First of all, Edward Burns is a really good looking guy.

This was the sentiment expressed by my friend when we saw the latest film from the quadruple hyphenate threat (writer-director-producer-actor), "No Looking Back", a gritty, mostly dramatic meditation on life in a dead end town and what it means to dream of escaping such an existence. When Jon Bon Jovi came onscreen, my friend swooned and said this was a "really good film".

Apart from the charms of the two leading men, however, "No Looking Back" does have some other merits to recommend itself. As the first time Burns frames his script around a leading female protagonist, the film tries hard, and sometimes succeeds, in capturing a feminine voice asking for independence and integrity in a world largely populated by blue collar men with set notions of their women. Furthermore, Burns manages to elicit a sometimes brilliant (but often uneven) performance from Lauren Holly - no mean feat, considering the fact that Holly, with her model-stick figure and glamour hair, looks far far removed from the small town waitress she plays onscreen.

The story concerns Claudia, a waitress in a coastal town somewhere in Queens, who finds her dreary existence increasingly suffocating and frightening. Her live-in love, Michael (Bon Jovi), is a feckless, simple grease monkey who just wants to marry her and set up home in their disintegrating town, but Claudia resists this domestication which she (rightly) perceives to be the final nail in the coffin that will forever entrap her in the sorry town. Enter Charlie, Claudia's ne'er do well old boyfriend (Burns), who comes back, ostensibly for a visit, but in reality, to woo her back. The triangle between them is played out against a set of dreams these characters once had as much younger versions of themselves, when their world seemed full of possibilities that lay beyond the confines of the dying town they grew up in. A subplot concerns Claudia's mother (Blythe Danner), who pines for a husband who's left her to rot alone and abandoned; the parallel may be a bit obvious, but the characterizations are nicely realized and the situation is ably handled.

As far as the writing goes, Burns still retains his keen ear for dialogue and the rhythmic speeches he writes ring true for the most part. Considering the fact that this is the first time he is writing with a female protagonist at the heart of the story, he manages to temper his previous guy talk fundamentals quite successfully. Although the situation is old and familiar, the film plays well nonetheless.

A lot of this is due to the direction. Aiming low and quiet, Burns deftly steers his actors and the action toward modestly realized pay-offs. Many scenes are staged with quiet dignity and although the characters are surrounded by dead-end situations, there is an unwavering glimmer of hope in the overall picture. The tone and quality of the film are simple and easy to enjoy, like a slow-moving book on a rainy day. The film plods along at a comfortable pace, but is now and then jarred by a few abrupt moves which don't totally detract from it, thankfully.

Blythe Danner creates an ambiguous character out of Claudia's mother - a woman who seems to know better, but still willingly plays into the hands of a man whom she loves. Her work is interesting as she invests a lot of unexpected humor into her countenance, making what would have been a depressing , pathetic and downbeat character somewhat buoyant and hopeful by film's end. Lauren Holly tries very hard in her effort to bring to life the woman at the center of the film. For the most part, she comes across rather vacant and flat; the emotional well of the Claudia seems to elude her. However, there are some scenes in which she seems to "get it" - silent moments when she looks fearfully at what she may become, and her scenes with Bon Jovi in particular, are well played and believable.

Unfortunately for Bon Jovi, after his highly praised turn in "The Leading Man", Michael here seems like a step backward for him. The character is rather colorless, and although he tries hard, it remains uninteresting and staid. This may have something to do with the fact that Burns saves a meaty role for himself. As the dubious loser who's out to win back something he foolishly threw away years ago, Burns selflessly plays Charlie as written - a charming but unreliable guy who knows his time is running out. Easily the most watchable of the lead performances, he makes for a sympathetic loser.

"No Looking Back" is saddled with a horrible title. The original "Long Time, Nothing New" sounds much better, and is a far more accurate account of what happens on screen. No matter. Don't let the title deter you from this slight, but ultimately enjoyable movie. As another piece to the Burns career puzzle (his next movie is "Saving Private Ryan" with Spielberg and Hanks), this may be the film where he begins to give his characters more weight, depth and gravity - all good signs for a healthy career.