This movie is only nominally a single film. The second half of director Nick Cassavetes' dark, uh . . . whatever it is-shot from a script by his late maverick filmmaker father John-is so different in tone and genre from the first half that it makes more sense to talk about it as two pictures-a weird little original and its weird, misguided sequel. The mind would need a significant running start to successfully make the leap between them in a 90-minute span, and no such start is provided. Sure, the overall film is fresh and unpredictable from scene to scene-it's as schizophrenic as its lead characters. Movie #1 is an edgy character drama about squeaky, trouble-attracting lynx Maureen (Robin Wright Penn) whose escapades help push her half-mad grifter husband Eddie (Sean Penn) over the edge, landing him in a mental institution. Movie #2 is a dark comedy that takes place 10 years later, when the just-released Eddie goes to reclaim the love of his life from her new husband (John Travolta) and three daughters.
Without reading the elder Cassavetes' script, written two decades ago and rewritten for Penn before Cassavetes' 1989 death (with the far more intriguing title "She's De Lovely"), it's impossible to say whether this creative and frequently entertaining disaster fails due to problems in the father's blueprint or the son's execution of it. Certainly the signature John Cassavetes elements-crazy passion, an unblinking view of the heartache it causes, supremely playable character moments-are present in this emotion-charged, star-crossed-love story. Nick Cassavetes demonstrated a passionate vision all his own with his writing-directing debut, last year's touching "Unhooked the Stars." Promising as the refreshingly out there drama of "She's So Lovely's" first half is, however, the film just can't find its way past the central turning point, when a much-foreshadowed violent event separates the lovers.
Later, we learn that Maureen believed the authorities might keep Eddie locked up for the rest of his life-thus her decision to divorce her troubled soulmate and make a new home with Travolta's Joey, an earthy yet sensitive family man who it seems will do just about anything to keep his family together. We're led to believe she's been a fine wife and mother in the intervening decade, so it's hard to know exactly what to make of the fact that she's willing to drop her family the moment the newly released Eddie picks up a phone. Maureen's character, engagingly cryptic back in the first half-when it seems there might actually be a few answers to our questions about her-becomes merely frustrating when she blooms into full Sphinx mode in Movie #2. Nobody in the film understands who she is. The only difference between Eddie and Joey is that the instinct-driven former is dead sure Maureen will end up with him. It's good to know somebody is sure of something in this film.
The Penns do some fine work, individually and collectively, but they remind one of a Saturday morning cartoon character who's swimming along when the pool or water drains out from under him, leaving him hanging preposterously in midair. The film's more shocking twists and turns, unsupported by much in the way of emotional reinforcement, leave the actors similarly high and dry-though they do look spectacular as they swan-dive to the concrete below. Appearing only in the second half, the supremely watchable Travolta doesn't have to contend with the most violent bounces of the Cassavetes' seesaw. Only the great RepoMan himself, Harry Dean Stanton, and co-supporter Debi Mazar manage to negotiate the perilous journey between the story's two halves as the Penn's bickering best buds-and that because they're only exposed for brief bursts of screentime. (The cameo by Gena Rowlands-wife to John, mom to Nick and star to the nation-is as welcome as it is inevitable).
A final word to the talented writer director Nick Cassavetes: If there are any other 20-year-old unproduced scripts lying around the house, stop and consider very carefully why your father didn't shoot them himself.