Tomorrow's the big day at East Hampton Town Hall: The Town Board is expected to take a first step toward controlling the steady spread of strip commercial development by adopting what is being called the "superstore" law. The law would limit supermarkets to 25,000 square feet, allow them only in central business districts, and set a limit of 15,000 square feet on other retail shops.

Listening to the politically divided members of the Town Board debate the proposed law - and the future of all retail zoning in town - has been gratifying. This is an issue that has aroused bipartisan concern, and that so far promises to find bipartisan solutions.

Although one or two Republican board members are poised to vote against the superstore law, we don't expect them to fight it too hard. They have not disputed the points made by persons as diverse as Russell Stein, who wrote much of our zoning as Democratic town attorney, or Republican Councilman Len Bernard. These include concern about the impact of a larger A&P, with a lot more than food for sale, on smaller local businesses and the flaw in the zoning code that allows supermarkets of any size in neighborhood business districts, which are prevalent.

Councilwoman Nancy McCaffrey has suggested that instead of allowing the existing moratorium on superstores to expire, the board extend it for another six months. We think that's a good idea - but only if, at the same time, the board establishes the bipartisan commission we've been talking about to come up with alternate sites for retail development, with innovative methods for phasing such development only as needed, and for controlling land speculation.

The East Hampton Housing Authority alternately limped, panted, and stumbled through too many years of planning its Accabonac Highway affordable apartment complex. Finally, though, just as its board, which had been appointed in times of Democratic control, pulled together the construction approvals and financing for the $5.6 million project, the new Republican Town Board majority got to appoint two members of its own.

The new members said they would rein in costs and keep a close eye on construction. These are laudable and necessary efforts, but their attempts, which appeared driven at first by a desire to prove the Democrats incompetent or worse, have gotten nowhere.

The Authority has been in a state of crisis management all year. Although Robert Brach is the Authority's chairman, he does not seem able to take the lead. Furthermore, the Authority has been less than accessible to the public. When it recently decided to fire the Accabonac project's architect, Bill Clemency of the Garden City firm of Tast and Clemency, it did so at a Sunday meeting that was called with just one day's notice and on the weekend of Rosh Hashanah.

The Authority has been in the habit, in fact, of holding "special" meetings on just a few hours' notice, or with no notice at all, which is legal only in cases of true emergency. Last week, it switched the location of a meeting to one member's office a half-hour before the session was to start, leaving a resident with something to tell the board waiting at Town Hall.

The Authority gave several reasons for its decision to fire Mr. Clemency. He was accused of profiting from the removal of topsoil from the Accabonac site, of trying to cover up engineering problems, of allowing the project to go to bid illegally several years ago, and of failing to indicate town requirements for a scenic easement in final plans, which resulted in overclearing. Mr. Clemency's departure raised old doubts about whether his firm should have been chosen to begin with.

In the past, East Hampton Republicans were quick to criticize the former chairwoman, Margaret deRouleaux, the architectural firm, and the Authority's efforts, while the Democrats were quick to leap to their defense. However, no one on either side has been able to promise taxpayers' that their multimillion-dollar investment in affordable housing is safe.

Although the Authority is largely independent, the Town Board had to co-sign for the $3 million it has borrowed for its projects so far, and has pledged the town's credit worthiness for up to $6 million. With these loans due to be rolled over in two months and construction on Accabonac Highway at a standstill, the Town Board must act immediately to commission an independent investigation, unhampered by political bias, into what has been going wrong.

The summer is really, truly over. We know it not because of the pumpkins in every shop window or the screens piled by cellar doors awaiting cold-weather storage, but because The Star's house plant collection has tripled in the past week.

City friends leave African violets and geraniums on our doorstep every October the way babies used to be abandoned in the snow at churches, with pleading notes.

This is a much-loved plant, the notes say, carefully nurtured, fed, and watered, and free of infectious diseases. Now that the nights have turned cold, however, it can no longer remain outside.

Nor, apparently, can it go back to an overheated, under-humidified apartment house in which the temperature is centrally controlled, though never by anyone who cares a whit for geraniums.

No. What it needs is a Good Home for the winter, preferably one that has east and south-facing windows with broad, roomy ledges and a surfeit of surrogate plant-minders.

What was it the song said about the big city? It's a jungle out there, baby? It's a jungle here, too, baby, or will be until April anyway.

