`RICH IN LOVE' IS LACKING IN PLOT

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 10, 1993                   TAG: 9304100225
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
`RICH IN LOVE' IS LACKING IN PLOT
"Rich In Love" is a long, well-intentioned misfire aimed squarely at the "Room With a View" crowd. But the creative team that was so successful with "Driving Miss Daisy" - director Bruce Beresford and writer Alfred Uhry - doesn't fare nearly as well with this syrupy adaptation of Josephine Humphrey's novel.
As presented here, it's one of those stories in which very little actually happens. Characters talk about the past and worry about the future. But on the rare occasions when something interesting is about to occur in the present, the camera is tastefully averted.
Our protagonist is Lucille Odum (Kathryn Erbe), a bright high-school senior who's fighting a losing battle to keep her family together. The film begins as her mother (Jill Clayburgh) has just run off without explanation, leaving Lucille to take care of her father (Albert Finney) and their home on the scenic South Carolina coast.
Before they're recovered from that shock, Lucille's sister, Rae (Suzy Amis), arrives with a new husband (Kyle MacLachlan) in tow and announces that she's pregnant. None of that sits well with Lucille's sort-of boyfriend, Wayne (Ethan Hawke in a tiny cameo).
The story turns on two central questions: What has happened to Mom, and what will happen with Rae's pregnancy as she becomes increasingly moody and hormonal. The answers hold no surprises.
The film's first problem is in the casting of the lead. Kathryn Erbe isn't a bad actress, but she looks and sounds about a decade older than her teen-age character.
The dialogue is even more problematic.
Moviegoers who don't drift to sleep may be tempted to walk out on "Rich in Love" before the touchy-feely ending, and I can't honestly think of a good reason not to.
\ Rich in Love: * An MGM/UA release playing at the Salem Valley 8. 105 min. Rated PG-13 for subject matter, language.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB