HERE ON EARTH
Klein plays Kelley, a rich kid about to graduate from a New
England prep school. Taking his new car out for a spin, he engages
a local boy named Jasper (Josh Hartnett) in a drag race with unfortunate
consequences. They crash into the gas pumps in front of Mable's
Table, the long-established town diner owned by the family of
Jasper's girlfriend Samantha (Sobieski), causing a fire that quickly
consumes the place. No one is seriously harmed, but the town's
most popular meeting place is no more. The judge decides that
the two boys will be sentenced to help rebuild the place, and
a lack of affordable housing places Kelley in Jasper's attic.
The boys are both willing to fulfill their debt to society, but
they make no pretense at friendship. Their mutual antagonism grows
when a romance develops between Kelley and Samantha.
Although the three principal actors in this film are under 25, they carry with ease the emotional range necessary for this tragic love triangle. Sobieski and Klein establish an easy sense of affection between them, which grows into a deeper passion; Hartnett's portrayal as the jilted lover is no less engaging. Piznarski uses his cast, his talented cinematographer, Michael D. O'Shea, and art director James F. Truesdale to great effect to evoke the carefree feeling of a love affair during a sun-dappled New England summer, although the film was shot entirely in Minnesota. When the story turns dark near the end, it may have been tempting to go for tears, but Piznarski wisely keeps a lid on the overt sentimentality, giving the subject matter even greater effect. ****½