Adapted from Peter Ferrelly's novel (also titled "Outside Providence"), the film examines the life of an unsophisticated kid named Tim Dunphy, or "Dunph" (Hatosy), who lives in Providence, Rhode Island. Dunph lives in a poor family, with his even more uneducated father (Alec Baldwin) and his crippled younger brother. The mother died when Dunph was young, under circumstances that are revealed later in the film. Baldwin, whose character is known as Old Man Dunphy, can usually be found playing poker with his bigot friends, while Dunph is out with his friends, engaging in more teenage-esque activities such as smoking pot and drinking while listening to such seventies tunes as Lynyrd Skynyrd and Yes. One of the only scenes that leans toward the comedic side is when Dunph and his buddies make a stop at Dunph's house to pick up his bong and Dunph drops it on the floor in front of the father and his friends. In an attempt to cover up the mischievous object, Dunph recovers by claiming it is a horn. If the scene was in a usual Farrelly brothers flick, it might somehow be blown comically out of proportion, perhaps having Dunph claim the bong to be some sort of sex tool rather than the mildly humorous excuse of being a horn. If anything could have given depth to the unoriginal plot or added a slight element of dramatic satire, it would have been the dark, ridiculous humor that is used in the previous Farrelly films. Instead, the rare comic attempts, in a film that is mostly dedicated to drama, fall flat, failing to have the hysterical shock value of "Dumb & Dumber" or last year's "There's Something About Mary."

An obvious explanation of the absence of this essential element would be the point out the fact that both "Dumb & Dumber" and "There's Something About Mary" were written and directed by the Farrellys, whereas the Farrelly script for "Outside Providence" was directed by Michael Corrente (American Buffalo).

It could have been Peter Farrelly's fault for diving into drama (territory which he may not be quite as gifted with). Or maybe it was a poor adaptation of a brilliant Farrelly novel by Corrente. My guess is that the Farrelly style humor did not mesh with Corrente's knack for drama. In any case, the dull story drags on to having Old Man Dunphy force Dunph to attend a prep boarding school, where he typically finds it difficult to fit in since he comes from a poor family from Providence, and eventually (of course) wins over the most beautiful girl in the school (Smart). Boring! Sure there's a few conflicts thrown in the middle-you know, the I-miss-my-dead-mother bonding scene with Old Man Dunphy, and the section of the film where the girl's parents don't approve of Dunph because he is getting her in trouble at school. (Parents not approving of their teenage daughter's lover? Haven't heard that one before.) These classic conflicts come up at various points during the film, but I was surprised to be able to report that everything works out in the end. Oops! Didn't mean to ruin the ending for those of you who haven't seen it. (Believe me, you've already seen it.) Perhaps filmmakers think that if they set their films in the years of their own childhood that the many-times-before-told story will remain entertaining.

Personally, I'd rather stay home and listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd and Yes on my own stereo.