Quirky comedy, intense
drama, and warm nostalgia are all combined in this eccentric look at
one
night in 1964 amongst the residents of the Five Corners neighborhood of
the Bronx. The bulk of the film concerns Linda (Jodie Foster), a young
woman who finds herself stalked by a disturbed rapist fresh out of
prison.
Needing protection, she turns to her formerly tough ex-boyfriend, only
to discover that a recent political awakening has transformed him into
a pacifist. The tension of Linda's situation is leavened by the film's
attention to its bizarre subplots, which include a stolen penguin, the
partying teenagers who encounter trouble with an elevator, and a pair
of
detectives investigating a series of mysterious bow-and-arrow attacks.
The script by John
Patrick Shanley, who won the 1987 Academy Award for Best Original
Screenplay
for Moonstruck, manages to (for the most part) bring these seemingly
unrelated
stories together into a fairly logical conclusion. Even though numerous
critics felt that Five Corners' mixture of widely disparate tones was
not
completely successful, the end result is a surprisingly charming and
unique
tribute to a time and a place. -- Judd Blaise
Critics' reviews:
Leonard
Maltin's Movie Review
Washington
Post review
New
Internationlist review, Oct. 1988
Memorable lines:
Jimmy: It ain't worth it,
being jealous of you. You're a wacko and you're leaving town. This
ain't
worth it. This is not a rival, this is a phenomenon.
Trivia:
James Newton Howard wrote the score
to this and another Campbell Scott movie: Dying Young.
