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DENNIS QUAID: FLESH AND BONE, UNDERCOVER BLUES

© Sean Gallagher

Some actors, it seems, are able to catch lightning in a bottle, and become a hit almost right away. Most actors, however, must rely on the goodwill of directors, execs, and critics to carry them along until the public catches up to them. Dennis Quaid has often seemed like part of the latter group; he's well-liked but has never become a huge star. After having small parts in films such as I NEVER PROMISED YOU A ROSE GARDEN (1977), and taking major roles and second leads in films such as BREAKING AWAY (1979), THE LONG RIDERS (1980), and the made-for-TV BILL (1981), Quaid seemed ready to break out. But while he's had roles in big films (THE RIGHT STUFF), and been the lead in big summer films (INNERSPACE, THE BIG EASY), or "important" films (GREAT BALLS OF FIRE, COME SEE THE PARADISE), he's never gotten the hit he deserves. Not that this seems to bother him; Quaid continues to try and go his own way, and his work in 1993 in Steve Kloves' FLESH AND BONE, and Herbert Ross' UNDERCOVER BLUES, proves it.

Kloves, a screenwriter who made his directorial debut in 1989 with THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS, didn't get the reception for FLESH AND BONE that he did for his previous effort. This, however, is actually a good, albeit slow, film, and it shows how a performer such as Quaid can be effective even when not relying on one of his trademarks.

Quaid plays Arlis, a vending machine operator - that is, he stocks vending machines with their supplies - who lives in Texas. He likes his life orderly, and he seems cut off from life. This last part is due to his father Roy (James Caan), a criminal. Twenty-five years before, when Arlis was a young boy, he watched as his father murdered an entire family during a robbery that went wrong. Arlis, of course, knows that his father is a bad person, but he can't confront him about it.

While at one of his stops, Arlis is at a bar, and a woman comes out of a cake and passes out. The woman is Kay (Meg Ryan), who has been bouncing around bars to get away from an abusive marriage to Reese (Christopher Rydell, son of director Mark Rydell). Arlis is forced to take care of Kay, and from that, the two begin a tentative relationship. But then Arlis realizes that she's the baby daughter of the family his father murdered all those years ago (Arlis didn't tell his father about the baby). And when his father shows up, with Ginnie (Gwyneth Paltrow), a shoplifter, in tow (ironically, Ginnie's stealing of Kay's money is how Kay ends up taking the job of coming out of the cake), he's eager to tie up loose ends.

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