Peter Farrelly was a scraggly, poor writer when he penned the story of his Providence, Rhode Island, adolescence. It became a dime-store novel that equally poor, aspiring director Michael Corrente picked up and loved. A decade or so later, after both had Hollywood calling cards, they translated to film the novel's main character Tim Dunphy, known to his Pawtucket, Rhode Island, friends as Dunph; known to his belligerent old-school father as Dildo. Cast for his crooked teeth, actor Shawn Hatosy authentically plays Dunph as a blue-collar slacker. When Dunph crashes into a parked police car, his father Old Man Dunphy, portrayed with bulls-eye "Car Tawk" delivery by Alec Baldwin, ships the teen off to Cornwall Academy. In a year's time at the prep school, where everyone else is a thoroughbred, Dunph deals with alienation, betrayal, a broken heart, the death of a friend, family rejection, and suicide. All that and feathered hair. Hatosy deserves an Oscar.

Although Outside Providence is very funny, it's not packed with Farrelly and his brother Bobby's expected brand of sicko slapstick. Director Michael Corrente's darker sensibilities give the film its necessary drama. Ordinary acts are turned into intimate moments, such as when old Man Dunphy teaches his son how to tie a tie. Corrente incorporated in the script his own childhood experience with his farm-reared mother shooting ornaments off the family Christmas tree. The scene is one of Outside Providence's most revealing.

This film will likely carry itself on Baldwin's hefty shoulders. Unless you're a moviegoer who keeps up on stage acting, you might think he's appeared in a string of crap-acts from The Getaway to Malice. In fact, he was nominated for a Tony for his performance as Tony in A Streetcar Named Desire and an Obie for the theatre version of Prelude to a Kiss. His performance as a cross between Al Bundy and Socrates as represented in Outside Providence's most quotable lines, "Sex is like a Chinese dinner. It's not over until both of you get your cookies," is just one example of the film's memorable one-liners. This is the oldest Baldwin brother's finest performance as a man who constantly fights to keep his children on the right path. It was worth the actor putting on an extra spare-tire to play the part.