HOME FRIES Reviewed by Jamie Peck
The dark, mischievous tone will therefore jar viewers expecting what they've been promised by TV spots and theatrical trailers, but fans of films like "Grosse Pointe Blank" should have a terrific time eating up the many offbeat pleasures "Home Fries" has to offer. Chief among them is seeing Luke Wilson, star of the indie great "Bottle Rocket," finally nail a lead role in a major studio picture; other charms include a plum role for Catherine O'Hara and a keen screenplay that combines disarmingly sweet characters with murder, mayhem and a few helicopter chases.
One such action sequence kicks off the movie, as a chopper navigated by two National Guardsmen (Wilson and Jake Busey) ends up scaring a middle-aged man to death. Turns out the pilots are the dead guy's stepsons, ordered by their domineering mom (O'Hara) to do away with him. To give away much else would risk ruining the increasingly surprising story, but a later destination worth noting is that Wilson's Dorian takes a part-time job at the local Burger-Matic, where he works alongside pregnant drive-thru cashier Sally (Barrymore). Sally, of course, has a more sinister connection to Dorian than she first suspects.
"Home Fries" eventually rushes towards an uncanny courtship between Sally and Dorian, and due to the adorably passive charisma of the actors, the sparks don't fly as much as they hover. A lesser movie might have run into a problem area there, but this low-key, fast-food romance seems perfectly rational in such a warped universe. Only helping matters is that Barrymore and Wilson are eternally likeable performers; how they turn a Lamaze class interlude into subtle, grin-inducing physical comedy without a gag-inducing sap factor is remarkable.
Though the ending fails to tie up the loose ends of some of the more convoluted story threads, "Home Fries" still ranks as an oddball delight, one that perhaps seems less askew given that the script was penned by "X-Files" producer Vince Gilligan. Credit him for creating an atypical combination of person and place that's worth a repeat visit, and credit debut director Dean Parisot for handling the material just right. Some may arguably carp that these collective efforts have produced the textbook definition of a "smallish film," but even so, "Home Fries" is still a side order that satisfies on its own.
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