THE AISLE SEAT - "HOME FRIES"
by Mike McGranaghan
Home Fries is one oddball little movie. It is the story of two brothers - Dorian (Luke Wilson) and Angus (Jake Busey) - who scare their stepfather to death by chasing him down a dark country road with a black military helicopter. Why? Because he was having an affair behind their mother's back, and she asked them to get revenge for her. Dorian, the more good-natured of the two, thought they were just going to scare the guy, but Angus knew what he was doing.
As they fly the helicopter, the brothers notice some interference on their headsets. It sounds like people ordering fast food at the local Burger-Matic restaurant. When they visit the place the next day, they discover a drive-thru clerk named Sally (Drew Barrymore) wearing a set of headphones similar to theirs. Upon questioning, she casually admits to having received some interference the night before. Dorian then gets a job at the burger joint to see if she overheard what they were up to. Angus wants her killed if she knows, but Dorian falls in love with her. What he doesn't know is that Sally was the Other Woman his stepfather was seeing and she's pregnant by him.
Home Fries is an unlikely combination of homespun romance and black comedy. What makes it so strange is that it plays the story with great subtlety; unlike most comedies, it never acts like it knows it's being funny, and it never gives you a cue when to laugh. Many comedies with dark overtones will go over-the-top, taking things to such an exaggerated extreme that you laugh. This movie, in contrast, keeps a low-key tone throughout, even when things go severely haywire at the end. In short, it plays everything so straight that it defies what you might normally consider the rules of comedy. Imagine the recent Sandra Bullock movie Hope Floats as it might have been directed by the Coen brothers and you get an idea of what Home Fries is like.
The bizarre tone grew on me, though, because it's enhanced by offbeat charm and witty performances. Barrymore and Wilson (a couple off-screen as well) display a chemistry that is strangely muted on the surface, but bubbling intensely underneath. There's a great scene in which she asks him to be her Lamaze coach. They go the class together, where they practice the technique. Sally makes the unusual breathing noises and grimaces her face up as Dorian holds her from behind. It's an awkward position for two people to be in, but you can see Sally's passion for Dorian in her eyes. Now that's romantic! I think this was the moment when Home Fries really hooked me. As goofy as the plot may be, these two people fall in love with each other anyway. Maybe that's the theme of the film: true love can overcome any kind of strangeness.
The romance between the leads does not go smoothly, though. Sally's secret is revealed to all the characters, Angus and his mother (the delightfully unhinged Catherine O'Hara) plot to kill her, and Dorian must decide between the woman he loves and the family he can't seem to separate himself from. Once everything is tied up, the movie ends on a wonderful note; rather than going for a "big" ending, the story concludes quietly, with implications that make you smile once you grasp them.
I have the feeling that Home Fries is not going to be for everyone. Offbeat films like this often have a hard time breaking through. You have to be willing to let it get under your skin. I laughed quite a few times, and the performances are just right. Barrymore is always an underrated actress, while Wilson proves why he's got such buzz as an up-and-coming actor. They - along with the rest of the cast - understand the delicate tone of the screenplay by Vince Gilligan (the equally odd Wilder Napalm). Home Fries is undeniably quirky, but when I left the theater, I felt good inside.
(
out of four)
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