Fuddy Meers

Now playing in an open-ended run at the Minetta Lane Theater after a smash engagement at Manhattan Theater Club, David Lindsay-Abaire's wacky look at a really dysfunctional family has charms to spare but too often falls into that pseudo-Coen Bros. funk that has marked too many comic plays of late. The tone is so bustling at times; you just wish everyone would take a Valium and get some rest. Still, this would be more of a gripe if the cast weren't so wonderful and the overall look of the play so striking (by the remarkable Santo Loquasto, no less). The play is so brisk and enjoyable (it clocks in under two hours with an intermission), you hardly mind that it isn't adding up to much and that you may well forget most of it by the time you make your way home.

Claire (J. Smith Cameron) is a cheery housewife with a peculiar malady: she has a recurring, Groundhog Day-like amnesiac condition where she relives every new day just as the one before. But on this particular day, she's in a living hell because she's been kidnaped by a limping, word-mincing criminal (Patrick Breen) and his odd cohort, a soft-spoken fellow (John Christopher Jones) who half-communicates through a vulgar puppet on his hand. Meanwhile, her unflappable, nerdy husband Richard (Robert Stanton) and their dope-fiend son Kenny (Keith Nobbs) try to track her down, guessing she has been taken to her mother's house. The latter is a stroke victim named Gertie (Marylouise Burke) with a penchant for creating Nell-esque phrases that virtually nobody can understand. Along the way, a female cop (Clea Lewis, better known as Audrey from "Ellen") is brought along for the ride, and truths and deep secrets are revealed about all the characters involved.

It would be fair to say that this is a less gonzo version of last year's Off-Broadway hit Killer Joe, both having the same laughing-through-horror premise and the occasionally hilarious, over-the-top indulgences. However, that play had a creepier undertone and actually managed to pull you into its lunacy. This one you watch from a comfortable distance. It's really no more crafty than your average "Kids in the Hall" episode (Mark McKinney, one of that gifted clan, appeared in the MTC production), yet the buoyancy of the cast keeps you attentive.

Cameron is an ebullient choice for the role of Claire; this charming actress really needs more lead roles, as she effortlessly conveys character actress attributes while having the radiance of a star. Her thousand-watt smile could lift even the most sullen fellow. The rest of the cast is equally fine, with Breen and Burke turning in first-rate comic portrayals, and Lewis showing a frisky, sexy side that has been missing from some of her oeuvre of late. David Petrarca directs with steadiness, even when the craziness sets in, but mention must be made of the distinctive music score by Jason Robert Brown (Parade) and again to Loquasto's simple but elegantly effective sets and costumes.

This a not a show for everyone; really sensitive theatergoers may not find Gertie's stroke-induced speech patterns too funny. But this show understands that a few sacrifices have to be made in the name of comedy, and more often than not, those sacrifices pay off for this play.