REVIEW: THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD (**)

[Steve Rhodes]

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THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****): **

Your eyes may be playing tricks on you. The title of this movie
is THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD and not the World Wide Web. Many computer
types will probably have to parse the name several times to get it
right. This is a film not about the Net, but about someone known as
"the greatest pulp fiction writer in the whole wide world." It is a
true story based on the memoirs of the writer's lover and written
almost a half a century later. The only real reason to see the film is
to catch more of that new star from JERRY MAGUIRE, Renee Zellweger, in
one of the movie's two leading roles.

Although it has a classic three tissue ending, the rest of the
picture is a remarkably unmoving portrayal of two characters full of
potential. As flat as the Texas prairie, the movie saves all of its
emotional impact until the end.

Set in poor, rural Texas in 1935, Vincent D'Onofrio (from FEELING
MINNESOTA and ED WOOD) plays Robert "Bob" E. Howard, the prolific pulp
fiction writer who gave the world, CONAN, THE BARBARIAN among many
other contributions. Renee Zellweger is school teacher, student, and
unpublished writer Novalyne Price. Although Bob does not to seem to
have all of his marbles and is viewed as the local eccentric by the
town, she falls for his extroverted behavior and his literary success.
Although he likes her, he is also mighty fond of his mama, played by
Ann Wedgeworth (from A BURNING PASSION: THE MARGARET MITCHELL STORY).

The cinematography by Claudio Rocha is gorgeous. You may remember
his stunning work in PICTURE BRIDE. Here he shows Texas as its best --
full of reddish golden colors. The prettiest images are the sunsets,
but the forest canopy is warm and inviting as well. The best sequence
has the camera pan down slowly from the highest branches to the
seemingly insignificant people under them.

Making a living producing pulp fiction isn't easy. As Bob says,
they "pay me only one half cent per word." But he copes. He reveals
that his solution is, "I stretch it out; I'm verbose."

Bob is not prime date material. His idea of a good time is
"drivin' and blabbin'," which he does frequently in the movie. Herein
lies the major problem with the film. Screenwriter Michael Scott Myers
rarely gives him anything to say worth hearing. Even if this stems
from deficiencies in the book, Myers should have been able to fix it.
This is compounded by Dan Ireland's meandering direction and Luis
Colina's loose editing. There are the ingredients for a good movie
here, but the mixture we are given does not gel.

The two leads give good performances, but the rest of the cast,
especially all of Novalyne's women friends, are weak. I found the
"Texan Spoken Here" sign at the soda fountain quite ironic since few of
the characters even attempt an accent. Those that do come up with a
weak, vaguely Southern accent. In a small Texas town before the advent
of television, you can be sure that all the accents would have been so
thick you could have cut them with a knife. I grew up in Garland,
Texas, and know what small town Texas speech sounds like. This is not
even close.

No matter how hard Zellweger and D'Onofrio try, the movie never
made me care about their characters. Zellweger's part was made more
earnest than touching by the script, and D'Onofrio's was reduced to
quirkiness. In the finale, when it came time to break out the Kleenex,
my eyes stayed dry. Some of people in the audience whimpered, but I
was never more than intrigued by the film. A promising story, but a
disappointing delivery.

THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD runs 1:45. It is rated PG. There are a
couple of mild cuss words, but no sex, nudity or violence. Given the
mature themes, kids would probably have to be nine or ten to be
interested in the show. Although the film has its moments, it is not
compelling cinema. I give it a mild thumbs down and **.

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**** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film.
*** = Excellent show. Look for it.
** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable.
* = Poor show. Don't waste your money.
0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable.

REVIEW WRITTEN ON: January 3, 1997

Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.