Review of Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael

Introduction

Small Town America shows itself to be as weird as ever in Jim Abraham`s 1990 drama-comedy. Dinky Bossetti (Winona Ryder) is a high-school outsider, shunned by classmates and threatened with transfer to a special-needs school. Anyone who gets to know her, like Gerald Howells (Thomas Wilson Brown) realises she simply dances to a different tune. Dinky believes she is the daughter of the town`s only celebrity Roxy Carmichael, who is returning to Clyde, Ohio in triumph. The only person who can confirm Dinky`s parentage is Roxy`s former lover Denton Webb (Jeff Daniels).

Clyde, Ohio is the sort of town that might go down with a case of Groundhog Day - in fact Stephen Tobolowski (the insurance salesman decked by Bill Murray in the movie of that name) is the Mayor. Nothing ever happens there, so when one of its former inhabitants gains some celebrity in the great wide world, the matter is of some interest.

At the centre of the whole debacle is not the eponymous Roxy Carmichael, but Winona Ryder turning in the kind of outsider-goth-grungegirl performance that decorated "Beetlejuice" and "Mermaids". Dinky Bossetti dyes a bright yellow jumper bought for her black and when challenged replies that she didn`t promise she wouldn`t dye it, she said she`d try not to.

Sight and Sound described this one as "Just another tale about a girl who discovers that she`s pretty in pink". It`s more than that. It`s a rite of passage movie. It`s about wanting more than the hand that fate`s dealt you.

Unlike much of Jim Abraham`s work (usually in partnership with the Zuckers - Airplane, Naked Gun, Hot Shots, etc.), the wackiness is reined in and replaced with the wry humour of writer Karen Leigh Hopkins. All in all, the picture is a much gentler American comedy-drama and is all the more satisfactory for that.

Video

An adequate 1.77:1 transfer from what is probably a 1.85:1 theatrical version. The picture is generally clean and free from digital artifacts. Colours are naturalistic and much of the lighting is the same way.

Audio

The soundtrack is an unambitious Dolby 2.0 mix, but that`s unsurprising considering the movie`s 1990 vintage.

Features

Being a Carlton "Silver Collection" disk, you don`t get much for your budget price. There is a theatrical trailer and English HOH subtitles, but that`s your lot.

Conclusion

An enjoyable tale of delusion, not-fitting-in and black carpets. Watch out for Doris (one of the kids from "Fame") as a teacher.