HOME FRIES
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1998 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
So what is worse? Trailers that tell you too much about an upcoming
movie or ones that mislead you?
HOME FRIES is in the latter category. The trailers make you think it is
a light-hearted, romantic comedy, but the movie features a family that
settles it arguments with military, attack helicopters. Even if the
film isn't quite what it seemed to be, it is extremely cute, filled with
lovable, oddball characters within a ridiculously crazy plot.
A sweet-as-Apple-pie Drew Barrymore plays the lead, Sally. Poor Sally
is a very pregnant unwed mother. The father of her child is married and
doesn't support her, so she works at the local Burger Matic. With her
head sporting ten-pounds of red curls, she looks like she just came back
from an audition for the musical "Annie."
In the first part of the story, her lover's two stepsons, Dorian (Luke
Wilson) and Angus (Jake Busey), are sent by their mother, Mrs. Lever
(Catherine O'Hara), to kill their stepfather. Mrs. Lever, who
specializes in feigned grief, claims she didn't really want him killed.
When they go after their dad with the aforementioned helicopter, they
cause him to have a heart attack and die.
Meanwhile, back at Burger Matic, Sally's headphones get some
interference that lets her hear part of the helicopter attack. Dorian
then goes to work undercover at the fast food restaurant to determine
exactly what Sally knows. In the process they fall in love.
As Dorian, Luke Wilson delivers a touching portrait of a troubled guy.
His brow constantly furrowed, he comes to love Sally and her unborn
child, but he is troubled by the implications of it all. Sally sums up
their predicament on the way to the birthing room. "You can't be the
father and the brother at the same time!" she cautions. "That's the
kind of thing that messes kids up."
Fast food, a prime part of Americana that movies generally ignore, plays
a central role in this comedy. Dorian chants the hamburger recipe as a
form of mantra. And the funniest scenes in the movie happen at the
Burger Matic. The best is a simple one in which Dorian is taught the
precise way that they make their burgers.
HOME FRIES isn't much of a movie, but it is a charming one thanks to
some lovely performances. Where else could you get a film in which the
most romantic scene happens at a Lamaze class between two people who
only recently met?
HOME FRIES runs 1:33. It is rated PG-13 for mature themes and some
sexual humor and would be fine for kids around 11 and up.
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Have I seen this movie: Yes
And what did I think: Home Fries was definately not what I was expecting. When I saw the previews for this movie last year, I was expecting to see a lighthearted comedy about a pregnant girl without a father who falls for this military guy who gets a job at the burger joint where she works. Essentially, that's pretty much what happens, but they left out the part that the guy, his brother and his mother were all in a plot to kill his stepfather. Also the brother wants to kill the girl that the stepfather slept with and impregnanted, because she is sort of a witness to the plot. Drew Barrymore plays the lead character, and she's not bad here.. kind of sweet, but what is with the hair? She looks like a deranged little orphan Annie in this movie. Luke Wilson, from Scream and Scream 2 plays the guy she eventually falls for, although I didnt really like him in this movie. This movie is classified as a black comedy, but it was really straining for laughs, there aren't a whole lot here. Plus the whole plot with the helicopter that they use to scare the stepfather to death was just too overdone and far too ridiculous. If this movie could have been rewritten, taken out the plots to kill people, and been more lighthearted, then it may have been better. Instead, i didn't find this film very entertaining and I'm glad I waited for it to come on cable before I rented it.
I give Home Fries 2.5 out of 5 stars
Review written December 14, 1999.
