Shaking the Tree

I admit the only reason I got this movie was the presence of Courteney Cox and, once again, I'm surprised at how bad her early movies really were. It's a good thing she lucked into "Friends," because her choices for film roles were atrocious. I suppose I can't be too hard on her this time, since she only has a tiny part in this self-consciously earnest coming-of-age movie set in bleak Chicago. The first thing that strikes a sour note is the concept, four young men coming to terms with adulthood in an urban environment, quite obviously a ripoff of 'Diner', a much better film from eight years earlier. This movie was made in 1990 but not released until 1992 - a hint of what a turkey it was. The problem is the writing is so poor and the main characters have so little in common, one can't sympathize with them or even see why they would hang out together. Check the credits for the writers and you won't be surprised to see they hadn't written anything before or since. Courteney is little more than a pudgy and very pregnant wife whose husband is cheating on her -- talk about being miscast! The storylines for the four guys seem cliched and lack any real depth. By the time the smarmy conclusion comes, you just don't care.