'Dominick and Eugene' By Rita Kempley Washington Post Staff Writer March 18, 1988

Director: Robert M. Young Cast: Tom Hulce; Ray Liotta; Jamie Lee Curtis; Robert Levine situations that may be troubling for young children Compare prices for this movie Find local video stores More movie shopping Save money with NextCard Visa

The guileless and easily distracted Nicky is putting his brilliant fraternal twin Gino through medical school. Ray Liotta, so memorable as the sadistic hood in "Something Wild," is a solid costar, but Hulce has the bravura role. His earnest, humorous performance is the force that sustains this sweet, unconstructed story of a changing relationship.

Gino, a brain-surgeon-to-be, has just won a Stanford internship that means leaving Nicky for two years so he can support him for the rest of his life. But every time Gino thinks his brother can take care of himself, Nicky forgets to walk the dog, sets something on fire, or does a "favor" for a dope dealer. Gino alternately explodes and apologizes in powerfully acted, compassionately written scenes of exasperation and remorse. Much as he wants to go, Gino is tied to his sibling for past transgressions that ultimately climax in Nicky's coming of age and Gino's long-awaited absolution.

The brothers' bond is forged of blood and guilt and loneliness. And Gino is keeper of his brother's past. "You were born first, Nicky, and then 12 minutes later, I was born ... and our mother died when we were born," says Gino.

"And our father had to go away ... then I fell down ... and that's why I can't remember when I was little, huh, Eugene?" Nicky wants to hear the story over and over, for a boy needs his childhood to become a man.

Sensing a separation and threatened by his brother's affair with another med student (Jamie Lee Curtis), Nicky struggles, his forehead flexing, for self-sufficiency. We see him wrap his mind around life's grand and trivial precepts -- learning to accept disappointments with a lopsided grin, and how to load up Mr. Coffee. Hulce gives him warmth and whimsy, a personality of unexpected nuance. As Nicky says, "I ain't stupid. I'm slow." And he is never to be pitied. There's promise for this individual, who in some ways has it over his normal brother.

Liotta, with his pitted face and anxious, lily-pad eyes, is compelling in tandem with Hulce, a fine counterpoint. But there's no heat between him and the air-conditioned Curtis, an intruder not only in the characters' lives, but in the movie's flow. She seems to feel like a party-crasher who never gets comfortable enough to put down her purse. She's the catalyst, of course, for the heroes' sexual awareness, but what's a catalyst without sizzle? As a serious medical student and doctor's daughter, she sees the other side of life when she accompanies Gino to their poor home filled with Nicky's treasures of trash. It's not easy being the socioeconomic contrast.

Dominick and Eugene, based on a story by Danny Porfirio, is flawed but unpretentious, written with affection by Corey Blechman of the TV drama "Bill" and Alvin Sargent of "Ordinary People." Directed by Robert M. Young, whose most recent film was "Extremities," this thoughtful little piece is also sensitive without being sentimental.

Dominick and Eugene, at area theaters, is rated PG-13 for situations that may be troubling for young children.

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