By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * * )
Credits for this look like a celeb-page lineup of Hollywood brats. The stars are Colin Hanks (Tom's boy) and Schuyler Fisk (Sissy Spacek's girl); the director is Jake Kasdan, son of writer/director Lawrence (The Big Chill, French Kiss). Add a story about
a privileged child trying to follow an artistic career and you have a home movie.
Hanks plays introspective, ambitious Shaun Brumder, who writes to escape his dysfunctional family, and wants to go to Stanford University. His literary hero, Marcus Skinner (Kevin Klein), lectures there. Shaun's desire to leave home is another blow for his mum (Catherine O'Hara), who relies on alcohol and assumed ill-health to escape her husband, Bob (George Murdock), who is in a wheelchair, and Shaun's brother, Lance (Jack Black), a slacker and drug abuser.
Caught between helping Shaun to get to Stanford and wanting to prevent him move away is his girlfriend, Ashley (Fisk). When a clerical error upsets Shaun's dream, he undertakes some desperate remedies.
With cameos from John Lithgow as Shaun's rich and egocentric father, as well as Lily Tomlin, Chevy Chase and Ben Stiller, this is a rarity: a sensitive, accomplished teen comedy that doesn't rely on bodily functions for its humour.
* DVD features: movie (82min); commentary by writer Mike White and director Jake Kasdan; 16 interstitials; 4 deleted scenes; trailer.
