Our Flick of the Week is “Stuart Saves His Family,” a surprisingly smart adaptation to feature-length form of a “Saturday Night Live” comedy sketch. The same attempt worked with “Wayne’s World” and bombed with “It’s Pat,” but it works here. That’s because great care has gone into fleshing-out Stuart’s world and letting us meet the parents and siblings who helped create this chronic overeater with achingly low self-esteem.
Stuart Smalley (as written and played by Al Franken) is a teddy bear of a guy who lisps and wears big sweaters and wouldn’t hurt a soul, except maybe himself. Actually, considering that he was raised by a verbally abusive, alcoholic father (well-played by Harris Yulin), Stuart is functioning quite well as the movie opens. He has his cable-access, self-help show, in which he delivers monologues about how he copes with pain. Stuart belongs to a number of 12-step recovery programs, and he knows all the lingo. His signature sign-off, in which he daily forgives himself, is literally his lifeline: “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!”
But then there is a genuine crisis. Stuart’s show is canceled, and his sister needs him to come home to help distribute their aunt’s estate. Pulled back into the familial maelstrom, Stuart confronts his father, his put-upon mother and his suffering siblings. He dispenses advice constantly, none better than this jewel: “The only person I can fix is me, because it is easier to put on slippers than to carpet the entire world.”
The particular triumph of “Stuart Saves His Family” is a script that is sophisticated at a time when American screenwriting is getting dumber and dumber. Yes, Stuart is a parody of the self-help movement, but there are kernels of wisdom. The millions of Americans who are involved in 12-step programs will probably find big laughs and some succor in Stuart’s journey. A lesser writer than Franken would have made Stuart laughable. Thankfully, he’s funny without being a joke.
“Stuart Saves His Family” is playing at Water Tower, Webster Place and outlying theaters. Rated PG-13. (star) (star) (star) 1/2
Flicks Picks guide
– New this week
– JURY DUTY (Lincoln Village, Esquire, Burnham Plaza, and outlying theaters). Pauly Shore is positively obnoxious and not the least bit funny, playing his annoying-guy persona who latches on to a jury-duty assignment so he can have a place to spend his days and nights, eat regular meals, and romance a cute chick (Tia Carrere). Do you really want to see Pauly Shore in underwear dance in a strip club? Do you want to hear his voice for 90 minutes? He makes Jim Carrey seem like Buster Keaton. PG-13. No stars.
– STUART SAVES HIS FAMILY (Water Tower, Webster Place, and outlying). This Week’s Flick of the Week. See above. PG-13. (star) (star) (star) 1/2
