naif

“Pillion” isn’t judgmental, but it also doesn’t expect Melling’s naif to like everything his partner orders him to do.

The first four made a point of swapping directors and moods and even Ethan’s core identity: Brian De Palma made him a jaundiced naif; John Woo, a hot-blooded flirt; J.J.

The highfalutin parallel is to “Candide,” the classic 18th century novel about a naif who endures the horrors of civilization: chaos, selfishness, disease and destruction.

Even at 78, he remained the wonderstruck naif with a goodness so powerful it could transport all of us into another dimension.

Rogan, wearing his persona as a babe-in-the-woods naif, listened to this nonsense in slack-jawed stupefaction.