Cannes, Sundance, move over. It's East Hampton's moment in the cinematic spotlight for the next few days, as the annual Hamptons International Film Festival offers 40-plus feature films from many different countries, plus myriad shorts, documentaries, panel discussions, and special events.

The festival opened last night with the showing of "Some Mother's Son" at the United Artists East Hampton cinema and an opening night party at Nick and Toni's, the East Hampton restaurant. Screenings will continue from morning to night through Sunday.

The official guide to the festival, describing all the films and other events, was included in all copies of last week's Star and is available at the festival's box office at the Fotouhi Cramer Gallery on Newtown Lane, East Hampton. It is included again this week in all newsstand copies of The Star.

Free On Monday

Tickets can be bought at the box office from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily until the day before the screening or event. Same-day sales may be available, on a space-available basis, at the theater or event venue. The East Hampton Cinema, Guild Hall, and Bay Street Theatre are the three locations for most screenings and discussions.

After the prizes are awarded, the parties are over, and the big tents have been taken down, local residents may not be quite ready to say goodbye to the festival's bounties. They won't have to. Sunday night marks the close of the event, but on Monday free screenings of some of the festival's finest will be offered in East Hampton and at Southampton College.

In addition to the free day that has become a post-festival tradition at East Hampton's U.A. cinemas, Southampton College will host a free program with documentary and short films and filmmakers from the festival on Monday afternoon.

At The College

Three documentaries, "Queens of the Big Time," directed by Adriana Trigiani, "Never Again Forever," directed by Danae Elon and Pierre Chainet, and "Billal," directed by Tom Zubrycki, will be shown, along with "Hunting and Dating," a program of four short films.

"Hunting and Dating" will be shown at 2 p.m. The series of shorts includes Matt Smith's "Hunting Earl," Rubin Orbach's "Lucky Man," Peter Burstin's "Rendezvous," and Carlton Prickett's "Winterlude."

"Queens of the Big Time," which combines footage of the centen- nial celebration of an Italian festival in Pennsylvania with the director's grandfather's 16-millimeter home movies, will be shown at 4 p.m.

There will be a 6 p.m. showing of "Never Again Forever," a controversial film about the Jewish Defense League from its origins to its activity in the Occupied Territories today. Both directors will be on hand to discuss the work with John Reilly, a filmmaker and professor in the college's arts and media department.

Festival Jurors

The final screening will be "Billal" at 8 p.m. The theme of this film is a tragic and violent racial incident between a Lebanese family and an Anglo-Australian one.

Mr. Reilly will introduce all the films in the program at the college and will also help choose the winning documentary during the Film Festival as part of the documentary jury for his second year. Also judging the "Truth Is Stranger" documentary section of the festival are Michael Benson and Chris Hegedus.

The short film jury includes Lynda A. Hansen, Nicole Holofcener, and Jim Signorelli.

The biggest prize of the festival, the Golden Starfish Award, which will go to one of the the new films in the festival's American Independents Showcase, will be chosen by a jury of four, made up of the actor Roy Scheider, Ruth Charny, a producer, Judah Klausner, a composer, and David O. Russell, a writer and director.

Mystery Guest

Aside from the films, one of the biggest events of the festival is "A Conversation With" tomorrow from 3 to 5:15 p.m. The special guest remains a secret until then. Only a handful of people know this year's secret, but past guests have been Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Quincy Jones, and Isabella Rossellini.

This year the Swiss watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre has come on board as a sponsor of the festival and will host "A Conversation With."

Although some filmgoers think half the fun of a festival is being able to approach a movie without any preconceptions, many appreciate a little foreknowledge. To help choose from the abundant offerings, therefore, The Star has enlisted an ad hoc panel of film buffs - a diverse group from the arts and media - to write brief reviews. About a quarter of the feature films being shown are reviewed, along with one of the documentaries.

The Star left it up to our half-dozen Film Festival critics to choose films that piqued their interest. In order to make this week's deadline, the films had to be viewed on videotape, which, the reviewers noted, did not always provide ideal conditions.

Star Critics

The panel's recruits were:

Jane Ciabattari, who writes the weekly Intelligence Report column for Parade Magazine. She and her husband, Mark, also a writer, divide their time between Sag Harbor and New York City.

