Suburban life on LI in '3 Backyards'

He might have called it "33 Backyards" for all the suburban undergrowth it exposes, but Eric Mendelsohn's "3 Backyards" offers multiple experiences and revelations, much of them having to do with the experience of cinema itself. Set in the Long Island where Mendelsohn grew up (the film was shot in Port Jefferson and Northport, as well as Queens), this 10-years-in-the-waiting follow-up to Mendelsohn's cultish "Judy Berlin" is contemporary in content but retro in style.

The "cool" atonal flute music; the rushing close-ups; the camera that backs away as characters move forward, all recall the cheesiest film/TV cliches of the '70s, the overall effect being a sense of stasis. Everything has changed, and nothing, and the characters don't quite know what to do about it.

Other than their commonly unsettled characters, none of the three parallel narratives have much in common: John (Elias Koteas) is a beleaguered businessman in the midst of a marital meltdown; he can't talk to his wife (Kathryn Erbe), for reasons never quite disclosed. So when a flight he's supposed to be on is canceled, he goes to a hotel rather than go home.

Christina (Rachel Resheff) is a young girl who misses the school bus but gets an education. A teenage boy with a kidnapped dog, a collection of collars that suggest he's been killing off the local pet population, introduces a naive young girl to her own darker side.

Third, there's Peggy, who is given an astounding, cringe-provoking performance by Edie Falco, who has to reveal flaws in her personality about which her character is completely clueless. When her much-talked-about new neighbor -- a well-known actress (Embeth Davidtz) -- asks her for a ride to the ferry in Port Jeff, Peggy has an experience that is both more and less what she expected, and an agonizing skirmish with self-revelation. Does Peggy get a clue, en route to the ferry? Mendelsohn's movie is not about answers, but the ride.