The circus that is the exploitation of the mentally handicapped iscertainly three-ringed in this Garry ("Pretty Woman") Marshall film. If
you think this movie was made to demonstrate that the mentally
handicapped can love just like the rest of us, it's time to stop pouring
NyQuil over your morning corn flakes. This film was made so every that
audience member can think to themselves, "Whoo-ee! If them re-tards kin
do it, ah kin too!"
The "other sister" is Carla (Juliette Lewis), third daughter of the
Tates (Diane Keaton, Tom Skerritt). She's just smart enough to make you
believe that you might be able to sit through the entire movie without
choking on the sentimentality. Luckily, the Tates' wealth makes brain function Carla's
primary worry, because mumsy and daddy can afford to get her an
apartment and chauffeur her around in the Mercedes.
Carla falls in love with Daniel (Giovanni Ribisi) and they spend the
rest of the movie grunting, living together, having sex and getting
married. About an hour into the film, the airlock on the galactic
cruiser Marshall opens up and sucks good taste out into the cold, dark
void of space like a two-ton turd.
You'll find yourself wondering when in the sweet name of Jesus the film
is going to end (it's a full two hours and ten minutes long), why
somebody doesn't explain to Mrs. Tate the meaning of the words
"overbearing bitch," and why every five seconds some touchy-feely folk
tune fades in with lyrics that cleverly describe exactly what's
happening onscreen ("Your adult diaper leaked, but life is tough, oh
baby..."). Sitting through this film is a handicap in itself.
