THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 12, 1996 TAG: 9609110035
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: 57 lines
THE SPITFIRE GRILL is the local diner in a tiny Maine village where everyone knows everyone else and times are rough.
The film of the same name is an obvious attempt to draw the infrequent moviegoers who have been holding out since ``Fried Green Tomatoes.'' While this film lacks both the humor and the characterizations of ``Fried Green Tomatoes,'' it has many of the human values. In spite of the fact that it surrenders to melodramatic plotting in the last reel, we appreciate its effort.
The plot centers upon Percy, a Southern-drawling girl who arrives in the tiny town of Gilead, Maine, after she's served prison time for manslaughter. Hannah, the old woman who runs the local grill, gives her a job despite people's predictions that she'll steal what little cash there might be and probably leave the old woman dead.
Alison Elliott, who had a small part in ``Wyatt Earp,'' turns in one of the year's most impressive debuts as Percy, suggesting both toughness and vulnerability. Percy ends up changing the town - particularly two of its women.
The usually cynical Hannah (played with standard elderly mannerisms by Ellen Burstyn) becomes softer, and even begins to care about life. The shy, repressed woman played by Marcia Gay Harden comes to respect herself, and to doubt the husband who has always put her down. This, incidentally, is the same Marcia Gay Harden who once appeared with Virginia Stage Company. Here, she is unmercifully deglamourized.
Produced on a shoestring, the film sometimes betrays its low budget via a preponderance of close-ups.
While all three women deliver interesting characters, director Lee Zlotofft allows things to go awry in what appears to be a desperate foundering to find a dramatic ending. If only he had let the town, and its people, speak for themselves, we wouldn't have needed all those over-the-top histrionics which mar the ending.
Still, ``The Spitfire Grill'' has its heart in the right place. People who liked ``Mr. Holland's Opus'' will probably like it. Some might even give it the honor of calling it refried tomatoes. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT
Alison Elliot, left, Ellen Burstyn and Marcia Gay Harden change each
other's lives in ``The Spitfire Grill.''
Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``The Spitfire Grill''
Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Alison Elliot, Marcia Gay Harden
Director: Lee Zlotoff
MPAA rating: PG-13 (some mild language, no nudity)
Mal's rating: Three stars by CNB