Come Along With Me

Eccentricity, the spice of life. Estelle Parsons as Mabel Lederer in this adaptation of an unfinished Shirley Jackson novel is eccentric to a "t." When her husband Hughie dies, Mabel creates a new identity for herself, and hits the road. She finds both a new niche and a new nomenclature in a boarding house as Angela, a woman who "dabbles in the supernatural." In flashbacks, we learn that Angela nee Mabel's claim is not an idle one. As a young girl, she contacted the dead, predicted the telephone's ringing, and engaged in various other sleight-of-mind activities. Once established in the boarding house, she holds a séance, which creates more bickering between the already cantankerous boarders, but reveals little else. Under Joanne Woodward's direction, the first two-thirds of this delightful fable are filled with little nuggets of offbeat humor. If the film falters during the final third, it is not a fatal flaw--superb comedy is difficult to sustain. Recommended. (Available from most distributors.)