Flesh and Bone

Starring: Meg Ryan

Directed by: Steve Kloves

RS: Not Rated

1993 Drama

Demons are prowling in this mesmerizing mood piece from writer-director Steve Kloves (The Fabulous Baker Boys). The opening is unnerving -- a match for the icy terror of In Cold Blood. We're outside a farmhouse in West Texas about 30 years ago. Cinematographer Philippe Rousselot (Diva) makes you feel the night chill. There's a boy lingering in the yard. The family takes him in. It's a setup. The boy's father, Roy (James Caan), means to rob the place while the family sleeps. But the boy gets his signals crossed. Shots ring out. Each family member dies, except one. The boy, Arlis, didn't tell his daddy about the baby girl. From now on, Arlis doesn't tell his daddy about anything.

Cut to the present. Arlis, now an adult and played by Dennis Quaid, is still shaking off childhood memories. His job is stocking vending machines with candy and condoms. He likes the comfort of the routine and the willing waitresses. It's a new kind of role for Quaid; the killer smile is gone along with the easy charm. The change becomes him; he gives an artfully controlled performance that reveals the toll life has taken on Arlis. He can't forget what Roy did to him. Neither can we.

It takes Kay Davies, played by Meg Ryan (Quaid's offscreen wife), to shake up Arlis' contained existence. One night at a cowboy bar, she pops out of a cake and into his bed. Ryan invests the role with a disarming blend of sexuality and innocence. Arlis' protective instincts are aroused by Kay's tales of an orphaned childhood and an abusive husband. He's that kind of sucker. When a young girl (Gwyneth Paltrow) knocks on his door complaining about trouble, Arlis gets out of bed to listen. Her name is Ginnie; she's a teen hard case who likes conning her way into funeral parlors and stealing jewelry from stiffs. But Arlis doesn't know this, so she puts on her lost-lamb look and says her car broke down. Arlis follows her, only to run into his worst nightmare: Daddy.

What happens when these four hook up to share dark secrets should not be revealed in a review, though you can see the melodrama coming. But even when Kloves' contrivances put a strain on the plot, the interior landscape of the characters continues to fascinate. Paltrow, the daughter of actress Blythe Danner and producer Bruce Paltrow, nearly steals the picture with a funnyscary portrait of corrupted youth; she's a knockout. And Caan's riveting take on grinning evil illuminates Arlis' struggle to conquer the dark impulses he shares with his father. Kloves sometimes lets the film bog down in the Freudian muck. But stick with the seductively twisted Flesh and Bone. It slaps you like a raw wind.

<>PETER TRAVERS
RS 670