle he's in crashes and he manages to escape. Finding himself in a snow wilderness, he has to think on his bare feet and head off into the unknown as his captors do their best to track him down. Not only are there troops on his tail, but he's also having to fight against the harshest of elements in order to survive.

I don't care what you say, I am better than Brando!

Despite Gallo's involvement, this is very much a European film. Skolimowski has shot it in such a way that it wouldn't look out of place in a gallery as an art installation. It's hardly surprising really when you take into consideration that its director took a seventeen year sabbatical from filmmaking so he could devote more time to his other passion painting. It shows too, with the film looking hauntingly beautiful throughout.

He gets a great performance out of the notoriously difficult Gallo too, although he's probably helped by the fact that he has no dialogue throughout the film. That said, the interview with Skolimowski included on the Blu-ray intimates that Gallo's method acting was the source of much distress amongst the crew. So it seems that some difficult leopards are still not prepared to change their spots.

Gallo clearly has a gift for acting, it's just a shame he wraps it up in impenetrable ego. There's still a chance that he's just pulled a stunt like Joaquin Phoenix did with I'm Still Here, only lasting his entire career. It's doubtful though.

Whether his performance in it marks the kind of comeback that Mickey Rourke finally mustered is uncertain; after all, if you don't learn your lesson after being sent out to the snowy middle of nowhere with nothing on your feet and forbidden to speak, when will you?

To say that the film is The Fugitive starring Bear Grylls, makes it sound a little more exciting than it is, but it's not that far off the mark. Gallo's character is hunted from the off, and it's his interaction with his bleak surroundings that manage to keep your attention. And the film's cinematography is strong enough to compensate for the lack of any narrative.

Although it literally runs out of ideas by the end, Essential Killing is the kind of cinematic curiosity that is worth investigating.