Joanne Grant, who directed a documentary film about Ella Baker, a longtime civil rights activist, and is now writing her biography. She is a "year-round summer resident" of East Hampton.

Joe LeSueur, an occasional contributor to The Star. Mr. LeSueur wrote theater reviews for The Village Voice and was a story editor for Twentieth Century Fox. He lives in Springs.

Marjorie Loggia, who edited "The Collected Works of Harold Clurman," a collection of the writings of the renowned critic and director. She is now working on a book about Stella Adler, the actress and drama teacher, and also writes about sports. Ms. Loggia lives in East Hampton and Manhattan.

Debra Scott, a journalist-author, who spent three years in Hollywood, where, like every Melrose busboy, she wrote screenplays, read scripts for the studios, and pitched her story ideas to anyone who'd listen. She lives in Sag Harbor.

Guy-Jean de Fraumeni, who has been The Star's regular film reviewer for the last year.

Festival Web Site

Those who are on-line can follow the festival on the Internet. The official Web Site will be presented by iLINE, an on-line group promoting and supporting independent film, along with the Hamptons International Film Festival, Filmmaker Magazine, and Peconic Online. iLINE is funded in part by Mark Rabinowitz, a part-time East Hampton resident.

Located at www.ilineltd.com/festivals/hamptons, the site will feature diaries of filmmakers at the festival, interviews, photographs, and reviews. iLINE also can be tapped into on America Online by typing the keyword: iline.

Alan Pakula's living room feels very, very far away from Los Angeles. Of course, it is: Mr. Pakula lives at Georgica in East Hampton, which is just about as far away from L.A. as one can get. The distance is more than geographic; it is intellectual.

Mr. Pakula, who will receive the Distinguished Achievement Award here Saturday at the Hamptons International Film Festival, is one of Hollywood's most successful and revered directors. His success, though, has been won without the sacrifice of integrity, intellect, or taste that so often attends a director's ascent to eminence in the American film industry.

Mr. Pakula speaks eloquently about a career that has spanned roughly 40 years and included producing and/or directing some of the most compelling films to come out of Hollywood in the second half of this century.

His Films Ask Questions

"Klute," "The Parallax View," "All the President's Men," and "Sophie's Choice" are a very small number of the films he has directed. And, while all his films have been born out of mainstream Hollywood financing and production, none has failed to pose serious questions about our culture.

"I've hardly had an avant-garde career," he said without apology. A self-described "populist," Mr. Pakula works in an idiom that is both challenging and widely accessible. He is able to share his intelligence at a very broad level and to avoid being entirely controlled by mainstream interests.

A persistent probing of the surface of things wedded to a sensitivity to narrative, both realized in striking manipulation of cinematic form, characterize Mr. Pakula's filmmaking.

Discussing his personal methods, Mr. Pakula is at turns precise and poetic.

Desire For Change

"If you're going to make a film, you have to try to make sure it comes out of a childlike passion, as if you're doing it for the first time," he said during a recent morning interview at his East Hampton house.

"There is something infantile about doing anything creative. . .you have to need the work to complete yourself. . . . You're constantly remaking your life."

The fullness of Mr. Pakula's approach to film and his ability to articulate his approach sound very different from the commercial claims of Hollywood.

He is possessed of his own brand of restlessness, which he describes as the avoidance of "Lot's Wife's Syndrome": He refuses to be trapped by the conventions of his past successes. While in retrospect he sees structural consistency among many of his films, he is resolute in his desire to tell new stories with new methods.

Newest Film

His newest film, "The Devil's Own," is a thriller that doubles as "the final loss-of-innocence film," he said. It stars Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt as "two men essentially doomed to conflict." Mr. Pakula said the film is "as character-driven a piece as any I've ever done."

Mr. Pakula has just finished editing the film, one of the processes of filmmaking he most enjoys.

"Editing is God's gift to the filmmaker. It's like suddenly entering the monastery with your film," he said.

Sitting alone with only the equipment and his editor, Mr. Pakula said he is able to extend his creative powers in a demesne of almost primary satsifaction. While deciding which footage to keep and which to scrap, Mr. Pakula said, the child he once was takes over. "Am I bored, or not?" he thinks, as if he were at the movies in Long Beach, where he grew up.

The conversations conducted in the privacy of the editing room between this filmmaker and his unfinished work must be very productive, for the quality of Mr. Pakula's art is of the highest order.

