OVERGROWN `GRASS HARP' WEARS OUT ITS WELCOME.

Byline: Janet Weeks Daily News Staff Writer

Watching ``The Grass Harp'' is a little like kicking back in a rocking chair and listening to a beloved uncle tell a story about a delicious family secret.

Only this dear uncle, alas, is a bit long in the tooth, and his tale tends to ramble and repeat itself over the course of a couple of hours until, by the end, he has lost your attention.

With strong performances from a star-studded cast, a beautiful setting and a story based on a Truman Capote novel, ``The Grass Harp'' should be better than it is. And in places, it's wonderful - charming and coy, sad and funny.

But director-producer Charles Matthau sets his slice-of-life look at a 1940s Southern town to such a slowly meandering pace that it requires the patience of a hungry hound waiting for a bone to make it to the good stuff.

The movie opens powerfully with the funeral of a young mother and the widower's descent into maddening grief. When the man kills himself, his only son becomes the charge of two maiden cousins, Verena (Sissy Spacek) and Dolly (Piper Laurie).

Laurie's Dolly is as sweet and pleasant as a sugar cookie, which she bakes by the dozen in the pearly pink kitchen of Verena's mansion. Dolly's voice is high and thin, her brown eyes large and loving.

Spacek's Verena, by contrast, is hardened and humorless. She owns half the businesses in town, and has little interest in anything other than making money.

Frozen out by Verena, the boy, Collin, (Edward Furlong) soon ``falls in love'' with Dolly, and spends most of his time in her kitchen. His only other friend is housemaid Catherine (Nell Carter), who fancies herself a sage Indian princess.

The story begins to unfold when a rift between the sisters sends Dolly packing. With Catherine and Collin in tow, she escapes to an old treehouse by the river and sets up house.

There, she is alternately berated by Verena and courted by retired judge Charlie Cool (Walter Matthau). Eventually - and this is a long eventually - she returns home. But not before teaching Verena and Collin valuable lessons about love.

In addition to the already mentioned actors, a variety of other acclaimed thespians have small roles in the film, including Jack Lemmon, Charles Durning, Roddy McDowall, Mary Steenburgen and Sean Patrick Flanery. Unfortunately, their side stories tend to derail the narrative, sending the film veering down uninteresting cul-de-sacs. Just like when your uncle goes off on a tangent. ``Where was I?'' Who cares.

The title of the film refers to the sound the wind makes passing through tall Southern grasses, a musical noise that Dolly believes is a chorus of voices - voices of the dead talking to the living.

More likely, it's the voices of doddering uncles telling long yarns of long-gone relatives. Now, where was I?

THE FACTS

The film: ``The Grass Harp'' (PG; adult themes).

The stars: Piper Laurie, Walter Matthau, Sissy Spacek, Edward Furlong, Jack Lemmon, Mary Steenburgen.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Charles Matthau. Written by Stirling Silliphant and Kirk Ellis, based on the novel by Truman Capote. Produced Jerry Tokofsky and John Davis. Released by FineLine Features.

Running time: One hour, 47 minutes.

Playing: Topanga, Woodland Hills; NuWilshire, Santa Monica; Music Hall, Beverly Hills.

Our rating: Two Stars.

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Photo

Photo: Leaving home after a rift with her sister, Dolly (Pi per Laurie) is courted by a retired judge (Walter Matthau) in ``The Grass Harp.''