I really liked Alicia Witt in 'Two Weeks Notice' and decided to get some of her other efforts. This film certainly didn't fall into the enjoyable category.It may well not be P.C., but I can hardly imagine a less convincing Jewish girl than Alicia Witt. She is obviously from a far different section of the gene pool. It was ridiculous to cast Elliot Gould and Marlo Thomas as her parents.The plot has 'Claire Goldstein' (Witt) winning a piano competition, but hiding her success from all her competitors when the results are announced. This is so odd as to dampen my acceptance of all the bizarre characters, situations, and behavior encountered later in the film.When the plot makes 'Claire' a wallflower at a dance, I almost shut off the film in disgust. A beauty like her would have hardly faced rejection from the amorous guys on the dance floor.I enjoyed the tiny portion of the film that allowed Alicia to actually play the piano. She is obviously a very accomplished pianist. I got the impression that the screenplay was written for another actress and Alicia had to step in when the first choice wasn't cast for the part.Perhaps I was just vainly hoping for the film plot to take another direction and allow 'Claire' to shine instead being a helpless bystander in her own life.Otherwise, this film is full of formula characters and situations. Some efforts rise above their limited budgets. This one just plods along.

Claire (Alicia Witt) is having one of those months. A skilled pianist, she has failed to gain acceptance into a major piano competition, causing her sorrow. Her teacher and mentor (Harvey Fierstein) is sympathetic. But, then, in short order, her boyfriend dumps her unceremoniously and an earthquake ruins her San Francisco apartment, making it necessary to move back in with the folks. Ah, the family ties that bind and choke! Mother (Marlo Thomas) is trying her hand at cooking and offering unwelcome advice to her stricken daughter. Claire's father (Elliott Gould) is a having a midlife crisis and her overachieving sister is getting set to marry a stiff-shirt dentist, in coral and bisque, no less. As Claire is seeking to pull herself out of the blues, one bright spot emerges. She meets a good-looking fish merchant (Ivan Sergei). Will her life improve? This is one zany film, with a cast of characters and a script as offbeat as they come. Witt is luminous as the gifted pianist who runs into the year from hell. Thomas and Gould are terrific as the crazy parents and the rest of the cast is very nice, especially the gorgeous and charming Sergei. With some nice costumes, scenery, and photography, the film looks good and the San Francisco setting is lovely. Even so, the script is still the big winner here, being imaginative, humorous, and surprising. If you are drawn to romantic comedies with an off-kilter charm or you get tickled watching families much crazier than your own, find this one fast. You will like what you see.

I used to run a video store and this movie rarely got rented. It came on cable this afternoon and I didn't have anything else to do. I found the beginning of the film slow and rather predictable, but, as it got further into the story, I actually found myself hanging on the story, curious as to what could POSSIBLY happen next. I now find myself wondering why it never got rented in the store, because this was REALLY a good movie. I keep guessing if it was a romantic movie trying to be funny or a comedy trying to be romantic. The blend of both is what I actually enjoyed most about the film.I have only seen one other movies with Alicia Witt, but I think I'm going to be looking for more of her. Elliott Gould and Marlo Thomas are a nice blend as her parents, too.

Spoilers herein.There's double reflection here: two dimensions where the matter of the film reflects its manner.The first is in the plot itself. Alicia Witt is an actress with a lot of the basic stuff that creates a career. She is better looking than the current crop of blondies, with enough acting talent to qualify. If Kate Hudson can garner attention, this woman should. Plus, she really does have mastery of one performing area -- the piano -- something that subsumes all of theater except mugging. This puts her far ahead ofthe pack by default.She is in fact a woman in constant audition. `Is this the film that will make my career?' we know she is thinking throughout the production. Oddly, what she lacks is not talent or appeal, it is sheer commitment. Kirsten Dunst had it in `Vampire' and `Little Women.' Gwyneth in `Emma,' Reese in `Freeway.' Alicia herself had it with her hypnotizing appearance in `Dune.'(She also was the fulcrum around which the entire cosmology of "Liebestraum" revolves.)But just like her character, she goes all the way to the threshold and then stops. There are problems with the direction of this film, but you can see that she does only what the meek director asked of her. She doesn't overfill the role as a committed actress would. This film ends with us not knowing if she wins the competition (or alas, without even hearing her play). She may wake up and win the race to starlethood at some time to come.There is one scene where she IS spellbinding, and predictably it involves her playing. She is practicing an amazing complex piece and talking to Fierstein at the same time. It reminded me of a scene in `Autumn Sonata' where two characters were similarly staged with one playing. Her playing has a comic tinge just as her lines do.The second reflection concerns the director. This happens a lot: a film whose moral is one thing and the manner of presentation uses exactly the opposite philosophy. This idea, then play was born to be wild screwball. The Jewish chorus was supposed to be artificial, like the family in `The Big Hit.' The parties were supposed to be mythic, like `200 Cigarettes,' the friend Sabrina was supposed to be fantastic like Holly Golightly. The shifting affairs and deceits were supposed to be Shakespearean decorative comedy. There's enough raw material here to make two comedies at least at the level of `Big Fat Wedding.' But it requires an edgy director. While making a film about commitment to the passion of the thing, he forgets to have passion himself.Oh well, see it as prelude to Alicia's breakthrough. She'll get up after going splat. At least we hope so.(Don't watch it for any of the familiar actors that appear. They are all as flat as they are told to be. There is an execrable `adults'-take-LSD-by-mistake bit.)Ted's evaluation: 3 of 4 -- Worth watching