Screenplay On F.D.R.

Few other directors with the respect Mr. Pakula commands would be currently working on a script about Franklin D. Roosevelt's Presidency and the "Byzantine" nature of its power structure.

This screenplay, to be produced some time hence, appeals to Mr. Pakula in its contrast to the poverty of the contemporary political scene, he explained.

"There has been so little successful leadership since that time," he said.

Mr. Pakula calls the last few decades some of the "most conservative" in recent memory, speaking with political conviction that is scarce in most of Hollywood.

Mr. Pakula is unsure, however, about the ultimate success of producing "a film about a man who could hardly stand up, at a time when people are obsessed by action. . . . We live in a time when every technique is used to keep an audience from being bored."

The Local Landscape

Mr. Pakula relishes being able to live on the eastern tip of Long Island, and has been a resident of East Hampton since 1979. He said he had been fascinated by the physical landscape here since he was taken by his parents to see the Montauk Lighthouse when he was 8 years old.

"Living near the ocean is sustenance to me. . . . We have the most beautiful graveyard in America. Driving past it in winter when the kids are skating on the pond makes all the chaos of summer worth it."

The chaos alludes to the crowds of summer in general, of course, but also to the recent migration to East Hampton in the warmer months of so many entertainment-industry movers and shakers, avatars of a Hollywood that is far from the thoughtful, warm, and intellectually generous milieu in which Mr. Pakula and his wife, the author Hannah Pakula, live.

"The day after Labor Day to the day before Memorial Day is my favorite time of the year," he said.

What better way to enjoy seafood than at a place where you can gaze out into the waters that provided the heart of the meal and our area's fishing traditions.

If that's what you have in mind, Bostwick's Seafood Grill and Oyster Bar on Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton, fits the bill. Owned by the team of Chris Eggert and Kevin Boles, who draw crowds at Sante Fe Junction in East Hampton, Bostwick's is new this year, sort of.

At the end of Gann Road in East Hampton, the restaurant is a combination of the best elements of two run by the team last season: Bostwick's Seafood Grill and the East Coast Oyster Bar: It has first-rate seafood and a casual but attentive staff. The Bostwick's bar, which often has standing room only, has become a favorite watering hole for after-work gatherers.

Watching The Boats

An open but covered deck and an adjoining but equally airy indoor dining room afford a chance to take a peek at the town's dock, where such fishing vessels as Stuart Vorpahl's Polly-Ruth are docked, and the Harbor Marina, which is full of recreational boats.

Three of us have enjoyed lunch and dinner at Bostwick's this summer on several occasions, and agree the food is consistently good, fresh, and affordable, without any pretensions or attitude.

At a recent lunch, one of our party enjoyed a grilled tuna sandwich on a soft kaiser bun. It was ample, fresh, nicely spiced, and cooked rare as ordered, with crisp red-leaf lettuce and ripe tomato. Another choice was a fried flounder sandwich, a staple that should please kids and adults alike. It was served with the same accompaniments as the tuna, with tartar sauce on the side. Its consumer didn't take the waitress up on having it supplemented with cheese.

Refreshing Add-Ons

For any true landlubbers in your midst, and we had one, Bostwick's offers a good old cheeseburger. It was juicy and came with plenty of lettuce and tomato.

As side dishes, the french fries were perfect examples of the curly, skin-still-on variety, and the potato salad was called "just like homemade." Coleslaw was of the crunchy, peppery, and refreshing sort.

Other lunch choices are popular choices - shrimp or lobster salad and grilled chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, two kinds of clam chowder and an oyster stew, a raw bar, and salads, like the mixed greens we sampled with lunch. The cucumber-dill dressing we sampled was grainy, as if whole cucumbers had been put through a blender and it needed some additional bite.

Dinner Choices

Dinner at Bostwick's has proven satisfying on more than one occasion. Dinner for two who were reservation-less on a busy Sunday night required a mere 20-minute wait. The raw bar sampler - two oysters, two clams, and five peel-and-eat shrimp - were as refreshing as could be wished for after a hot summer day. A warm, round loaf of bread was enjoyed at the table as well.

The crab cake entree, two large and plump cakes, might have had a bit more crab to them, but they were tasty, sauteed brown on the outside and paired with a tangy whole- grain mustard sauce. At their side, colorful julienned summer vegetables sh zucchini, squash, and carrots - needed no embellishment..

