'SISTERS' TURNS CHEKHOV INTO SHRILL PSYCHODRAMA.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

Chekhov has been butchered so often on the stage that it seems fair that film be given equal opportunity. "The Sisters," adapted by Richard Alfieri from his own play, which itself was a modern reinterpretation of "The Three Sisters," evens the slate and then some, turning Chekhov's subtle character study into a shrill, pretentious and blathering psychodrama, a movie in which the characters spend two hours competing to deliver the longest and most overwrought tirade.

The contest ends in a draw. Chekhov's lament for a dying class has been turned into a repression melodrama that would give even Lifetime pause. The sisters are: Marcia (Maria Bello), aka "the beautiful one"; Olga (Mary Stuart Masterson) aka "the serious one"; and Irene (Erika Christensen), aka "the baby." (And you wonder why Erika has issues?) There's also an understandably weary brother, Andrew (Alessandro Nivola).

The family members are all either eggheads or married to eggheads or both. Andrew is dating a sexy, lower-class babe (Elizabeth Banks), who incurs the wrath of the sharp-tongued Marcia. But then everyone rubs Marcia the wrong way. She has issues. Childhood trauma.

Alcoholism. Nymphomania. Hell, she might even be dying from cancer for all we know.

You can see why the talented Bello would want the part. She blows everyone off the screen here, admittedly not a huge feat of strength considering that the cast also includes the likes of Eric McCormack, Tony Goldwyn and Chris O'Donnell.

You wonder, though, if Bello knew how overmatched director Arthur Allan Seidelman would be. The movie looks horrible. On the few occasions that the action moves outside the chamber room, it's as if the filmmakers were venturing forth on the planet Mars. But then, maybe that's perfect for material about a family that wants to go home again but can't really remember what the place looks like.

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

THE SISTERS - One star

(R: language, sexual content )

Starring: Maria Bello, Mary Stuart Masterson, Erika Christensen, Elizabeth Banks.

Director: Arthur Allan Seidelman.

Running time: 1 hr. 53 min.

Playing: Laemmle's One Colorado in Pasadena; Laemmle's Music Hall in Beverly Hills.

In a nutshell: Chekhov's lament for a dying class gets turned into an overwrought psychodrama that would give even Lifetime pause.

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The talented Maria Bello blows everyone else off the screen here, but that doesn't take too much in this film.