THE OTHER SISTER (M).
Director: Garry Marshall
Stars: Diane Keaton, Juliette
Lewis, Tom Skerritt, Giovanni Ribisi,
Poppy Montgomery, Hector
Elizondo,Juliet Mills, Sarah Paulson,
Linda Thorson
Running Time:129 minutes.
This romantic comedy about two intellectually
handicapped people who fall in love is also cloaked
with the melodramatic excesses of the typical
dysfunctional family drama. This results in a film that
is manipulative, overly sentimental, saccharine and
mawkish. But The Other Sister will also have
audiences unashamedly blubbering in the aisles.
The Tate family is the scion of the local community.
However, the three Tate sisters are something of a
disappointment, particularly to their mother Elizabeth
(Diane Keaton), who is aware of her prominent
position in the social elite. One of her daughters is a
workaholic lesbian, one is a determined under
achiever, while the other sister, Carla (Juliette
Lewis), is intellectually handicapped. For ten years,
Carla has been shut away in an exclusive special
school, but now she has returned home.
Carla is determined to live life on her own terms, with
independence from her over protective family. But
first she has to escape from her domineering,
smothering mother, who is too wrapped up in her
social status to really listen to the concerns of her
three daughters or share in their experiences. Father
Radley (Tom Skerritt) is more sympathetic to their
needs, but finds it hard to accede to their wishes
without some sort of conflict.
Carla wants to attend a local school, so that she can
learn vital skills and further cement her independence.
At the polytech, she meets Danny McMann
(Giovanni Ribisi, from Saving Private Ryan, etc),
who is also intellectually handicapped. He loves brass
bands, but is not quite as self confident as Carla. He
lives in a small apartment, begrudgingly funded by his
father, but is watched over by the sympathetic
caretaker Jerry (Hector Elizondo). Romance slowly
blossoms between the two, but it is not always a
smooth or happy path.
This awkwardly titled film gives Keaton and a
surprisingly strong Lewis plenty of big scenes in
which they can emote for all they're worth, and their
clashes fire up the screen. An often under rated actor,
Skerritt plays the stereotypical, understanding father
with compassion, although the script doesn't give him
much to work with. Ribisi is also solid, although his
mannered performance occasionally reminds
audiences of his character from the sitcom Friends.
The rest of the cast, including Aussie actress Poppy
Montgomery (recently seen in Dead Man On
Campus), seem to get lost and fail to leave much of
an impression on the material.
Director Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman, etc) gives
audiences a roller coaster ride of emotions, mixing
humorous scenes with revealing emotional moments,
to great effect. Although he comes from a background
in television sitcoms, Marshall is no slouch when it
comes to tugging the heart strings of his audience
either (check out Beaches, etc). Marshall and
co-writer Bob Brunner throw everything into the mix
of this uneven and over long film, and there is plenty
of unnecessary padding. Some scenes seem
embarrassing and uncomfortable, while others work
beautifully. The film is often quite predictable, and
numerous references to the seminal The Graduate
also telegraph several key plot developments.
Nonetheless, The Other Sister is a wonderful example
of the sort of sentimental weepie that Hollywood does
so well. But not often enough!