Outside Providence

The movie poster for Outside Providence proudly boasts, "From the makers of There’s Something About Mary." True, but untrue. Outside Providence is based on the 1988 novel written by Peter Farrelly. Peter and Bobby Farrelly co-wrote the script, but the film’s director is Michael Corrente.

Outside Providence does not have the trademark zaniness of the Farrelly brothers. That is not to say that movie is without merit. There are some enjoyable scenes with some laughs, but the movie is wildly uneven.

We follow the life of Timothy Dunphy (Shawn Hatosy), a ne’er-do-well teen in working class Pawtucket, Rhode Island, circa 1974. Timothy and his fellow slackers plow their pot smoked-filled car into the back of a cop car. Facing jail, Timothy’s working stiff father (Alec Baldwin) pulls some strings and has his son shipped off to the exclusive Cornwall Academy in Connecticut.

At Cornwall, Timothy immediately gets crosswise with an uptight administrator, Mr. Funderberk (Timothy Crowe). He also finds out that student life at Cornwall is one bong hit after another. Pot smoking seems to be the recurring theme of this movie.

In a classic case of polar opposites attracting each other, Timothy falls for fellow student Jane Weston (Amy Smart). Her life ambition is to go to Brown University. That goal is jeopardized when she’s booted out of Cornwall for drugs and carousing. Timothy steps into the breech and shoulders the blame.

The best parts of this coming-of-age movie take place in Timothy’s home. There’s a younger brother in a wheelchair who runs a paper route, and a three-legged pet dog with an eye patch. Alec Baldwin’s character, named "Old Man Dunphy," is a cross between Archie Bunker and Ralph Kramden. He calls his son by an obscene nickname. Timothy’s mother? She’s long gone, but Timothy aims to get to the bottom of her disappearance. Might I recommend that he look at his father for clues?