Cast
Tim Dunphy (Shawn Hatosy)
Old Man Dunphy (Alec Baldwin)
Jana Weston (Amy Smart)
Mouse (John Brandis)
Directed by Michael Corrente Written by Michael Corrente,
Bobby Farrelly, and Peter Farrelly
Rated R for teen drug use, strong language, and sexual references
Running Time: 95 minutes Distributed by Miramax
Outside
Providence is a sloppy comedy that ends up being very flat.
Tim Dunphy (Hatosy) is a loser high school student that always
hangs out with his loser friends and gets high. A night of
fun and drugs turns hazy after Tim runs into the back of a
parked police car. His father (Baldwin) decides to send him
to a prep school to keep him out of trouble. The school is
a good distance away from Tim's hometown of Pawtucket, Rhode
Island. Tim arrives at his new school very out of place and
out of line. As Tim adapts, he makes new friends, who are
also stoners, or eventually become stoners, and he has to
battle his strict and villainous dorm master. Over time, Tim
learns how to study, begins dating the coolest girl in school,
he outsmarts the dorm master, and most importantly reaches
out to help and love his father and little brother.
Outside
Providence is very unorganized and weak. It was as if three
or four movie styles were thrown in a blender to make a delightful,
coming age, and enjoyable comedy. However, the result is a
dumb, disgusting, and disorganized mess.
Michael
Corrente, Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly, who are the two
brothers that wrote There's Something About Mary and Kingpin,
wrote the script. The script is a disaster of bad sequencing
and mellow scenes. It as if the writers kept trying to show
the audience that Tim is a druggie by using more and more
drug scenes. The audience sees by the first scene that he
is a druggie, there is no need for many more. Like I mention
before, the writers try to blend to many themes and aspects
into one movie. It just doesn't work well in Outside Providence.
The
only brightspot in Outside Providence is the terrific performance
by Alec Baldwin. Baldwin portrays a strict, foul mouth, grungy
father with a tender spot. Every scene with Baldwin isn't
that good in terms of writing and development, but his acting
is sensational. However, the other acting in the film is pretty
mild. I believe that Shawn Hatosy, who plays Tim, will get
better with experience, I just don't believe that he is ready
to take a lead role in a film.
Outside
Providence is not the type of film that most audiences might
think it is. It is not an outrageous sick comedy from the
Farrelly brothers. It is a mix of drama, comedy, and romance.
However, this structure fails in this film. I expect to see
this film to see this film leaving theatres pretty soon. Alec
Baldwin is great, but for me, one solid performance doesn't
make a movie and good movie.
Report
Card Grade: D+
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