‘Dominick and Eugene’ By Desson Howe Washington Post Staff Writer March 18, 1988

Director: Robert M. Young Cast: Tom Hulce; Ray Liotta; Jamie Lee Curtis; Robert Levine Children under 13 should be accompanied by a parent Compare prices for this movie Find local video stores More movie shopping Save money with NextCard Visa

Young, maker of the tough prison yarn "Short Eyes," does well with hard-luck worlds. In this case, his Pittsburgh of back streets, pool halls, grubby trash-haulers and lonely housewives provides the salt for an otherwise blandly sentimental script by Alvin ("Ordinary People") Sargent and Corey Blechman. (Much of "Dominick's" working-class feel probably comes from the original story by Danny Porfirio, an ex-Marine with roots in Pennsylvania's coal-mining region.)

Dominick and Eugene, known as Nicky and Gino, are brothers and roommates in a shabby Pittsburgh apartment. Nicky (Tom Hulce) hauls trash, and is mentally retarded. Gino (Ray Liotta), working 'round the clock at the local hospital, wants to be a doctor. And though Gino loves his brother, Nicky is too dependent on him for emotional guidance, and for protection from the world's many punks and provocateurs. The pressure on Gino increases when med student Jennifer (Jamie Lee Curtis) enters his life, and then Stanford Medical School calls.

When he's not hauling trash with workmate Larry (a wonderfully oily Todd Graff), Nicky's lost in a world of comic-book heroes, pro wrestling fandom and a friendship with 11-year-old Mike, with whom Nicky exchanges comics. When he witnesses a tragic crime, Nicky -- already paranoid about losing Gino to Jennifer -- gets pushed to his limit. His decisive reaction is the stuff of New York tabloids -- LOCO BRO NABS TOT AS SIB SLAVES AT MED SCHOOL -- involving the usual SWAT team and hordes of local TV cameras. The instant solution makes a real man of Nicky, gets Gino to California and provides a convenient key to What Really Happened to Nicky years ago.

Curtis is gifted enough to lie low as the subsidiary Jennifer. And Ray Liotta plays respectably against type as the caring brother (he was the psycho hood in "Something Wild"). But Hulce, with his boyish demeanor, is particularly effective as Nicky, a good-natured kid for whom remembering to walk the dog is a chore but recognizing a crime ain't.

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