SPRING FORWARD A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2001 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
SPRING FORWARD, a talkfest between two parks and recreation workers, has so much in common with MY DINNER WITH ANDRE that it might better have been called MY JOB WITH MURPH. Murph, a long-time city employee, is played warmly by veteran actor Ned Beatty. Murph is breaking in a sensitive new worker, Paul (Liev Schreiber), who's just out of prison. Paul is a good guy who, after a spot of bad luck, held up a Dunkin' Donuts.
Playwright Tom Gilroy directs his first film with a play-like staginess. He sets the camera statically and gives his players quasi-poetic dialog. The performances are all fine and heartfelt, but the story itself never provides much reason for us to care. We learn that Paul has some problems with his emotions and that Murph has a gay son who has been ostracized by some and who has a health problem. Nothing in the story, however, has much emotional impact. Generally the two guys just work, never very hard, while gabbing about whatever comes to mind.
Paul, a blue-collar intellectual, reads books on subjects ranging from karma to architecture. He lectures Murph, who laughs off most of Paul's pop philosophies. When he has a bad cold, Paul avoids drugs, even anti-histamines, because he is a firm believer in the importance of maintaining a natural mind and body. Murph muses that Paul's recent hangover would seem rather incongruous with these beliefs.
Paul meets a kindred spirit in Georgia (Peri Gilpin), who complains about the singles at the local bar. "They all looked like escapees from a J. Crew catalog," she complains to him. No sooner have we met and gotten to like Georgia than she goes AWOL for the rest of the movie.
Set in the small town of Stacey, Connecticut -- formed way back in 1708 the guys' ever-present uniforms remind us -- the pastoral setting is full of wide, green lawns and tall, stately trees. The lushness of the scenery almost makes up for the lack of a properly developed script.
After trying several endings on us, the movie's penultimate one introduces a brand new character in an almost dramatic incident, which is little more than a shameless plot device. "Everything goes by so much faster in the movies," Paul tells Murph in a relative non sequitur. Maybe in most movies. Certainly not in this one.
SPRING FORWARD runs 1:40. It is rated R for language and some drug content and would be acceptable for most teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com
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