Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 7, 1995 TAG: 9510100004
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Both stories are based on the memoirs of boys whose families are threatened by the illness of a mother. But where Soderberg approached the material with unsentimental toughness, Keaton focuses on eccentricity and sometimes lets the emotional element overpower all others.
The setting is Southern California in the early 1960s. Young Steven Lidz's (Nathan Wyatt) father (John Turturro) is a goofy inventor. His mother (Andie MacDowell) has been afflicted with an unidentified but photogenic movie disease that causes her to flutter her eyelids and occasionally swoon. When it becomes too severe, Steven decides to go live with his oddball uncles.
Danny (Michael Richards) sees conspiracies everywhere while Arthur (Maury Chaykin) spends his days rooting through trashcans and sewers and bringing "treasures" back to their cluttered, cavernous apartment. Their mental illnesses are given the same sugarcoating that covers Mom's physical ailment.
That's not to say they aren't entertaining characters. Richards, from TV's "Seinfeld," has some particularly funny and touching moments. In most scenes, Diane Keaton does a credible job, though she severely overuses the device of moving her camera through walls. It's lazy or unskilled direction that undercuts the film's illusion of reality.
Richard LaGravenese's script suffers from a similar flaw. It balances humor and pathos fairly well until it arrives at a heavyhanded conclusion that could have come straight from an introductory screenwriting course.
With a lighter touch throughout, "Unstrung Heroes" might have been one of the year's best. It's still a mostly effective comedy-drama, recommended to those with a high tolerance for unabashed sentiment.
Unstrung Heroes ** 1/2
A Hollywood Pictures release playing at the Salem Valley 8. 90 min. Rated PG for a little strong language.
by CNB