Search - Outside Providence on DVD

The Farrelly Brother's Best Movie!

K. Wilson | Chicago, USA | 04/29/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although very humorous, "Outside Providence" is a departure from other Farrely brothers movies like "Kingpin" and "There's Something About Mary." This is a more intelligent, less vulgar offering which still delivers the laughs.

Set in the 70's, the film is a moving coming of age tale about a middle class pothead shipped off to a prep school after a run-in with the law.

Predicable hijinks ensue as "Dumph" (played by Sean Hatosy) faces a difficult adjustment to his new world. The strength of the film is in the relationship between "Dumph" and his father (played by Alec Baldwin). Baldwin is totally convincing as "Old Man Dumphy", a gruff but caring father heartbroken by the loss of his wife.

If you grew up in the 70's, you'll probably enjoy this nostaglic look at teenage life set to a fantastic soundtrack of 70's hits.


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Cliched but likeable coming-of-age tale

Roland E. Zwick | Valencia, Ca USA | 09/04/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Farrelly brothers (the makers of such laugh-a-minute gross out fests as "There's Something About Mary," "Kingpin" and "Dumb and Dumber," among others) take a decided stylistic turn with "Outside Providence," a low-keyed, laid back coming-of-age tale set in Rhode Island during the mid 1970's. Shawn Hatosy stars as Timothy Dunphy, a likable, not-very-bright high school student who, like many of his generation, would much rather party than study and would rather smoke-out than think seriously about his future plans for college or career or even life in general. When he crashes his vehicle, packed with other drinking and pot-smoking teenagers, right smack into the rear of a parked police car, Tim is sent by his working class father to finish his last school year at a nearby prep academy. Alec Baldwin, adopting a dese-dem-dose accent for the occasion, plays Tim's father, a well-intentioned widower whose brusque demeanor hides a filial love that Tim is only vaguely aware exists."Outside Providence" certainly does not bring a whole lot of fresh insights to this well-worn territory. We have the obligatory scenes of non-stop pot smoking (this being a depiction of 1970's adolescence after all), the inevitable first love between the hero and the sweetest, most understanding and, of course, most beautiful girl from the local distaff school, and the predictable confrontations that develop between the freethinking teen and the anachronistic stuffed shirts of the school's administration. There is also, of course, the mandatory death of one of the members of the original gang to act as a device to sober the boy's up to an awakened awareness of the seriousness and responsibilities of adulthood.Yet, for all of its adherence to the formula of this particular genre, "Outside Providence" wins the audience over, partly through the breezy likeability of the actors and performers, partly through the unforced realism of the screenplay, and partly through the film's dead-on accurate recreation of a decade that is fast becoming the era of choice for modern day nostalgia. Like so many films that tie themselves strongly to a time long past, "Outside Providence" relies (and perhaps even over relies) on a soundtrack filled with memory-inducing tunes of the period. This is the easiest trick in the book for filmmakers to stir an audience's fond recollections - but, damned if it doesn't work every time. In addition, the film is set within the beautiful environs of autumnal New England, a factor that contributes to the overall laid-back charm of the film."Outside Providence" provides a relaxing, unfrenetic trip down memory lane for those of us who happen to have come of age in the era the Farrellys are presenting. The film ultimately doesn't amount to much, but one could find worse ways to spend 90 minutes - and a worse group of people with which to spend it."