ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 28, 1996 TAG: 9609300109
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
If Edward Burns' debut film, "The Brothers McMullen," had a flaw, it was a conclusion overflowing with sweetness and light.
He's corrected that with "She's the One," a smart, witty romantic comedy. Once again, the focus is on a middle-class Irish-Catholic family, but the Fitzpatricks are a more sharply drawn bunch than the McMullens.
The eldest son, Mickey (Burns), is "the only English-speaking white guy driving a cab in New York City." Since the breakup of his engagement to Heather (Cameron Diaz) three years before, he's been at loose ends and doesn't know what to do with himself.
His brother Francis (Mike McGlone) is a hard-charging stock broker whose personal life is a disaster. Francis's wife Rene (Jennifer Aniston) doesn't know why he has become so cold and obsessed with work. Is it really just a "down cycle" as Francis lamely claims, or is something more serious going on?
The guys' cantankerous father (John Mahoney) is no real help. In fact, he epitomizes the Fitzpatrick males' inability to understand women. That's what the film is really about, and when Hope (Maxine Bahns) shows up in Mickey's cab, she gives him a chance to break the pattern.
Burns (who also wrote, directed and co-produced) works his way through a thicket of romantic and family complications involving those six characters. Though the plot is more complex than "Brothers McMullen," Burns tells it with the same simple cinematic techniques. Much of the film was made on location, shot in real rooms cluttered with the real junk that real people keep around themselves. The characters have a corresponding degree of de-glamorized reality that's seldom seen in Hollywood films.
Burns lets the action unfold in low-keyed conversations punctuated with inventive, intelligent humor. Though he is guilty of giving himself the most sympathetic role, the women have all the best lines, and their characters are just as important as the men's.
Two other aspects of the film deserve special notice: First, Tom Petty's music sets the right offbeat, friendly mood, and second, director of photography Frank Prinzi does terrific work with simple lighting that appears to be completely natural but certainly isn't.
With the increasing sophistication of visual effects that are occurring within the motion picture industry these days, it's refreshing to see a story that really does get back to the basics of character and nonviolent conflict (nonviolent with one humorous exception).
"She's the One" is one of the year's best.
She's The One *** 1/2
A Fox Searchlight release playing at the Tanglewood Mall. 94 min. Rated R for subject matter, strong language.|
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Edwards Burns (left), Cameron Diaz and Mike McGlone starby CNBin "She;s the One." color.