Safe Passage

 (Family drama -- Color)

By LEONARD KLADY

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A New Line Cinema release of a Pacific Western production. Produced by Gale Anne Hurd. Executive producers, David Gale, Betsy Beers, Ruth Vitale. Directed by Robert Allan Ackerman. Screenplay, Deena Goldstone, based on the novel by Ellyn Bache.
 
Mag Singer - Susan Sarandon
Patrick Singer - Sam Shepard
Alfred Singer - Robert Sean Leonard
Izzy Singer - Sean Astin
Cynthia - Marcia Gay Harden
Simon Singer - Nick Stahl
Gideon Singer - Jason London
Percival Singer - Matt Keeslar
Mort - Philip Bosco

 

It's stormy commercial waters ahead for "Safe Passage," a grueling family drama that juxtaposes a family holiday reunion with potential human tragedy. The kitchen sink material -- a major staple of television movies -- suffers from a severe case of earnestness. That, and the absence of marquee talent beyond Susan Sarandon, diminishes already limited theatrical prospects. Domestic potential is in upscale situations, and it's likely to go the small-screen route abroad.

The unconventional Singers are an estranged couple living in a New Jersey bedroom community. Mag (Susan Sarandon), after raising seven sons (only one is still at home), is troubled by no longer having a brood to care for and no obvious purpose in sight. Patrick (Sam Shepard), an inventor of sorts, now lives in his office and grapples with a mysterious stress ailment that periodically renders him blind. Situation's rife with allegory.

Story proper kicks off with Mag awaking in a sweat from a dream. She's had a premonition that one of her boys is in trouble. Sometime after sunrise she discovers that it's Percival (Matt Keeslar), who's stationed in the Sinai with U.S. peace-keeping forces. He may have been quartered in a Marine barracks bombed by terrorists.

One by one her boys arrive, and Patrick joins them around the table and in front of the television as they ride out the period of uncertainty. A lot of drama unfolds. There's virtually no family relationship that's on an even keel. There's a son who always felt less loved by his father, the brother who felt he quashed another sibling's dreams and a litany of unresolved matters between the couple ranging from his slovenliness to accusations that he was too easygoing and she was too overbearing.

While short of sturm und drang, "Safe Passage" has a decided theatrical pitch. Characters exclaim, and Robert Allan Ackerman's heavy-handed direction emphasizes every word as if it were gospel. The simplest of actions takes on an outsize quality.

Despite a general dour atmosphere, the cast struggles mightily to provide a human dimension to their roles. Sarandon is effective as the latter-day Mother Courage, and Shepard effortlessly conveys Patrick's effortless rambling through life. Best of the boys is Sean Astin, the square peg in relation to the rest of the group.

Tech credits are strong, but there's limited opportunity for the crafts to break out of the confinement dictated by the tale. One can also be thankful that the eventual outcome is upbeat, relatively speaking.

Camera (Deluxe color, Film House prints), Ralf Bode; editor, Rick Shaine; music, Mark Isham; production design, Dan Bishop; art direction, Jefferson Sage; set decoration, Dianna Freas; costume design, Renee Ehrlich; sound (Dolby), Tod Maitland; line producer, Diana Pokorny; casting, Pam Dixon Mickelson. Reviewed at Sony Studios screening room, Culver City, Dec. 1, 1994. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 96 min.