Reviews

The great Paul Sorvino plays a well-bred man who is pained to be forced to socialize with the low-class and vulgar Lainie Kazan and Joe Bologna, but his incredulous and exasperated expressions may just be his own response to finding himself in this movie.

A grandmother sees her grandson play Romeo in his high school production of "Romeo and Juliet" and remarks appreciatively upon the ample size of his genitals. Twice. That is the level of humor in this film.

Your move.

The tone wavers so wildly in the first 20 minutes, we don't know at first whether we are watching a smart black comedy or a sincere drama. The film offers such eccentricities as an oft-vomiting dog named Nixon and a pretty young postmistress invoking Lucy Ricardo's grape-stomping episode, and for all the gloom of the plot we may as well be watching The Accidental Tourist. But soon enough the film settles into an unambitious, by-the-numbers drama of people overcoming grief and adversity way too quickly, all thanks to the cliche of the young man who dares to speak the truth. Jake G pulls off some very touching moments but he is not capable of singlehandedly supplying a point of view to this erratic, poorly focused story (as what actor would be?). His commendable work in the courtroom is undermined by the scene's complete implausibility. It is hard to see what such heavyweight acting talent saw in this project, which almost never rises above TV-movie mediocrity and predictability, despite the specious aphorisms contained in the dialogue. The production values are very high and yet no one sounds like they live in New England and no one looks like they are living in the 1970s. (Holly Hunter's presence reminded of The Firm, another film that made me wish it was about her.)