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Telling You

1998, Movie, R, 94 mins

Telling You: Review

Though cliched and slight, director/co-writer Robert DeFranco's coming-of-age film doesn't stoop to vulgarity or misogyny. Newly minted college graduates and life-long pals Phil (Peter Facinelli) and Dennis Nolan (Dash Mihok) are so ashamed of being pepperoni pie-makers that they hide behind the counter every time former classmates enter the pizza parlor. Along with their equally unfocused cronies, John (Gary Wolf), Howard (Andy Berman) and Steve (Robert DeFranco), the doughboys lust after coeds and fritter away their time getting drunk. One day, as Phil and Dennis are hiding from a covey of neighborhood girls, a customer makes off with their boss's receipts. Unlike the irresponsible Phil, Dennis decides to improve himself, even going so far as to apologize to an ex-girlfriend for betraying her. What distinguishes this wispy exercise in nostalgia is filmmaker and co-star DeFranco's willingness to beef up a threadbare narrative with character-enriching anecdotes. One of its funniest detours is a tangential flashback about a spurned neighborhood girl avenging herself on a boyfriend with a micro-waved message from her pooch. But its small virtues notwithstanding, this film attempts to rebuild DINER (1982) with story bricks stolen from PORKY'S (1982). Hormones collide with tristesse and male-bonding reigns, but the soundtrack isn't overstuffed with pop tunes and DeFranco seems to recognize that in the grand scheme of the world's problems, his characters' dilemmas don't amount to a hill of beans. leave a comment --Robert Pardi