Flesh & Bone

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan, James Caan
Director: Steven Kloves
Genre: Drama
Year: 1993
Rating: 2 / 5

Flesh & Bone. The title can just grab the would-be movie viewer, and grab me it did at my local video store. Having seen the original film trailer back in 1993, I remembered the film selling itself as a mysterious thriller setting in the Dust Bowl of America. With Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan, James Caan, and a young Gwyneth Paltrow starring in Steven Kloves's film, I was certain that this would be an experience I would remember. In fact, I was already cursing myself for having waited so long to see it. Be it inflated expectations or misplaced impressions, I found myself ruing the day I rented this film.

Dennis Quaid stars as Arlis Sweeney, a midwestern vendor salesman who roams from town to town, from woman to woman, without any real direction in his life. At one of his stops, he bumps into Kay Davies (Meg Ryan), a down-on-her-luck married woman looking for a way out. After tending to her during a drunken evening, he finds himself with a beautiful driving companion, as she decides to drive his route with him. As the two begin their journey, they begin to slowly fall in love with each other, and all suddenly seems peaceful for both of these troubled souls. Of course, as many of us know, nothing is ever that peaceful, and soon their lives are disrupted by a presence from Sweeney's past - his father.

Roy Sweeney (James Caan) is the father Arlis has not seen in years, ever since a tragic incident which occurred when Arlis was only ten years old. Always on the run from somewhere and always in trouble with the law, Roy sweeps back in after a rough night, asking his son to tend to him for an evening. Years may have past, but the same control Roy had over Arlis when he was a child still exists, and Arlis finds himself succumbing to his father's wishes yet again. Though his initial intentions with his son are anything but malicious, circumstances force Roy to change his ideas, and he is soon making plans to end his son's new union.

Admittedly, Flesh & Blood suffers in my eyes due to the fact that I had expected more of a mystery/thriller and less of a drama. Any tension or uncertainty that may have existed in the plot is lost in the opening scenes, when we see a younger Roy commit a violent crime right in front of his forever-scarred child. The events in this sequence establish the main characters' tendencies throughout the film, and the film's subsequent "twist" is alluded to strongly at this point. As the father and son separate after this moment, we know that Roy will soon return, and we begin to see how the other pieces will fit together. There is no mystery here, and we are left merely to watch the inevitable unfold. And at more than two hours, Flesh & Bone takes a while to unfold.

Despite the lack of a compelling story, the actors are mostly up to the challenge. Meg Ryan (Sleepless in Seattle), of whom I have never been a fan, impressed me, playing against type as a run-down housewife from a broken home. Dennis Quaid has neither dazzled me nor disappointed me during his career, and the same holds true here. He actually seems pretty comfortable as the primarily mute ladies man meandering through life. James Caan, unfortunately, will forever be compared to his role as Santino Corleone in The Godfather, and he will suffer for it. As has been the case in many of his previous films, he simple cannot live up to the image of himself he created. Though this is one of Gwyneth Paltrow's first films, she could just as easily been left out of it, as she does little to distinguish herself or her character. On a slow Sunday afternoon with nothing but this film on television, I may glance at it yet again. Otherwise, walk away, and catch the work of these fine actors in films which are actually respected.

Cast:

Dennis Quaid..........	Arlis Sweeney
Meg Ryan..........	Kay Davies
James Caan..........	Roy Sweeney
Gwyneth Paltrow..........	Ginnie

Certification: Rated R for sexuality.
Running Time: 126 minutes.

Additional Info: Internet Movie Database
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