short takes (2)

Return of the Secausus Seven is a mild-mannered, sometimes vulgar comedy about leftovers from the radical '60s having a reunion years later in a sleepy New England town. The characters are involving and there are several good jokes , but the acting is poor and the screenplay is too obvious, especially when it plays a lone "square" against the occasionally foul mouths and easy morals of his friends. John Sayles, the filmmaker, gives the best performance as a young father who isn't sure he likes kids, but his writing and directing fall short of the mark. It's a fictionalized home movie, nothing more -- and never trust a picture that opens with a closeup of a plunger.