The Bostwick clambake was nicely presented on a large platter, with a big steamed lobster in the middle and clams and mussels, red- skinned potatoes, and corn on the cob rounding it out. The potatoes, though, seemed boiled and entirely plain, a far cry from potatoes done over a traditional clambake fire.

And, For Dessert. . .

There were many other entrees on the menu, including swordfish charred with capers, lemon, roasted shallots, and herbs and soft shell crabs sauteed with garlic, shallots, lemon, and white wine. In addition to the clambake, large platters feature an assortment of fried fish and shellfish, a surf-and-turf, broiled seafood with half a lobster, and "shore dinners" that feature New York strip steak, grilled free-range chicken, roasted Long Island duck, and pasta primavera. We expect they will live up to what we have already enjoyed at Bostwick's.

The most noteworthy dessert we tried was the Bostwick Brownie, a big one served with three syrups, ice cream, and some fresh fruit. Not for the dieters, but otherwise not to be missed. Also, the wine list offers a number of unusually affordable picks, including one of this reviewer's favorite local whites, SagPond's La Ferme Martin Chardonnay, a Gristina Merlot, and Pindar's Mythology Meritage red. Bostwick's serves dinner seven nights a week and reservations are advisable. Lunch is served Friday through Sunday.

Two exhibits at the Arlene Bujese Gallery recall simpler, less self-conscious, and maybe ultimately happier times in the art world.

Josh Dayton, whose family roots on the East End go back to the 17th century, shows that he's absorbed the world-class talents of Pollock and de Kooning and is slowly but inexorably moving beyond them. In the rear gallery, Norman Mercer's cast-acrylic sculptures bring to mind the harder-edged, more optically inclined art of a later generation, one that turned its back on the perceived excesses of both Abstract Expressionism and Pop.

The two artists demonstrate that there's still rich terrain to be mined in the past, but there are pitfalls as well.

Buoyant Approach

Mr. Dayton's incredibly fluid watercolors seem to spring, like his predecessors' experiments, directly from the unconscious, where all manner of pent-up demons and obsessions provided artists with some of their most vigorous subjects.

But if one compares Mr. Dayton's lyrical compositions with similar works from the 1940s, there's an earnestness - and often an awkwardness - that's missing here. The younger artist seems to be saying, "Hey, let's lighten up with this existential stuff and have a little fun."

Which is not to call his approach Expressionism Lite, but it is agreeably buoyant and ingratiating, especially in the subtle, earthy tones he deploys in works like "Friends of the Italians" and "Let's Burn."

The figurative associations in these paintings can also lend a comic touch. I couldn't help seeing "Black Figure, Red Fields" as a pair of happy creatures absorbed in a mad tango.

Ambitious Mixed Media

When Mr. Dayton turns to ambitious mixed media - ceramics against a backdrop of collaged scraps of acrylic painting - he's on dicier but more original turf.

The vaguely biomorphic clay fragments erupt from the picture plane, sometimes overwhelming the high-keyed, equally fragmented ground. It's a difficult balancing act that doesn't always succeed, in part because the viewer sometimes gets the impression the artist is recycling everything in his studio.

"Bracket and Web" feels unresolved, as though the right half were tugging away to be in a different place, but "Mr. Umbrella," with its squiggles of terracotta across the top, manages to keep the eye happily roving across its busy surface.

Mr. Dayton is at his best when he's showing more restraint. In "Half Eyelash," a sinuous, ceramic ara- bes que grows from a crumpled masklike shape and is balanced and echoed by two calligraphic fragments in the upper left and right corners. It's a work that calls to mind the best of synthetic Cubism, and it shows tremendous promise.

Sculpture By Mercer

Norman Mercer's clear acrylic sculptures come in odd geometric shapes and depend on a kind of ocular trickery for their impact.

As one moves around, the bright cellophane hues embedded in the works refract and recombine, somewhat like the innards of a kaleidoscope. It's work that recalls the optical experiments of artists like Bridget Riley and Larry Bell, who have never been high on this viewer's list.

Still, one has to admire Mr. Mercer's skill and chutzpah. "Tetrahedron" shows a surprisingly delicate mingling of circles and triangles within; in "Platonic Series VIII: Embrace," two "rhomboid" forms are joined by a clear circular ring.

