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"'Providence'
Worth a Visit"
by Scott Mantz
"Outside Providence"
Shawn Hatosy, Alec Baldwin
Directed by Michael Corrente
When an actor
is known for a distinctive style, it can be hard to break out and
try something different. Bill Murray took on a serious role in "The
Razor's Edge", but nobody cared. The same went for Meg Ryan when
she teamed with real-life hubby Dennis Quaid for "Flesh and Bones".
This can also happen to filmmakers. The mere mention of the brothers
Peter and Bobby Farrelly bring to mind the zany slapstick and gross-out
humor of their films "Dumb and Dumber", "Kingpin", and "There's
Something About Mary".
Capitalizing
on the latter's enormous success, Mirimax Pictures is advertising
"Outside Providence" as being "from the guys who brought you 'There's
Something About Mary'". People expecting more of the same are going
to be disappointed, but that's a good thing. While "Providence"
boasts some of the humor you'd expect from the Farrellys, it is
at heart a surprisingly warm and sensitive coming-of-age film. Think
"Heaven Help Us" meets "Dazed and Confused", and there you have
"Outside Providence".
Tim Dunphy (Shawn
Hatosy) is a slacker teen in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1974. He
has nothing better to do than hang out with his druggie buddies
(one of whom goes by the name "Drugs") and get high. After he gets
in trouble one too many times, his blue collar father (Alec Baldwin)
sends him off to a strict prep school, where he is sure Tim will
get his act together. While at school, Tim falls for the beautiful
and brainy Jane (Amy Smart) and grows up (sort of).
While the Farrellys
did not direct "Providence", they did produce and co-write the screenplay
from Peter's semi-autobiographical 1988 book. Director Michael Corrente
sympathetically captures the desperation of growing up in a small
working class town where there is literally nothing to do. It's
no wonder Tim and his friends smoke so much pot and get into trouble.
Corrente uses 70's hits from The Who, Steely Dan, and Paul McCartney
and Wings to accentuate the nostalgia without becoming cartoonish.
While Hatosy
is fine as young Tim, Alec Baldwin puts in his best performance
since his all-too-brief appearance in "Glengarry Glen Ross". Baldwin
has obviously let himself go, and his hefty appearance adds to the
gruff working-class role (hopefully it was intentional!). He tries
to retain a tough exterior to shield himself and his family from
the painful loss of his wife, but love and pride for his sons peer
through in unusual ways, keeping him sympathetic.
"Providence"
boasts some pretty funny laugh-out-loud moments. When the prep school
headmaster intercepts a letter to Tim, his deadpan recital of its
contents is hysterical. There are enough drug references to make
the teens in "Dazed and Confused" jealous. The Farrelly's brand
of humor creeps through every now and then, especially at the expense
of the physically impaired, but what would a Farrelly film be like
without at least one obligatory gross-out scene?
Traditionally,
the end of August has been seen as the dumping ground for studio
films that have no prospects. With the exception of Baldwin, there
are no marquee names here to bring in the crowds. However, as the
last summer of the Millennium comes to an end, here's your chance
to catch a heartwarming film so rooted in the 20th Century, you'd
never know we were almost outside of it.
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