HERE'S THE FLASH NEWS from "Georgia Rule": Lindsay Lohan can act.
Not only can she act, she also has a kind of effortless charisma that carries what there is to carry of this uneven mixture between drama and comedy. In the process, she upstages Jane Fonda and Felicity Huffman, two experienced actresses who are hampered by the lack of development of their characters.
At the outset, we know that the uncontrollable little city tart played by Lohan is eventually going to be humanized and softened into a real human being as a result of her going to live in the pristine sweetness of a small Idaho town called Hull. (To her, it initially rhymes with dull.) In the movies, city people who go to small towns always end up learning nice things about life.
Always.
Since there's no suspense, it is a testament to Lohan's acting that she manages to keep her character, Rachel, interesting throughout her journey to redemption.
It doesn't hurt, in terms of interest, that Rachel is a braless hussy who routinely wows all the boys, and men, in the hick town.
She isn't a pushover for anyone in that town, or in the audience.
Huffman, who is seeking a big-screen role to follow up her amazing Oscar-nominated showcase in "Transamerica," plays the alcoholic mother who has, at the outset, more or less signed off on her wild daughter. After Rachel wrecks her new sports car, befuddled and drunken mommy sentences the teen to a summer with Georgia, the mother and grandmother who takes no guff from anyone.
Rachel isn't afraid of her, sarcastically asking, "Aren't you going to give me a kiss good night, Granny?" The script might have fared better by developing this stand-off between the generations. Instead, it switches to varied subplots.
Fonda, with one of the most impressive acting resumes of her time, seems miscast. She's lean and gruff, proving that Barbarella can still wear tight jeans at age 69, but she's far from the usual lovable character actress that would play this part. As played by Fonda, Georgia is just a bit too citified and all-knowing to suggest small-town Americana.
She has the weathered look, but still she seems a little youngish to be a grandmother.
Georgia serves meals at a given time. No exceptions.
She demands that anyone living under her roof has to work and gets a job for Rachel at the local vet's office. Most of all, she strictly demands that the Lord's name never be taken in vain. Try it, and she gives you a bar of soap to use on your mouth.
And yet, Georgia cusses with the best of them. Sometimes, this movie plays like a lovable family fluff, but then R-rated language pours out of some characters. Regrettably uneven, the movie asks us to laugh sweetly for one moment and then hits us with issues such as child abuse and alcoholism.
Teen girls are probably going to get their hormones rushing over Garrett Hedlund, who plays the Li'l Abner of the town. He's all gawky about the city girl, and he puts up a good fight, not knowing that whatever Rachel wants, Rachel gets. The R-rating also comes from her seduction of the boy.
The most genuinely humorous segment has all the local Mormon girls keeping watch on Rachel to be sure she keeps her paws off the boy. They're spying for his girlfriend, who is away at college but has heard that the city girl needs to be watched. Rachel calls their bluff when she threatens to steal their own boyfriends if they don't lay off.
There is no doubt she can do it.
Huffman isn't given much to do here. For the most part, Mom is back in the city - showing up for one alcoholic scene which is played with an overabundance of ham.
Dermot Mulroney seems to have established a career as the older-guy decoration in movies starring women. As the local vet, and apparently the only single adult guy in town, he's ever-reliable and something of a father figure for Rachel, complete with a touch of gray temples.
Director Garry Marshall, the hilarious old-time comic, has, in the past, managed to make a high-priced prostitute into a lik able household heroine (in "Pretty Woman"), but he isn't quite as adept at merging the comedy and drama here - particularly when things turn messy and Rachel claims that her step-father (Cary Elwes from "The Princess Bride") has regularly molested her.
Since she's a pathological liar, no one believes her.
The back-and-forth allegations are played too long - particularly since the squirming audience would probably like for this to be a nice family comedy.
There is an unfair urge to compare Lohan's noisy private life with the rebel girl she plays.
A lesser teen actress could easily have turned this into no more than superficial tantrums. Here, she makes Rachel into a believably tough, no-
Lohan more than fulfills the promise she showed in Robert Altman's final film, "A Prairie Home Companion," where she was one of the few bright spots. More than a capable actress, she's a viable movie star.
We have a feeling she'll coast through her unfortunate personal troubles and be on screen for years to come. She's worth watching.
• Reach Mal Vincent at (757) 446-2347 or mal.
vincent@pilotonline.com.
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