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Outside Providence
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by Walt Disney Video
Sales Rank: 4363
Price: $9.99
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<I>Outside Providence</I> was written by the Farrelly Brothers, known for the outrageous comedies <I>Dumb and Dumber</I>, <I>Kingpin</I>, and <I>There's Something About Mary</I>. On the surface, <I>Outside Providence</I> seems to be of the same ilk--there's a three-legged, one-eyed dog, physical humor with a kid in a wheelchair, and a character nicknamed Jiz, among other things. But despite all that, the movie is an almost-gentle coming-of-age comedy, something like a suburban New England <I>Amarcord</I> with a lot of unrepentant drug humor. The plot doesn't sound promising: pothead Tim Dunphy (Shawn Hatosy) gets sent to prep school by his father (Alec Baldwin), who wants to keep him out of trouble. But a fair amount of smoking and boozing goes on at that school, too, despite the watchful eye of the administrators. Dunphy also falls for Jane (Amy Smart), a richer and smarter girl whom he wins over. All this could just as easily be the plot of some mediocre <I>Porky's</I> rip-off, but the Farrelly Brothers' script has the grit of real experience, while the direction (by Michael Corrente) and acting carefully avoid smirks and easy gags; the movie is funnier for it. Baldwin initially seems miscast, but over the course of the film delivers a solid performance; Hatosy and Smart are sincere and unaffected. The result is a low-key, modest, but genuinely affecting movie about surmounting class differences and coping with loss--that also has a lot of jokes that push the boundaries of political correctness. Quite a balancing act. <I>--Bret Fetzer</I>
Viewer Reviews
For gosh sakes, why is this out of print? This is one of the better coming of age films I have ever seen -- sweet, funny, poignant, with a bravura performance from Alec Baldwin as the damaged, working class Dad. Great soundtrack, as the film is set in the mid-70s, and some classic prep school fish-out-of-water scenes. And of course the head disciplinarian is a classic. Look also for a young Amy Smart as the lady of the young man's dreams, and you pretty much have a fine film that is begging to be re-released immediately.
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Outside Providence
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