By Matt Holsapple
Staff Writer

Occasionally a movie is released that has the potential to be very, very good. Unfortunately, more often than not, these movies fall short of this potential. "Drowning Mona" is one of these movies.

"Drowning Mona" begins with the death of Mona Dearly, played by Bette Midler, a woman known for being mean, vengeful and generally making enemies out of everyone who knew her. The small town of Verplank, N.Y., rejoices at the death of its most-hated resident until it is discovered that Mona was murdered.

As the story unfolds, so do plot twists and surprises. The audience is treated to three affairs, a pregnancy, another murder and a dead poodle among other oddities and intrigue. Unfortunately, these developments only whet the appetite of the audience for twists but cannot actually satisfy that desire. For the most part, the developments provide laughs that are funny but somewhat cheap and unearned. For example, when Neve Campbell's character flirts with lesbianism, it is only used for shock value and a one-liner instead of being used to affect the story and the rest of the characters somehow.

"Drowning Mona" attempts to be in the same vein as another Campbell film, "Wild Things," in the way that the audience thinks that it has a handle on what is happening, only to discover that it does not. The difference is that "Wild Things" keeps the audience guessing and curious, whereas in "Drowning Mona," the audience simply sits and watches the story unfold, without really caring how it does.

Although the actual plot of drowning Mona is lacking, it is the characters and cast that save the movie.

Midler is wonderfully evil as the caricature that is Mona. Although present in just a few scenes, all of which are flashbacks, Midler completely steals the attention with a performance that is necessarily over the top.

The brightest standouts in the cast, though, are Jamie Lee Curtis as Rona Mace, the queen of white trash, and Campbell. Curtis flawlessly steps out of her usual role as a strong, independent woman and into the character of Mace, a chain-smoking, ratty-haired diner waitress who becomes obsessed with paranoia and the Dearly men. Campbell — as Ellen Rash, a sort of white-trash-princess-in-training — gives the best performance of her short career. Ellen is the conscience of the movie and Campbell — in her big hair, short polyester dresses and cheesy New York accent — fills the role almost perfectly. When she suffers something of a breakdown, she makes her outbursts believable yet hilarious. What truly sets her apart, though, is that this is Campbell's first performance that does not seem like an extension of Julia Salinger, her "Party of Five" character.

The rest of the cast performs well as quirky, eccentric characters, including Danny DeVito as the Broadway-obsessed sheriff, Marcus Thomas as Mona's one-handed, redneck son and William Fichner as her husband who can only have sex with the help of a "Wheel of Fortune" board game.