Outside Providence (1999)

A different way of telling a story

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Outside Providence (1999): Dir: Michael Corrente / Cast: Shawn Hatosy, Amy Smart, Alec Baldwin, George Wendt, Jon Abrahams: Advertizements emphasize the fact that the Farrelly brothers wrote this film. Perhaps marketing figured that it had nothing else in its favour. Title refers to activities or lifestyles outside one's normal agenda. After his umpteenth mishap Shawn Hatosy is sent to Cornwall Academy where he is not a hit with the dean. His friends are on drugs, and his father refers to him as "Dildo" while drinking with his buddies. Pointless subplots include a guy who is interested in a girl but the screenplay forgets that situation. Predictable with vulgar humour that falls flat. Director Michael Corrente does his best but perhaps the Farrelly boys might have made it funny. Hatosy is hardly sympathetic and not a good lead. The role is predictable with Hatosy getting into trouble and out. Amy Smart serves no other purpose than to possibly sleep with him. Alec Baldwin comes through for dialogue as the father but the role is flimsy. George Wendt plays one of the buddies who will reveal that he is gay and get mocked out of the room. No points to figure out whether they will understand. Jon Abrahams plays a misfit named "Drugs" Delaney, which pretty much speaks for itself. Devoid of worth, this crap should be left outside Providence in a dump somewhere. Score: 2 / 10

Peter Farrelly wrote the novel in which this film is based. This was a change of pace for Peter and his brother Bobby, coming right after their hit "There's Something About Mary". Although they entrusted the direction to Michael Corrente, their presence looms large in the background.The film succeeds in presenting characters one can identify with. Timothy Dunphy is a teen ager who has grown with his younger, handicapped brother, Jackie, in a small town in Rhode Island. Timothy's future is uncertain, at best. Coming from a working family, his prospects for higher education are nil. Like other young men in his area, he is aimless and the guys he pals around with, are not exactly college material.When Timothy is granted admission at the preppy Cornhill Academy, his life takes a turn for the better. At first, Timothy fights the rigid standards of the place. He doesn't like the atmosphere, but he is completely won by a pretty co-ed, Jane Weston, a rich girl, way out of his league. It's easy to see the combination will see trouble along the way.The best trait about Timothy Dunphy is his honesty that comes into play right after Jane is caught with some boys smoking pot, and her ambition to go to Brown University is doubtful. Timothy does the right thing in going to the admissions dean at Brown to speak on behalf of the innocent Jane, who didn't bring her fate upon herself.Shawn Hatosy, an actor who is always effective no matter what part he is playing, makes the most out of his Timothy. Surprising also, is Alec Baldwin, seen as the older Dunphy in a sincere performance. Jon Abrahams is Drugs Delaney. Amy Smart makes a valuable contribution to the film as Jane Weston.The teaming of Michael Corrente and the Farrelly Brothers show a winning combination in an enjoyable film that will stay in one's memory for quite some time.

Wonderfully crafted and understated movie from the kings of gross-out comedy. Poignant and hilarious this film is a beautiful departure from the Farrely Bro's typical fare. It follows the (mis) adventures of a 1970's era RI kid who runs afoul of the law and is sent to a stuffy boarding school. It sounds like a fairly redundant storyline but the emotional underpinnings and underlying angst of the young characters are subtly, yet powerfully displayed. 9/10.

Before their success with both "Dumb and Dumber" and "There's Something About Mary," the brothers Farrelly, Peter and Bobby, had written a novel. Now, wait, that's not true. Peter had written a novel, despite the fact that the front cover for the film boasts "From the Guys Who Brought You...".Then, after the success of "D & D" in 1994, and the continual success of "Kingpin" and "There's Something About Mary," Peter finally got the chance to turn his original work into a feature film - by co-scribing the screenplay and passing the director's chair off to Michael Corrente, probably anticipating the fact that the film was far from his brand of humor, and many devoted fans might start to doubt their crudity.Unfortunately, though, the Farrelly Brothers are best at crude humor, and are the rare filmmakers that make the audience want -- or EXPECT -- crude humor. So trying to mix a coming-of-age story with an aimless preachy screenplay doesn't help."Outside Providence" is about a kid named Tim Dunphy. Tim is played by Shawn Hatosy as a whiny drug addict who is sent to an all boys prep school after one too many run-ins with the law. His father, Old Man Dunphy (Alec Baldwin), is a grim sterotypical Rough Father Figure, who likes to cause his two sons -- the younger a wheelchair-bound cripple -- lots of trouble. He affectionately (or not) nicknames Tim "Dildo," and enjoys humiliating his sons in many, many ways.At his all boys school, Tim meets Jane (Amy Smart). Don't ask how there are girls at an all boys school, because the film never pauses to explain this. Anyway, Jane has her eyes set on the future -- she wants to get into a fancy college in Providence, Rhode Island, where Tim grew up.Meanwhile, Tim parties throughout the school year and takes the occasional trip back home via hitchhiking. When it is time to head off to school again, Tim asks his father, "How 'bout a ride?" Old Man Dunphy just gives him a hitchhiker's thumb and poor Tim takes this as what it means.Old Man Dunphy is played by Alec Baldwin as the same old type of gruff careless father who really does care, but is hiding behind an exterior of awkwardness. The movie has a touching moment between Old Man Dunphy and his son, when the two discuss Tim's dead mother while Tim's father teaches his son how to put on a tie. But the film's uneasy mix of crude humor (a three-legged dog) and sentimental rubbish (the ending) makes it hard to like.I liked "Dumb and Dumber" because it was exactly what its title implied. In a way, it became a greater comedy simply because it was quite silly and funny and just altogether dumb. "Kingpin" was, I'll admit, quite hilarious the second time around. It was proof that the Farrellys had a gift at crude humor, and hadn't just struck gold with "Dumb and Dumber." Then came "There's Something About Mary," which is perhaps the Farrelly's most famous title, and I liked it enough to buy the newly-released DVD.Those films all work because they are what they are. They don't try to be anything more. And while some moments in "Outside Providence" lightly touched me, the stupid throw-ins (drugs, off-color humor, pointless scenes, etc.) makes the film just another forgettable coming-of-age tale in my memory.2.5/5 stars.John Ulmer