Restraint Is Affecting

Mr. Mercer, too, is most affecting when he's at his most restrained.

"Dodecagonal Helicoid" is a simple twisting shape with an elegance the others lack, and "Wall Piece" is a half-ring of violet and gold, reflected in the mirror behind it, so that the ring becomes a whole, and the complementary colors set up subtle vibrations.

It would be interesting to see Mr. Mercer abandon the full-color spectrum to concentrate more on shape, luminosity, and the other possibilities of this difficult medium.

Ireland.

Shown Wednesday night

The importance of the festival's opening night film was brilliantly served by "Some Mother's Son," the devastating depiction of two mothers' involvement in the violent strife in Ireland in 1979 that led to their sons' imprisonment and the prisoners' hunger strike, led by Bobby Sands, to gain prisoner of war status.

The film is constructed in a deceptively simple, straightforward, but wrenching manner that is emotionally grueling until finally the effort and pain create the great strength and heights attained by those works that are built, block by heavy block, steadily and evenly until there is a structure that floors you! But as you lie there you look about and realize that you have been elevated to the top floor of the edifice and from this vantage point you can see much farther than you have before.

This grand job was done by Terry George. It is his first time directing and he wrote the script with Jim Sheridan, one of the producers.

Helen Mirren, the incredibly fine performer, also functioned as associate producer and her presence in this film does ever so much to lift it up on high. As the mother who is opposed to violence she works perfectly in concert with Fionnula Flanagan, the earthy, militant mother, and a cast that sets standards for acting.

U.S.A.

Friday, 11:30 a.m., Saturday, 1:30 p.m.

From all appearances, Eliza and her husband, Louis, seem to have a solid marriage: open communication, hot sex, he gets along with her parents. Yet one morning after Louis has gone to work, Eliza finds what looks suspiciously like a love letter written to him by one "Sandy."

The next thing you know, Eliza and her entire family, including her working-class parents (Pat McNamara, Ann Meara), her artsy sister, Jo (Parker Posey), and Jo's overeducated boyfriend, Carl (Liev Schreiber), pile into the family woody and head eastbound on the L.I.E. Part detectives, part support group, their mission improbable is to get to the bottom of this sudden domestic intrigue.

As the unlikely gaggle (otherwise known as a typical suburban family) hunts an elusive Louis down Manhattan canyons, they suffer through such indignities as a broken car heater, generic familial bickering, and the literary pretensions of novelist-construction worker Carl. All the while their lives smash into those of other squabblers and strivers . . . until they finally confront Louis, who by this time they've caught in a web of lies.

A kind of "After Hours" meets "All in the Family," this zany misadventure builds into a powerful and probing drama and ultimate testament to the thickness of blood versus water. While lampooning the publishing world and downtown scene (a venue Parker Posey, star of "Party Girl," inhabits so cozily on celluloid), this directorial debut also manages an uncomfortably familiar emotional intensity.

By casting the spouse in the role of possibly untrustworthy foreigner temporarily given refuge within the folds of the primary family, it also affirms family values in a way never intended by Newt Gingrich. Like most families, this one unravels in order to be stitched again.

U.S.A.

Thursday and Friday, 6 p.m.

"Mugshot" is a strange, and sometimes beautiful, film with many things going for it. It's a first film for its writer-director-editor-cinematographer, Matt Mahurin, and a rousing start.

There are a few too many twists and turns in the story line, which basically is about a scam, double scam, even triple scam. A white photographer out to do a story on Harlem finds himself in an abandoned loft with no memory, wearing blood-smeared clothes and one shoe. He is "befriended" by Rumor, a black man, also a photographer, who chronicles his own life and what he knows about Chris, his alter ego (whom he has dubbed "Joe"), in celluloid.

Early on, Rumor sets the tone when he sardonically says, "If it's not too much hassle for me, I'll get you back to your rightful owner."

It's a gripping tale, though sometimes confusing. Mr. Mahurin comes to film from music videos, traces of which are very much in evidence in this film. I'm not sure whether or not to take this film as seriously as it may have been meant. I did find it disturbing to hear street-smart talk from Rumor's baby sister, who sounds as if she is ripe for gang life at the tender age of eight or nine.

There are lovely shots of much of New York, but the film doesn't show Harlem in a loving light, focusing as it does on its grimiest aspects.