At Middleton

At Middleton

It’s kind of nice that “In the Middle,” a so-so romantic comedy set during a tour of a picturesque college campus, is about two grown-ups at a crossroads instead of two kids debating which Ivy League school to attend. What’s not so satisfying is how much effort director/co-writer Adam Rodgers expends to prove the musty old adage that opposites attract.

At least Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga have one thing in common, like their characters: Both broke out in gangster dramas for him, 1990’s “The Godfather Part III,” and for her, 2006’s “The Departed.” As the gap between those years suggests, the male half of this potential love match is considerably older than the female (Garcia is 57; Farmiga is 40). In this regard, “At Middleton” dutifully upholds one of Hollywood’s favorite double standards.

George (Garcia) is a heart surgeon; Edith (Farmiga) sells children’s furniture. They’re both single parents accompanying their only offspring on a road trip to decide on their college futures. And thereabouts lies all similarity. George an uptight square who never takes risks is an Old World type who loves bow ties and hates casual Friday; he thinks jazz starts with Brubeck and ends with Getz. Edith an unconventional free spirit for whom rules are made to be broken but stitches aren’t sewn never met a pair of scissors she didn’t use as a tongue depressor or guitar pick or weapon.

Her happy-go-lucky son Conrad (Spencer LoFranco) can’t be bothered with this mission; his humorless perfectionist daughter Audrey (Farmiga look-alike Taissa) doesn’t leave anything to chance. After revealing that Audrey Hepburn inspired her child’s name, Edith says: “I should have named her Benito.”

After Edith gets on the nerves of other parents by peppering a too-sincere student tour guide who claims that his double major in horticulture and music makes him a “dingleberry” (not funny, no matter how many times repeated) with questions about the rate of murders and rape at Middleton, the two decideto take a look around for themselves.

You know things are about to get middle aged crazy when Edith suggests to George that they “borrow” two abandoned bikes they come across along the way. “This is fate,” she says giddily. “This is theft,” he says nervously. And off they go.

Somewhere between causing a ruckus in the library, ascending to the top of a bell tower where George freaks out over his fear of heights, playing a flirtatious duet of Chopsticks on a piano, disrupting an acting class before giving an impromptu master class in improv and getting baked with a pre-med student and his girlfriend do these kooky kids reveal to each other that they’re married. And not necessarily happily especially now that their children are about to be gone most of if not all year.

It’s difficult for us to root against their infidelity when we barely know anything more about George and Edith than that they’re both seemingly willing to abandon their college bound children with hardly another thought or glance let alone explanation.

Things will get more boring except for two welcome but all too brief appearances of a couple of cool cats who act as parent substitutes. Peter Riegert, who was previously a rowdy in “Animal House,” does his best Wolfman Jack impersonation as DJ Boneyard Sims, the guy who teaches Conrad about college radio hosting. A very handsome Tom Skerritt puts Audrey in her place as the pompous linguistics professor she’s idolized since ninth grade.

“At Middleton” is what some might call a harmless diversion the kind that sneaks briefly into theaters before finding its rightful place in cable and video on demand listings but only if it’s being generous. And while Garcia and Farmiga are good actors in appropriate roles, they’re doing neither themselves nor their careers any favors with this C-level effort.

At least the ending has enough balls not to wrap things up neatly. But watching George and Edith romping in slow motion while getting drenched by a campus fountain is not the opposite of enjoying “Annie Hall,” where Alvy Singer and Annie engage Lobsterzilla in combat. One scene has comic snap. The other is merely soggy.

Watch At Middleton For Free On Gomovies.