Gloom With A View -- Masochism Is Star Of `The Only Thrill'

------------------------------- Movie review

XX "The Only Thrill," with Diane Keaton, Sam Shepard, Diane Lane, Robert Patrick, Tate Donovan. Directed by Peter Masterson, from a script by Larry Ketron. 105 minutes. Broadway Market Cinemas. "R" - Restricted because of language. -------------------------------

Lifelong masochism is the subject of this glum drama, which starts in 1966 and takes the next 30 years (or 105 minutes of screen time) to come to the foregone conclusion that its central characters have wasted their lives.

Occasionally some of the actors poke through the gloom, particularly Diane Lane and Sam Shepard, who are more successful than the rest of the cast in making their characters age convincingly.

Shepard plays Reece McHenry, a land developer who opens a clothing store and soon falls for a seamstress, Carol Fritzsimmons (Diane Keaton), who takes Reece's mind off his hospitalized wife, comatose due to an accident. Lane plays Carol's daughter, Katherine, who ends up tumbling for Reece's son, Tom (Robert Patrick).

It takes decades for either couple to make decisions, mostly due to the reticence of the men, who can't deal with the women's independence, which is partly an act, designed to push Reece and Tom into commitment. The script makes stops in 1978, when Reece tries to explain to Carol what a Betamax is for; in 1990, when Tom is running a video store; and in 1996, when time is running out for both couples.

While the treacly opening/closing song reminds us that "you don't save love for a rainy day," Shepard does such a skillful job of portraying Reece's gradual emotional deadening that the sentiment has some force. Katharine starts out as a wild thing, she settles down reluctantly, by increments, and Lane does a lovely job of demonstrating the process.

Keaton starts well, but she's far too vital for her later scenes, while the bland Patrick barely ages. Tate Donovan has the showier role of Tom's sexist pal, and he relishes such macho lines as "Tom and I know women - it's what we do."

Formerly an actor, now a director, Peter Masterson is probably best-known for playing the father of his more famous daughter, Mary Stuart Masteron, in "The Stepford Wives" and "Gardens of Stone," and for directing Geraldine Page's Oscar-winning performance in "The Trip to Bountiful."

He gives the new picture so little energy that by the time Reece admits to Carol that "I'm not very expressive," it almost seems like a comment on the movie's style.

Written by playwright Larry Ketron, whose "Fresh Horses" was made into a negligible 1988 Molly Ringwald movie, "The Only Thrill" is based on Ketron's play, "The Trading Post." The structure is reminiscent of "Same Time, Next Year," but the cultural landmarks that tell us how much time has passed aren't as plentiful, nor are they as potent.