The best thing going for UNDERTOW is the script, which is filled with dialog that is at once natural and poetic. "We'll shave our heads, grow beards and only speak Apache," Chris Munn (Jamie Bell) tells his younger brother Tim (Devon Alan) about his plan for them to hide out from their troubles. Their father, John (Dermot Mulroney), has had a big fight with his brother Deel (Josh Lucas), which causes Deel to end up chasing Chris and Tim.

The movie opens, however, with a scene that rings false on two notes. Chris is an older teen who, although poor, does have shoes. He walks a long distance through rough terrain barefoot -- hard to believe. And when he is chased, he jumps onto a nail, which goes all the way through the middle of his foot, coming out two inches above it. He takes a hammer and hits the nail sideways causing his foot to be attached to the board. Any rational human being in such pain would have pulled his foot up while holding the board down. He then walks a long ways with the board attached. Another episode late in the story is similarly hard to fathom.

Still, the nail in the foot does engender another genuine piece of dialog. "Hurt -- hurt like crap," Chris tells his dad. After pausing pensively, his father replies, "Sometimes it's the strange moments that stick with you."

k Well, what will stick with you, if you can stay awake during the movie and not hit rewind if you rent it, is the honesty in the conversations. The not-exactly-original story and the thinly drawn characters, however, will soon be forgotten.

UNDERTOW runs a long 1:47. It is rated R for "violence" and would be acceptable for teenagers.