The second feature (1993) of Steve Kloves, writer and director of The Fabulous Baker Boys, doesn’t really work as story or drama, but the first half, with its beautifully captured images of west Texas by Philippe Rousselot, is a powerful, poetic evocation of southern sleaze. All four stars offer complex and finely tuned portraits with a pungent aftertaste. Dennis Quaid plays a vending-machine supplier in flight from his troubled past, Meg Ryan is the woman he becomes involved with, James Caan is his father, and talented newcomer Gwyneth Paltrow (Blythe Danner’s daughter) plays the father’s young girlfriend. Sydney Pollack served as executive producer. (JR)