Truth in advertising is a something that, contrary to popular belief, has its place in film business. Audience most of the time don’t react well when they were promised one thing in trailers and promotional materials only to get something completely different on screen. This is the reason why Once Around, 1991 romantic drama directed by Lasse Hallström, originally advertised as romantic comedy, failed.
Protagonist, played by Helen Hunter, is Renata Bella, the oldest daughter in the close-knit Italian American family in Boston. Her parents Joe (played by Danny Aiello) and Mairlyn (played by Gena Rowlands) wants her to get married, like her brother Tony (played by Danton Stone) and sister Jan (played by Laura San Giacomo). Renata would very much like to marry, but her long-term boyfriend Rob (played by Griffin Dunne) refuses to do so, ending her relationship. In order to mend broken heart and start a life anew, Renata enrols into condominium salesmen course on the Caribbean island of St. Marteen. There she meets highly successful salesman Sam Sharpe (played by Richard Dreyfuss), to whom he is immediately attracted despite his advanced age. Sharpe is also attracted to her and agrees to marry her. Winning the affection of Renata’s family, however, is much bigger challenge. Despite his kindness and generosity, Sam appears to be socially awkward, unable to differentiate between jokes and insult and his overbearing personality make him obnoxious, especially to Joe who sees him as challenge to his authority of family patriarch. Renata is often forced to choose between Sam and her family, and things don’t improve even after she gets pregnant.
Once Around, which was Hollywood debut of celebrated Swedish director Lasse Hallström, is one of those films that fare better among critics than among audience. While it received mostly positive or, at worst, mixed reviews, it flopped at the box office. The main reason might be in the script by Malia Scotch Marmo. Once Around was intended to be a comedy, but Scotch Marmo, like so many Hollywood scriptwriters discovered that she lacked the sense of humour. As a result, despite being advertised as romantic comedy, this film is actually a drama. Lack of jokes is compensated with couple of quirky characters that make this film closer to the world of 1990s American independent cinema than high budget Hollywood production. The cast, which should make this film work, is mostly good. Danny Aiello stands out as the family patriarch and voice of reason with whom the audience would likely sympathise, and film even allows Aiello to show some of his singing talent. Helen Hunter, despite being one of the most talented actresses of generation, underperforms in this film, partly because her famous Southern twang struggles to come out instead of her character’s Boston accent. Richard Dreyfuss, on the other hand, often overacts, making his character as obnoxious to the audience as to the unfortunate Bellas. Another problem for the film is pacing, partly because of unnecessary subplot involving Jan’s messy romantic life. On the other hand, Hallström tries to give this film specific flavour by having the character of Sam being written as Lithuanian and very proud of his heritage; this allows for the rare occasion when Hollywood film features traditional folk songs and dances of that ethnic group. However, those little details can’t compensate for the film’s main flaw – lack of humour and the melodramatic ending that makes Once Around closer to tragedy than comedy. Viewers who aren’t aware what genre this film really belongs to are going to be very disappointed.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
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