Drowning Mona

DROWNING MONA

Rating: C-
When Bette Midler's Yugo hurtles off a cliff and plunges into a lake, it's not long before town police chief Danny DeVito comes to suspect foul play. The only problem is instead of having no suspects, he has too many; just about everyone in the town hated her for one reason or another.

Thus begins Drowning Mona, a quirky comedy about life in a backwoods upstate New York community where everyone who's anyone seems to drive a Yugo. Even the town police drive hatchbacks. Although it's largely an ensemble cast, the film more or less focuses on DeVito, his daughter Neve Campbell, and her fiancé Casey Affleck. As is par for the course in such farces, there's not a normal person in the lot. Which would be okay, if not for the fact that for every line that evokes a chortle, there are at least ten that die on the vine.

As told through flashbacks (hey, what else could they do - she dies in the opening scene), Midler is the queen bitch incarnate. But often these scenes are less funny than just plain unpleasant to watch. There's one sequence in particular where she's a contestant at the community fair, where you keep waiting for the punch line to come. But it never does. Then there are other scenes dealing with the offbeat sexual tastes of townsfolk such as Midler's husband and the strange owner of the local mortuary. Still another line of jokes deals with one of the characters having lost a hand in an accident, which brings the usual "give me a hand" and "we'll be shorthanded" type puns. It's all very familiar territory; you either decide to park your self-respect and laugh, or roll your eyes and stifle a yawn.

DeVito actually does a good job with his role, though the material is quite limited. The real surprise though is Neve Campbell, who displays a knack for deadpan comedic timing. And watching her ernestly putting ketchup on a dill pickle is somehow amusing.

Director Nick Gomez apparently has "The Best of 3 Dog Night" among his CD collection, judging by the soundtrack. Along with other hits from the 70's (e.g, "Popcorn"), the music helps keep the film lively at least. But heck, as long as they were going to do that, couldn't they have worked "Out in the Country" into the mix?