White Palace

Starring: Kathy Bates

Directed by: Luis Mandoki

RS: Not Rated

1990 Romance

Glenn Savan's 1987 novel, 'White Palace,' detailed an unlikely affair between Nora, a lusty, big-bottomed hamburger slinger in her forties, and Max, a sullen, tight-assed Jewish ad executive in his late twenties. This film version, vigorously directed by L??s Mandoki (Gaby -- A True Story), Luis Mankoki can hardly be accused of typecasting. Susan Sarandon doesn't have the wrinkled neck, loose belly and fatty corrugations that Savan prescribed for Nora; her body has an athlete's sleek muscle tone. And Spader, the ultimate WASP yuppie from Wall Street to Bad Influence, appears as much an outsider as Nora does among Max's Jewish family.

That said, Sarandon and Spader turn in vibrant performances, especially when the overbusy script, by Ted Tally and Alvin Sargent, leaves Nora and Max alone to discover each other. His eccentric mother (Renee Taylor) and Nora's fortunetelling sister (Eileen Brennan) are sitcom fodder. Luckily, Max and Nora aren't.

Their first encounter is at the White Palace burger joint where Nora works. A drunken Max accuses Nora of cheating him out of some burgers he bought for a buddy's bachelor party. He winds up spending the night at Nora's pigsty of a house, and she wakes him up from his stupor for one of the screen's more graphic bouts of oral sex. The two eventually share confidences -- Max's wife and Nora's teenage son both died tragically -- but those moments are rigged for pathos. The movie works best as hot, sassy fun that is also wildly romantic. Nora and Max are increasingly aware of their differences in terms of age, class and interests, but they keep promising each other more than they can deliver. That's why you root for them, and the movie.

Sarandon gives Nora passion and spine; it's her strongest role since Bull Durham. Spader, who proved himself a superb reactive actor in sex, lies, and videotape, depicts the ardent awakening of a man on whom grief has dug deep psychic gashes. They put heat and heart into a film that could have slid by on sentiment.

PETER TRAVERS
RS 591