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A Fox release. Written by Tom Shulman; directed by Donald Petrie; starring Ray Romano, Gene Hackman and Maura Tierney. Released to DVD on May 25, 2004.  Los Angelians are often seen as people who operate under their own set of rules, only worrying about what other people consider to be trivial problems. What should we do with all this sunshine? Do we go to the beach before or after we get the Porsche washed? Home to the Hollywood Ending, the 90210 Zip code and mega-stars like Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt, one wonders if southern Californians can truly suffer from real world problems. Or so Hollywood would have you believe. The truth of the matter is that this perception is categorically false (the same holds true for DisneyWorld, marketing campaigns aside) and this image is prophlegated by the film studios. Assuming that people go to the movies to indulge in some albeit momentary escapism, producers have begun to include less and less actual life in their films. Al-Qaeda and Iraq don't exist on the silver screen The result of this manipulation in Welcome to Mooseport is a movie whose main character’s biggest (and only) worry is whether or not he’ll get to stay with his girlfriend. Director Donald Petrie’s (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Miss Congeniality) Welcome to Mooseport is the latest installment in the rapidly expanding genre of reality-be-damned motion pictures. Welcome to Mooseport marks actor Ray Romano’s first live-action appearance on the big screen. Attempting to create a buzz about something other than his lead role on CBS’ Everybody Loves Raymond, the results are anything but pretty. Romano stars here as Handy Harrison, Mooseport Maine’s lovable town plumber. Handy is the burgh’s prodigal son. He owns his own business, dates the town (only?) attractive woman his age, Grace Sutherland (Maura Tierney) and has a cute and affectionate dog. Handy’s one failing is his inability to fully commit to Grace. Worried about the drudgery of marriage or possibly fearing that taking this next step will put him one foot closer to the grave, Handy simply cannot bring himself to get engaged to Grace. Things get shaken up in Mooseport when the former president of the United States, David Monroe (Gene Hackman) moves to the cozy town in order to write his memoirs. Immediately taken by Grace’s poise and beauty–lest we not forget, she is Mooseport’s only attractive, single woman–the ex-president quickly asks her out. Ultimately, Handy and the one time leader of the free world end up in a heated race for the position of Mooseport mayor… and Grace’s affection. Guess who wins.  Romano has never been accused of being an actor with a particular broad range and, not surprisingly, his role here in Welcome to Mooseport is virtually a carbon copy of his role on Everybody Loves Raymond. Like Ray Barone, Handy Harrison is a good-natured guy with a blue-collar charm who isn’t all that motivated in life. Both characters seem only too happy to let other people handle their problems for them; it’s this trait in Handy that bothers Grace so very much. However, unlike Romano’s sit-com, here he isn’t surrounded by a blessed and satisfyingly warped group of comedic characters. Welcome to Mooseport’s characters are one-dimensional at best and shallow, stereotypical retreads at worst. Each person in the film seems to have been given one character trait that completely and totally defines their persona. The trickle down effect of this is that even the talented Tierney and Hackman have litte to work with. Devoid of nuance, subtlety and any kind of wit, Welcome to Mooseport is as formulaic and hackneyed a film as Hollywood is capable of producing. It’s a rare occasion when everyone in the theater knows how the movie is going to end before even the title card comes on-screen. If you’re looking for something entertaining to do in correlation with Welcome to Mooseport , I suggest you use the above plot synopsis and then write out a more detailed description of how you expect the film will progress based upon the other comedies that Petrie has directed. Chances are you’ll be eerily surprised by the results. | |||||
