ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 25, 1996 TAG: 9605280116
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO GWYNETH PALTROW
TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
Some people are just too darn nice for their own good.
And they find themselves in situations that require them to be almost irredeemably bad - a sort of "wrong thing for the right reason" scenario.
That's David Schwimmer's predicament in "The Pallbearer," about a gentle guy named Tom who just doesn't have the heart to admit he can't remember the dead guy whose coffin he's been asked to carry. And whose eulogy he's been asked to deliver by the dead guy's mother, Ruth, (Barbara Hershey).
He's so torn between providing comfort to the grieving mother and pursuing the elusive Julie DeMarco (Gwyneth Paltrow), that he screws up both things pretty well.
But he screws up with dignity, and that's the nice thing about this movie - and about Schwimmer, a "Friends" cast member. He might remind you in this movie of Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate" - for more than one reason.
First, there's Schwimmer's face. He has a truly houndlike visage, but is sufficiently appealing to pull off being a "babe magnet" - with a gentle pull.
He also has Hoffman's warm physical presence.
Finally, there's the little matter of the attractive older woman sexual imbroglio. Black undergarments included.
Come to think of it, "The Pallbearer" bears much in common with "The Graduate." But in strikingly accurate '90s economic terms, Tom has been out of graduate school for year and is still looking for a job. And living in his mother's house.
His best friends, Scott (Michael Varsan) and Brad (Michael Rapaport) are settling down. Tom's still in love with the girl he loved from afar in high school - Julie (Paltrow).
She doesn't want to get involved because she's going away for a year to just sort of see the country. But she and Tom are quite unmistakably drawn to each other.
Meanwhile, Tom has fallen into bed with Ruth (Hershey), who still thinks he's her dead son's best friend.
Not all of this is exactly laugh-out-loud funny, but "The Pallbearer" is a "nice" movie the way "The Brothers McMullen" was a "nice" movie. Most of the time, the characters talk to each other the way humans talk to each other. And although it is more conventional in its structure than "The Brothers," it has its moments of surprise. As when Tom's mom (Carol Kane) ignores her son's pleas to treat him like an adult and offers him and his buddy (having an impromptu bunkbed sleepover) some ice cream.
"Maybe just a little bit, Mom," Tom answers quickly, in a suddenly sweet, little boy's voice.
There are no earth-shattering truths here, but Matt Reeves, who directs, and co-writer Jason Katims don't pander for laughs or shortchange reality to pluck heartstrings. Reeves is obviously young enough to remember how it feels to want to move onto whatever life has in store next - but being too afraid to take the first step.
Schwimmer pulls off the delicate balancing act of seeming confused without being irritating, a la Woody Allen, and that's pretty good for a guy who's only called upon to deliver one-liners most weeks.
Good enough to make "The Pallbearer" well worth seeing.
The Pallbearer
***
A Miramax release showing at The Grandin Theatre. Rated R for language and sexual content, 94 minutes.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB