PLIGHT OF FLORIDIANS BECOMES A LACKLUSTER SAYLES JOB.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

INTELLIGENT, with a strong sense of place and as uninspired as its title, ``Sunshine State'' is another one of those socially responsible, John Sayles ensemble pieces. It's got some good, organic character work, lots of obvious political insights and little room for engaging, imaginative filmmaking in its nearly 2 1/2-hour, dissipated length.

One good thing that can be said for this Florida-based effort is that it's an improvement over the Alaskan ``Limbo,'' the writer-director's last regional film, for which Sayles thought it would be cool not to include an ending. No one else did, of course, and apparently having learned, Sayles gives at least some of ``Sunshine State's'' sprawling plot lines various degrees of closure.

The action takes place on a barrier island off the state's northeast coast, where cheesy accommodations and modest vacation homes have defined the landscape for decades. This being northern Atlantic Florida - and, therefore, its traditionally Dixie region - the island was initially segregated into downscale white Delrona Beach and an enclave called Lincoln Beach that was founded by well-to-do African-Americans.

Although integration long ago blurred the definition lines between the two communities, both are now threatened by rapacious developers who want to replace all the old structures with condos and gated golf-course estates to sell to Northerners. The not-so-subtle name of the new development? Plantation Island.

Among those deciding whether to stick it out or sell are Marly Temple (``The Sopranos' '' Edie Falco), who unhappily runs the motel and coffee shop established by her now blind, cranky father Furman (``The Waltons' '' Ralph Waite ... and did anyone see the humor in casting these pillars of two diametrically different TV families as relatives?).

At the other end of the key, Desiree Perry (Angela Bassett) has come home for a visit after several decades of estrangement. She's brought her genuinely nice and successful new husband, a Boston medico named Reggie (``NYPD Blue's'' James McDaniel) along to show her elitist mother, Eunice Stokes (Mary Alice), how well her life has turned out. Mom likes Reggie, especially after he voluntarily performs role-model duty for the arson-prone nephew, Terrell (Alexander Lewis), whom Eunice is struggling to raise. But there's a lot more mother and daughter need to get past, all tracing back to the highly predictable ``mystery'' of why Desiree took off as a teen-ager and hasn't returned before now.

These folks represent just a small fraction of the film's population. Mary Steenburgen plays a dithery civic booster who just can't get the locals excited about her hokey Buccaneer Days festival. Her husband (Gordon Clapp) keeps failing to kill himself over gambling debts, and becomes the pawn of a shady development faction. Timothy Hutton, a nice if rootless landscaping designer working for the Plantation group, forms a sweet but tentative relationship with Marly. And there are many, many more.

Some sequences do justice to the state's incredible beauty (a leisurely canoe trip down an unspoiled, cypress-dappled river) and goofy tourist culture (Marly takes Hutton's Jack Meadows on a visit to the Weeki Wachee Mermaid show she once worked at). The general ambivalence many native Floridians feel about staying or leaving is nicely embodied by the two main female characters. Building, destroying and conserving is presented as the never-ending triangle of conflict that it is.

Disappointing, then, that Sayles fails to give dramatic urgency to so many of these themes that he clearly understands. Maybe the humidity had something to do with it, but ``Sunshine State'' just kind of ambles along, not exerting a whole lot of effort, as if kicking back and watching the sun go down will do.

SUNSHINE STATE - Two and one half stars

(Rated PG-13: language)

Starring: Edie Falco, Angela Bassett, Timothy Hutton, James McDaniel, Mary Steenburgen, Jane Alexander, Ralph Waite, Mary Alice, Bill Cobbs, Gordon Clapp, Tom Wright, Alex Lewis.

Director: John Sayles.

Running time: 2 hr. 21 min.

Playing: Town Center 5, Encino; Playhouse 7, Pasadena; Sunset 5, West Hollywood; Westside Pavilion, West L.A.; Monica, Santa Monica; South Coast Village 3, Costa Mesa.