True Love

In a year characterized by excellent and often overlooked independent films, Nancy Savocca's debut feature stands out as one of the best. This Grand Prize winner at the US Film Festival stars Annabella Sciorra and Ron Eldard as Donna and Michael, a pair of Italian-American kids that are preparing to take the big leap into wedded life. Focusing on the days prior to the main event, Savocca's dissection of family life is both raucously funny and astonishingly real. Mikey is basically a good kid, who likes to hoist a few with the boys on occasion--like about every night. The kicker comes when Mikey tells Donna that he and the boys are going out for a couple of hours--on their wedding night. Huddled sobbing in the women's room, Donna queries her maids of honor: "Can I say no about this?" Machismo and matriarchy go head to head, with Savocca playing fair and true to both sides. Mikey can definitely be an insensitive little bugger, while Donna occasionally tries to levy more authority than she might be expected to have (Mikey is told to spend a couple of hours max on his bachelor party and then come pick Donna up). Throughout this portrait of the couple as young bewildereds, the audience comes to share in the mini (but, oh so important!) drama of Donna and Mikey, their love, their pain, their laughter, and their tears. True Love is truly human; it speaks to all of us. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)