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Outside Providence
(rating 7 out of 10)
(1999, directed by Michael Corrente)
Everybody is Coming Of
Age these days--left and right; just the mention of these story premise leaves me with a
tired, blah feeling. It's pretty much the same affair each and every time: Boy makes new
friends.Boy meets Girl. Boy loses Girl and sometimes even loses friends.Boy maybe learns
something. Boy goes away to pursue his life. (Scramble sex of subjects accordingly for gay
or lesbian coming of age) What makes or breaks a coming-of-age story is the sincerity and
insight of the tale and the teller. Outside Providence is a good example of these
two factors--a good story told honestly and insightfully if not uniquely.
Yummy Amy(Jane Weston)
Outside Providence is the creation of the Farrelly
Brothers, responsible for last year's hilarious and very lowbrow There's Something
About Mary. Providence's being strolled around in much the same way as that
movie, emphasizing outrageous comedy over any acting or drama it might contain. Outside
Providence doesn't have much in common with Mary's absurdist, groin-level
storytelling, instead is the type of contemplative little film that big filmmakers can
afford to get made to dabble in artiste-cinema--subtle, somewhat rambling and nostalgicly
touching. Providence works to a point, but despite anticipatory publicity painting it as
this summer's indie-film-that-became-a-monster-hit,the end result is more like a
slightly-racy episode of Happy Days.(Note: the indie film phenom of this summer was The
Blair Witch Project.)
Baldwin shines as Old Man Dunphy.
Yet it's good to see a film which craft doesn't look so
premeditated. Shawn Hatosy plays Timothy Dunphy, whose dad just calls Dildo--but he does
so affectionately really--a 17-year old with no direction and no clue about where's
anything at. When he and his semi-conscious Pawtucket friends crash into a parked cop-car,
Dildo's sent to serve hard time at Cornwall prep; not such a terrible sentence if it
wouldn't be for the snobbish,stinking-rich attitude of fellow students and the reign of
terror of one malicious dormmaster. Here he makes friends like Irving "Jizz"
Waltham(Jack Ferver), a curly-haired misfit who's publicly hazed for not knowing the
school fight song. Dunphy seems trapped until he meets Amy Smart, the beautiful Jane
Weston, an angel of a girl with which Dunphy falls in love. Prep school doesn't seem bad
at all with a girl like this by your side.
The rest of the film are the typical developments of
Coming-Of-Age stories: The dormmaster becomes a threat to Dunphy and his small circle of
friends therefore he must be overcome. Amy and Dunphy's relationship hits the rocks after
scenes of idyllic romance. What keeps you compelled through Outside Providence, other than
the few outrageous gags here and there, are the performances of Hatosy and Alec Baldwin,
who's excellent in the understated role of Old Man Dunphy, Timothy's father. Baldwin's
role is layback, yet tough, crusty but lovable. Perhaps the best scene in the film is when
Dunphy and Father have a heated heart to heart about the family's dirty secret:the suicide
of Dunphy's mother. Baldwin's character lets down his guard to show the hurt, regretful,
anguished man tired down from fighting the demons of a family tragedy. His performance is
memorable, reminding me of Billy Murray's equally understated yet great turn in Wes
Anderson's Rushmore earlier this year.
"Drugs" and "Jizz"
(Try saying that and keeping a straight
face.)
As for the humor in Outside Providence--it's there but not
in oodles as in Something About Mary or this summer's teen-sex hilarity American
Pie. There's bittersweet humor in the role of Dunphy's sweet, wheelchair-bound younger
brother,t he family's three-legged dog, Jizz's moments of despair and humiliation, and the
musings and tragedy of "Drugs" Delaney(Jon Abrahams), Dunphy's pot-burnout
friend who at one point writes an eye-opening letter confiscated by the prep school's
stiff-assed bigwigs; the film in general couldn't be labeled rightfully outrageous. Providence
is based on a novel by Peter Farrelly, who surprisingly has a serious side as this movie
shows and despite public confusion, the Farrellys didn't direct but Michael Corrente. As
far as I know this might be Corrente's first film and his directorial style is unassuming
and quite fitting for this story. The soundtrack is worth a listen if you're in the mood
for a leisurely ride along 70's tight-jeans Rock and Pop. In all, Outside Providence
may not break any new ground but it reminds one that life's bittersweet small moments can
be the most precious.
Armando Valle
Aug/11/99
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