The story goes like this: Tim "Dump" Dunphy is your average '70s teen burnout who lives with his dunderheaded father and crippled brother in Pawtucket, Rhode Island -- a real crapper of a town where the only things to do are get baked and hang out at the local water tower. One night, stoned out of his mind with his friends, Dump plows his vehicle into a parked patrol car. His father, hoping to straighten him out, then ships him off to prep school. Hilarity, of course, ensues, as fish-out- of-water Dump manages to get the girl, turn the school upside down, and learn about himself, blah, blah, blah.
As coming-of-age tales go, Outside Providence is perfectly fine. Dump is a pleasant enough character, and all his friends are properly funny as the "pothead sidekicks." But it's Alec Baldwin as Dump's emotionally crippled dad (known only as "Old Man Dunphy") that really stands out. Both funny and sad, he alone is nearly worth the price of admission.
Baldwin has always been a schizophrenic actor -- put him in something like The Hunt for Red October or Glengarry Glen Ross (where his five-minute diatribe nearly trounced Al Pacino's brilliant, film-long performance), and he's always shined. But those roles have been few and far between, and for the most part his acting chops have largely gone unused.
Baldwin's performance in Outside Providence actually elevates the entire film. It walks the fine line between caricature and sympathy so well, in fact, that it makes Old Man Dunphy the most interesting character in the picture. Too bad the film wasn't about his coming of age; maybe then Miramax would really have something to put its considerable marketing muscle behind. Instead, they're stuck with what they have: A film we've all seen many, many times before.
