Angie

Martha Coolidge has served enough time in the Hollywood grind mill to apply for workers' comp. Despite her directorial debut with the con­troversial documentary Not A Pretty Picture, and the highly praised romantic comedy Valley Girl, Coolidge has spent nearly a decade trying to gain commercial footing. She did her time on TV with Sledge Hammer, and she barely survived directing several forgettable teenage flicks. Rambling Rose finally returned her to critical favor, and Lost in Yonkers made her bankable, Now, with Angie, Coolidge finally has found that magical mix of feminist concern and money-making mirth that will place her in Hollywood's front rank.

In many ways, Angie seesaws so wildly between orig­inality and cliche that it repeatedly threatens to implode into a sticky mess of predictable moments. It's littered with enough typical statements about Italian-American culture and slightly dumb male behavior to qualify as a talk show topic. Most of this material rings true, although we've seen it too many times before. But under Coolidge's direc­tion, Angie maneuvers some neat, sharp turns through this familiar landscape.

The story focuses on the lead character's (Geena Davis) discovery of her out-of-wedlock pregnancy — and, more impor­tantly, her realization that the circumstances offer an opportunity for her to finally understand both herself and her parents.

Which isn't easy. Angie's father refuses to say anything about his first wife — her mother — who fled the family when Angie was only three. But then, her father has the habit of not saying much about anything until it's too late to matter. Much the same is true of her boyfriends, Vinnie and Noel.

Davis successfully plays her part with a sure mix of innocent charm and well-placed despair. But it's Coolidge who should finally earn some popular recogni­tion, as a filmmaker who knows that being mainstream doesn't mean being brain dead, Angie is a delightful surprise.