Gannett News Service, 12-18-1996, pp arc.

`Marvin's Room' -- a four-star gem...

By MARSHALL FINE

Gannett Suburban Newspapers

Movies about illness are, by nature, manipulative -- but the best of them let you forget that your

emotions are being played like a piano. You simply give yourself over to the human power of the

characters and their story.

The amazing thing about ``Marvin's Room' is writer Scott McPherson' s ability to take tough, tragic

material and make it both wrenching and outrageously, darkly funny. If anything, the late

McPherson's screenplay is even funnier than the stage version.

Credit for that, however, must be shared with director Jerry Zaks (a stage veteran making his film

debut) and an incredible cast that puts stardom aside to meld into a seamless ensemble. They have

turned the play into a wonderfully life-affirming story about the fragility and durability of family bonds.

At the center of the story is Bessie (Diane Keaton), who lives in Florida with her bed-ridden father,

Marvin, and her ailing Aunt Ruth. She's devoted herself to their care since Marvin's debilitating

stroke years before. He is, in her words, dying slowly ``so we won't miss a minute of it.''

Feeling run down and assuming she's merely suffering a vitamin deficiency, she instead winds up at

the mercy of the compassionate but harried Dr. Wally (Robert De Niro), who finally admits that she,

in fact, has leukemia. Her only hope is a bone-marrow transplant from a close family member.

Which is where Lee (Meryl Streep), Bessie's sister, comes in. Estranged from Bessie and Marvin

for more than 20 years, she lives with her two sons (one of whom is institutionalized for setting fires)

and is just about finished with beauty school. When Bessie calls, she packs sons Hank (Leonardo

DiCaprio) and Charlie (Hal Scardino) into the car and drives to Florida to be tested for donor

compatibility.

The reunion, initially, is an uneasy one. Bessie is too nice to voice her resentments for the years Lee

has abandoned her to care for their father and aunt. But Lee feels such guilt at her long-term

disconnection that she always assumes an accusing subtext to Bessie's conversation. Meanwhile, Lee

is also struggling with her tortured relationship with the wild Hank, who strikes an instant rapport

with Bessie.

The tension and guilt are mixed with Bessie's rising fear about the possibility of her own impending

death, which is mixed with her worries about what will happen to Marvin and Ruth -- and whether

Lee will be willing to assume some form of responsibility. Yet it is all leavened with cuttingly dark

humor, tied to the mundane details of everyday life and the cultural differences between Bessie and

her long-lost family.

Filmed in concise, unfussy fashion by Zaks, ``Marvin's Room'' benefits from bone-deep

performances by all the principals: Keaton as the self- sacrificing Bessie and Streep as the selfish,

trashy Lee, struggling with the demands of being a better version of herself. DiCaprio sizzles as the

anxious, fiery Hank, while De Niro has a wonderful deadpan quality as the not-quite-together Dr.

Wally.

``Marvin's Room'' is funny and thoughtful, a deeply moving film whose laughs are always surprising

and whose tears are fully earned.

Rated PG-13, profanity, adult themes.

MARVIN'S ROOM (PG-13, profanity, adult themes) Four Stars (Excellent) A terrific adaptation of

the off-Broadway hit, about a family that reunites when one member gets leukemia. Funny and

touching, it's a movie that earns both its laughter and its tears. Starring Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep,

Leonardo DiCaprio. Directed by Jerry Zaks. Miramax Films. 98 minutes.

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(Marshall Fine covers entertainment for the Gannett Suburban Newspapers and Gannett News

Service.)

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A collection of Marshall Fine's film reviews is available in Westchester Today, Gannett Suburban

Newspapers' World Wide Web site, at

http:(slash)(slash)www.nynews.com(slash)reviews(slash)freviews.htm