TV REVIEW : Touching Hilarity With ‘Boys Next Door’

“The Boys Next Door,” CBS’ Sunday night movie, may offend those who think mental illness should be no laughing matter. There’s laugh-out-loud hilarity in this film, based on Tom Griffin’s play about mentally challenged residents of a group home trying to function in the “normal” world.

Yet it is that humor, careening at times into pure slapstick, that makes the poignancy and dignity of the characters resonate so deeply. That, and a superb acting ensemble.

Arnold (Michael Jeter) is a manic-depressive obsessed with Russia. Lucien (Courtney B. Vance), who “studies” agriculture, has the mind of a sweet preschooler. Norman (Nathan Lane), mildly retarded and fixated on doughnuts and keys, has a romantic interest in Sheila (Mare Winningham), also retarded. Barry (Robert Sean Leonard) is a bright, fragile schizophrenic who clings to his belief that he’s a golf pro.

Despite a recurring cacophony of comic misunderstandings, unhappiness, fear and indignation, the men have formed a caring family.

Helping his “boys” keep a grip on their tenuous independence is social worker Jack (Tony Goldwyn), who loves his charges so profoundly that sometimes, in whimsical, moving fantasy sequences, he pictures them as the people they might have been.

Jack’s love, however, can’t prevent the encroaching burnout that is threatening his marriage and his own well-being.

Adapted by William Blinn and directed by John Erman, this outstanding film refuses to allow viewers the emotional remove of pity by revealing the humanity of lives that are damaged but not defeated.

* “The Boys Next Door” airs at 9 p.m. Sunday on CBS (Channel 2).