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R: ARCHIVE, S: REVIEWS, D: 09/05/1996,

CAUGHT

Take Down and Out in Beverly Hills, mold it into a Greek tragedy, and you'd have Caught. Nick (Arie Verveen) is a homeless drifter who finds shelter in the home of a New York City fishmonger and his wife (Edward James Olmos and Maria Conchita Alonso). Nick enriches their lives by filling the void left by their son, who shunned the family business for the glitz of Hollywood. To Jim (Olmos), Nick is a first mate and confidant. To Betty (Alonso), he is the voice of reason and the key to her burning passion.

After a few double entendres about boning fish and some steamy, forbidden sex coupled with a writhing, Vangelis-like score, Caught blooms into a perverse American gothic that thrives on the type of heaving tension found only in the works of Tennessee Williams. Alonso does a solid job of bearing the complexities of her character with confidence, and Olmos is gruffly endearing when he's not wastefully brooding. Newcomer Verveen is effective as the aloof vagabond, though he hisses annoyingly like Jason Patric. And Steven Schub is a delight, as the delusional son, who's not afraid to die -- "because he's done stand-up before." Screens at the Kendall Square at 7 and 9:30 p.m., and on Friday at 2 and 4:15 p.m. Independent Film Maker Award-winning director Robert Young, Independent Film Maker Award-winning producer Irwin Young, and star Edward James Olmos will appear at tonight's 7 p.m. showing.

-- T.B. Meek