There's something (bad) about 'Providence'
Matt Nania
"Outside Providence" is the newest film from the minds of the Peter and Bobby Farrelly, who brought the comic brilliance of "Dumb and Dumber" and "There's Something About Mary" to the big screen. As such, some of the film's humor stems from vomit, masturbation, using a noodle as nasal floss and features disabled people and other politically incorrect sources of comedy.
"Providence," however, is their first foray outside pure comedy. Granted, the film isn't directed by the Farrellys, but it is adapted by them and director Michael Corrente from a novel that Peter Farrelly wrote long before his breakout success in Hollywood. Although the film is supposed to be a coming-of-age story set in the '70s, it feels as if two or three different movies were shot simultaneously in the same location.
From the opening credits, as Pete Townshend's "Won't Get Fooled Again" is played, the audience knows it is in for a taste of '70s sentiment, Rhode Island style. According to the movie, that means lots of drugs.
Tim "Dunph" Dunphy (Shawn Hatosy) is a blue-collar teenager and a stoner. He and his friends sit around on the rooftops of Pawtucket, R.I., drinking beer and ingesting every drug they can get their hands on. One night, Tim and his buddies smuggle some marijuana past his Dad (Alec Baldwin) and his poker-playing, bigot buddies (including George Wendt as Joey). Then, stoned out of their minds they crash into a police car. Old man Dunphy decides he has to get his son away from Pawtucket, so he pulls some strings and gets Tim into an exclusive prep school. Now, Dunph is Timothy Dunphy, a senior at upper-crusty Cornwall school, where all the mandatory horrors from every prep school movie ever made are visited upon him in predictable order.
At first, "Outside Providence" attempts to make a statement about social stratification — after all, Timothy is now the poorest and dumbest kid in an upwardly mobile, rich kids' school.
But the writers can't avoid the obligatory and tired boy-meets-girl story line. Tim meets the most beautiful girl on campus (and, apparently, the only girl on campus), Jane Weston (Amy Smart). Of course, their infatuation grows into a Hallmark card of country images. They toss pebbles into creeks, she strokes his hair as he lights a cigarette and the moon rises over their love as they stare at a gorgeous country lake.
The story plods along from there and issues are brought to light but without any weight or meaning. The script aimlessly moves back and forth between Tim's problems at school and his indifferent relationship with his Dad. Some scenes themselves just seem completely irrelevant (Why have George Wendt's character reveal his homosexuality?).
Director Michael Corrente's ("American Buffalo") biggest problem, however, is the film's lack of a balanced tone. With all the fluff in the beginning, the weight of the drama nearly cracks the spine of the picture in its second half. Where once all the film dealt with were drug jokes and darts in people's faces, suddenly it turns 180 degrees and becomes an unspirited drama about fatherly neglect. The tone is way too erratic and severly dampens the film's final impact.
The acting also contributes to the film's failure to create any emotional resonance. Coming off last year's disastrous teen horror flick "The Faculty," Hatosy does a satisfactory job portraying a Tim as dazed and confused as the film needs. But what's missing is his charm. When he falls in love or confronts his father, Hatosy falls far short of eliciting any kind of empathy from the audience. Moreover, Alec Baldwin turns out to be the least convincing blue-collar, poker-playing whisky-swiller to hit the screen in many years. He tries hard to be a smart-alecky father but just comes off as irritating.
Director Michael Corrente needs to find his own vision for his future endeavors, for it seems "Outside Providence" suffers from a bad case of deja vu. Whether it's the hackneyed montage of romantic moments between Tim and Jane that plays during a low period in their relationship, or Tim's miraculous transformation into a good student, numerous scenes are routine copies of past films. Even the music soundtrack, which includes songs by the Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd, is typical of just about every '70s film.
Part prep-school drama and part "Dazed and Confused," "Outside Providence" just doesn't hold together.
All Scene Stories for Thursday, September 9, 1999
