Love Field by Stephen Farber Michelle Pfeiffer has earned respect from the critics, but audiences haven't yet been able to get a bead on her. She's never had a smash hit. One problem is that she seems almost embarrassed by her looks. Her best parts--as the sexy lounge singer in The Fabulous Baker Boys and the noble Madame de Tourvel in Dangerous Liaisons--capitalized on her luminous screen presence. Frankie & Johnny, in which she seemed determined to score an acting coup by playing a drab, hash-slinging waitress, was the wrong kind of role for her. It's hard to know whether the movie would have been more successful with different casting, but audiences clearly didn't buy Pfeiffer as a wounded wallflower. No matter how skillfully she acted the part, women simply couldn't identify with her or feel any exhilaration on seeing her connect with a man; her triumph seemed like a foregone conclusion instead of a hard-won victory. Love Field probably won't prove to be a much happier choice for Pfeiffer. Set at the time of the Kennedy assassination in Dallas, the film dramatizes the growing bond between a poor white woman and an enigmatic black man. As Larene Hallett, a dreamy beautician obsessed with Jackie Kennedy, Pfeiffer confirms her growing range and power. Her skill with accents is beginning to rival Meryl Streep's, but even more impressive than her technical virtuosity is her emotional depth; she highlights the childlike romanticism and generosity of this simple woman. But once again, we can't help feeling Pfeiffer is hiding her light under a bushel by playing such a stunted, unglamorous loser. She was endowed by nature to play bigger, bolder roles. Pfeiffer is further sabotaged by Don Roos's contrived, heavy-handed script, and by Orion's financial troubles, which have kept the film on the shelf for more than a year. Denzel Washington, who was originally cast opposite Pfeiffer, was probably wise to drop out, but it's intriguing to imagine what the chemistry between these two gorgeous actors might have been. What did you think of this movie? Sound off in the Movie Forum.