Marisa Tomei (pronounced Tomay) made a real impression with her hilarious, high-pitched comic performance as Joe Pesci's girlfriend in "My Cousin Vinny" last year. In fact, she single-handedly made that film worth the ticket price.
Tomei followed up with a small role as Mabel Normand in the already overcrowded "Chaplin," managing to hold her own against Robert Downey Jr. and Dan Aykroyd (as, respectively, Charlie Chaplin and Mack Sennett).
Now, she has her first lead role in "Untamed Heart" and gives a glowing performance that proves she's no flash in the pan but rather a talented young actress with a great deal of range. Definitely someone to watch for in the future.
Tomei is Caroline, a spunky waitress in a small Minneapolis diner, where she works with her best friend Cindy (Rosie Perez, who was also impressive last year as Woody Harrelson's girlfriend in "White Men Can't Jump").
Another employee at the diner is a very shy busboy/dishwasher named Adam (Christian Slater), who never speaks and is virtually ignored by everyone. Adam was orphaned as a child and grew up in a Catholic orphanage, where he suffered with heart trouble. He is, like Caroline, innocent and fragile.
The film opens with Caroline once more unlucky in love, as her latest boyfriend dumps her. She cries on Cindy's shoulder and tries to figure out what's wrong with herself.
One night, while walking home at 4 in the morning, Caroline is attacked by a couple of jerks who had been customers at the diner. She is unconscious when Adam shows up, rescues her and takes her home. He waits for her to awaken, makes sure she's OK and leaves.
Caroline takes a few days off to recuperate, and when she next sees Adam at the diner, they strike up a modest semblance of conversation. Over the next while, a relationship develops and Caroline learns that Adam has loved her from afar for some time. It was no accident that he was in the park that night to save her from trouble.
Theirs is a tentative, quirky romance, but it's also a sweet and gentle one. And all of those adjectives also describe this film.
Director Tony Bill ("My Bodyguard," "Crazy People," the upcoming "A Home of Our Own," which was filmed in Utah) has come up with something of a throwback to a softer moviemaking style, one invested with as much heart as humor.
And his cast couldn't be better. Tomei is a dream, Perez is a riot and Slater gives the least mannered and most endearing performance of his career thus far.
"Untamed Heart" is absolutely enchanting. Like a good book, it's hard to put down.
It's rated PG-13 but is not for children. The attempted rape and other violence is disturbing, and there is some sexual content, brief nudity and profanity.