Coupe de Ville

This appealing little comedy stars a trio of gifted young comic actors (Patrick Dempsey, Arye Gross, and Daniel Stern) as three bickering brothers who are reunited in order to drive a classic 1954 powder blue Cadillac Coupe de Ville from Detroit to Miami for their mother's 50th birthday. Right away, you know that dings and dents are in the caddie's immediate future. But Coupe de Ville manages to go beyond simple slapstick comedy to carefully draw each of its three main characters into flesh and blood siblings with big differences between them. Rather than opt for simple stereotypes, the film reveals these differences in clever and affecting ways (the highlight of the movie has the siblings arguing over the lyrics to "Louie, Louie" and what the song is really about). As the brothers get closer to their final destination (and the car begins to look as if its inching toward the auto morgue), the long held resentments are resolved, and the trio band together--determined to get the car to mom in essentially one piece. Good, lighthearted entertainment. Recommended. (R. Pitman)