ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 7, 1996 TAG: 9609090105
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
Here's a movie that practically begs to be liked: "The Spitfire Grill," about a young, ex-con named Percy Talbott who comes to a small town in Maine to begin life anew.
She gets a job waiting tables at the town's only restaurant, working for an independent older woman named Hannah (Ellen Burstyn) and becomes the inspiration to a timid young mother named Shelby (Marcia Gay Harden).
Percy and Shelby become fast friends, in spite of their many differences, and hatch a plan to help Hannah retire in style and give the grill a new lease on life.
Standing in the way of this plan are the usual quantities of small-town prejudice, narrow minds and bad luck.
It feels like "Fried Green Tomatoes," with the Southern-ness provided by Percy herself, the daughter of Appalachian people raised in poverty in Ohio.
It also feels like about a hundred other movies and offers up a central character - Percy - who is such a Southern cliche, you can predict just about every line she will utter in the movie's second, formulaic half.
Most of the problem lies in the script, written by the movie's director, Lee David Zlotoff. He apparently pieced this story together from articles he read about Appalachian poverty in southern Ohio; an essay contest to help raffle off an inn in Maine; and another news story about prison inmates working in a state's tourism office. All of that would be just fine, but Zlotoff - who has done a lot of television work - has that inevitable television style and pacing. He struggles - successfully in some scenes - to let the movie breathe, but then gives in to the tidy, TV-movie conventions.
The other problem is with the movie's star, Alison Elliott. Hailed as the "next, next big thing" (there's apparently always at least one in the bullpen), Elliott is a dead ringer for Jodie Foster in many scenes. When she's not looking like her, she's acting like her. But the Southern accent just keeps slipping away from her like a fried egg on a greasy griddle.
The real star of this movie is Marcia Gay Harden. As Shelby, called in to help out at the grill when Hannah breaks a leg, Harden brings a rare combination of intensity and softness to the role. The movie's best scenes are hers, particularly in her confrontations with her overbearing husband Nahum (Will Patton), who apparently makes it his best business to stomp out whatever fire he sees burning in women's souls. When Shelby finally takes him on and tells him to iron his own shirt, it's far from a little thing.
There is enough of Harden and almost enough lovely, little moments at the restaurant to make "The Spitfire Grill" worth seeing. But you most likely will be left with the feeling that you've already been there. More than once.
The Spitfire Grill **1/2
A Castle Rock Entertainment release showing at Tanglewood Mall Theatre. Rated PG-13 for adult situations. 120 minutes.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Alison Elliott (left) and Marcia Gay Harden star inby CNB``The Spitfire Grill.'' color.