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Staring: Drew Barrymore, Luke Wilson
Directed by: Dean Parisot
Written by: Vince Gilligan
MPAA Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some sexual humor.
Reviewed by: Bill Weinman
This quirky romantic comedy is fun to watch, in spite of itself. An effective vehicle for the always charming Drew Barrymore (The Wedding Singer/1998; Scream/1996; E.T./1982), this film owes most of its entertainment value to the exceptional talents of Ms. Barrymore and co-star Luke Wilson (Bottle Rocket/1996).
Ms. Barrymore plays Sally Jackson, as an aimless twenty-something in a small town who works at the local fast-food drive-through window. Sally is from a poor family; she's single, pregnant, and has recently found out that the father-to-be (played by character actor Chris Ellis with just enough sleaze to evoke both hate and pity), is already married, and if that's not complicated enough, he's just been killed by his two step sons. (Didn't Drew Barrymore recently do a film with wicked step-sisters?)
Writer Vince Gilligan (supervising producer of the X-Files TV series) gives us an interesting story in search of a decent script. The script was originally submitted to a screen-writing contest for the state of Virginia back in 1988, where producer Mark Johnson was one of the judges. The story has plenty of opportunities for real comedy (albeit dark comedy), but the script itself is fails to cash any of them in.
This is director Dean Parisot's first feature film, and he didn't do a bad job, he just didn't do a very good job. With all the experience and talent of this cast, it's hard to accept a film with so much potential and so little punch. It seems to me that even in the hands of an inexperienced director who had some feel for comic timing, this film would have been a lot more fun. Instead he relies on the wits of Ms. Barrymore, Mr. Wilson, and stand-out performances by an excellent supporting cast that includes Shelly Duvall, Catherine O'Hara, Jake Busey and Lanny Flaherty. The good news is, they don't let us down.
Jerzy Zielinski's (Houseguest/1994; The Secret Garden/1993; Valentino Returns/1987) cinematography is always a treat to watch. There are some remarkably quirky-yet-beautiful shots, including an aerial view of pregnant Drew Barrymore, and a wonderfully ironic shot of Chris Ellis sitting straight up, dead, in an outdoor amphitheater.
A fun score by Rachel Portman (Beloved/1998; Addicted to Love/1997; Marvin's Room/1996) is at times reminiscent of Henry Mancini's Pink Panther scores. Additional music, edited by Will Kaplan (Con Air/1997; Eraser/1996; Corrina, Corrina/1994), actually rescues some of the rougher parts of the script, helping to distract the viewer from the otherwise disappointing lack of humor.
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