Outside Providence (1999) 2 stars out of 4. Stars Shawn Hatosy, Alec Baldwin and Amy Smart. Written by Peter and Bobby Farrelly and Michael Corrente. Directed by Corrente
Now that the Farrelly brothers, Peter and Bobby, have said something about Mary, they are taking a semi-sentimental turn and tackling father-son relationships and the maturing process of '70s teen-agers.
"Outside Providence," based on a novel by Peter Farrelly, is the story of Timothy Dunphy (Shawn Hatosy), a blue-collar kid from Pawtucket, R.I., who is on the fast track to nowhere.
He spends most of his time drinking and smoking pot with his friends. He has no plans for his future and just lives from one toke to the next.
But after an accident in which Timothy rams into a parked police cruiser, his gruff, tough-talking dad (Alec Baldwin) ships him off to a tony prep school in the hopes that Tim will straighten out his life.
Instead, Tim finds himself over his head and out of his league socially and academically.
It's not until he meets Jane (Amy Smart) that he decides to actually begin taking school seriously and concentrate on graduating.
"Outside Providence" is not a side-splitting comedy. It's an uneasy mixture of sentiment and humor, but the two never seem to mesh.
Some scenes go nowhere, just stopping, as if the camera ran out of film.
The film does not seem to have a main focus, switching from subplot to subplot, while allowing other minor story points to merely disappear.
For example, Tim's nerdy roommate, Irving, talks a lot about a girl he met at summer camp who later dumped him. Two scenes between Tim and Irving revolve around this girl. We even see her picture, as Tim encourages Irving to call her and try to patch things up.
But there is no payoff. The entire matter is dropped, and we never know the outcome.
The reason for other situations are never fully explained. The animosity, for example, borne by Mr. Funderburk (Tim Crowe), a school official, against Tim is never made clear. He seems to be simply a villainous device to give the movie a protagonist.
"Outside Providence" has some very good sequences. The scenes between Tim and his dad ring true. The old man continually rides his son, but not out of any spite. It is his way of showing affection, of trying to keep Tim on the right path.
Hatosy as Tim can't seem to get a grip on his character. Is he just a slacker, or does he harbor some ambition? He changes depending on the whims of the script, thus his character seems unfocused and lost.
The movie suffers from a split personality. It can't decide if it should be an outright comedy to attract the Mary fans, or a sentimental, coming-of-age vignette to appease an older audience.
It tries for both and only partially succeeds, which is too bad. For buried somewhere in the screenplay by the Farrellys and director Michael Corrente is the gem of a good movie.
It is just too bad they did not dig deeper to unearth it.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at cbloom@iquest.net
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