Outside chance

>> The Farrelly Brothers are watered down in Outside Providence

by MARCUS GILLIAM

The Farrelly Brothers are in their element in the world of really bad hairdos, enormous bongs and drug-induced vomiting. Their brand of comedy, witnessed in There's Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber, calls to mind flailing disco dancers, idiotic arena rockers or getting a dart in the face at drunken basement rec room parties.

And it's all there in their new film Outside Providence, the story of a 17-year-old ne'er-do-well named Dildo (aka Tim), who has to leave behind his pal Drugsy and the gang for prep school and new roommates with names like Jizz.

But if you're ready for hysterical laughter, don't zip up too quickly. You'll wince at the catch: Tim (Shawn Hatosy) is on a life-affirming journey. Outside Providence is a nostalgic portrait, not a knee-slapping gross-out. Although it's penned by Peter, Bobby and Michael Farrelly (and based on Peter's rather earnest book), the Brothers aren't directing this one. Michael Corrente, known for dramatic films Federal Hill and American Buffalo, is.

Sounds like a tricky crossover, where dramatists try to be cute and comedians go for the profound. The results are initially promising, but things get mixed up somewhere in the middle. There's an effort to revert to its opening stance, but what's ultimately left is that Hollywood, middle-of-the-road purgatory--bland, bland, bland.

Old Man Dunphy (Alec Baldwin), a blue-collar single father who was widowed after his wife shot herself, has to parent when Tim's misadventures reach a crescendo. So he punches his son in the face after collecting him from jail for smashing a cop car while stoned. Tim never even had a license, and the whole episode leads to his exile to prep school. Meanwhile, his brother, is stuck in a wheelchair and the family dog only has three legs.

The Farrellys' forte has been making tasteless situations hilarious, while somehow making the pitifully downtrodden into endearing, watchable characters. It's a real gift. Even the cruelty that Tim puts his disabled brother through just to get him to an NFL football game is laced with a humorous wistfulness. The way Outside Providence starts, you're amazed this family on the edge can also comfort and enlighten.

Soon, though, it's surfing more conventional waters, i.e. boy meets world. Tim is on his own at Cornwall Academy, just like all the other angsty teenagers. And just like all coming-of-age movies, boy wins girl, loses her, foils evil headmaster, wins girl back and finally graduates. Despite some Farrelly touches, ultimately it's the same old story.

Outside Providence is now playing