In Hal Hartley’s debut feature, the always luminous Adrienne Shelly plays a young woman who is jolted out of smalltown complacency by the return of a handsome, semi-notorious ex-con played by Robert John Burke. Right out of the gate, Hartley’s idiosyncratic dialogue (delivered in a very. specific. cadence.) and deeply felt characters defined his distinct style. With too much pathos to be laughed off but too much humor to be taken seriously, perhaps the best term for it would be neo-realist-screwball-comedy. [NH]