Digging to China

Timothy Hutton, who won an Oscar for Ordinary People, turns his hand to "special" people for his directorial debut, Digging to China. The title endeavor is just one of several ways in which young Harriet (Evan Rachel Wood) tries to escape from her alcoholic mother (Cathy Moriarty), sluttish sister (a tough and nicely textured return to the screen for Mary Stuart Masterson), and the tacky motel that is her small-town, early-'60s home. Relief comes in the form of Ricky (Kevin Bacon, a sinister cross between Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man and Howdy Doody), a mentally challenged man who checks into the motel with his ailing mother en route to an institution. Heavy on the melodrama (a fatal car accident and out-of-wedlock maternity are thrown in for good measure) and cuteness (Harriet and Ricky get "married"), Digging benefits from Hutton's whimsy, eye for period detail, and restraint -- not to mention Wood's spirited moppet. Although it doesn't dig deeply enough into its issues of quiet desperation and nascent sexuality, this remains a well-crafted miniature. Screens at the Copley Place at 5:30, 7:20, and 9:20 p.m.

-- Peter Keough

| Digging to China | Monument Ave. | Rounders | With Friends like These |

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