The Grass Harp . Tucson Weekly . 11-07-96

The Grass Harp

DIRECTED BY: Charles Matthau

REVIEWED: 11-07-96

This adaptation of the Truman Capote novel about a boy coming of age is dull and sentimental until about halfway through, when it suddenly comes to life. Edward Furlong plays Collin, a quiet, serious orphan who has been turned over to a pair of eccentric spinster aunts after the death of his parents. His aunts Dolly (Piper Laurie) and Verena (Sissy Spacek) are complete opposites; Dolly is shy and imaginative, while Verena is all business. The sisters fight and Dolly makes the unusual decision to live in a nearby tree house rather than put up with her sister's bossiness. In the most delightful, least contrived part of the movie, the magnetic Dolly attracts all of the other misfits and outcasts in town to the tree house, including a suitor for herself (Walter Matthau) and a love-interest for Collin (the dashing Sean Patrick Flanery).

--Stacey Richter

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