Maybe this is Francis Ford Coppola's way of telling off critics or sending a signal about reviews. It's certainly more diplomatic (and tidier) than a horse's head in the bed, less violent than a causeway confrontation but nothing like cannoli.

In "Tetro," a writer turns to the most important critic in South America -- a woman who goes by the telling name of "Alone" -- and announces, "Your opinion doesn't matter to me anymore." Hmm.

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'Tetro'

2 stars = Mediocre
Ratings explained

• Starring: Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich.
• Rating: R for language, some sexuality and nudity. In English, Spanish and French with some subtitles.

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"The Godfather" is one of the best (if not the best) American movies, but "Tetro" is not in that class, although it doesn't pretend to be, either. Shot mainly in black and white, with flashbacks that pop in vivid color, it's a throwback to another time and a bit too pretentiously arty.

"Tetro" is Coppola's first original screenplay since 1974's "The Conversation," and he calls it his most personal but still fictional. Borrowing some basics from Greek tragedy, it is the story of brothers, a family tree split by competition, creativity and long-held secrets, and the liberation that comes from artistic expression and truth-telling.

It's set largely in Buenos Aires, where a 17-year-old American, Bennie (Alden Ehrenreich), shows up unexpectedly at the apartment of his older brother, Angelo (Vincent Gallo), and his welcoming girlfriend, Miranda (Maribel Verdu).

The expatriate has cut all ties with the past, including his name. "Angie's dead. My name's Tetro," he tells Bennie. "You know what love is in a family like ours?" Tetro asks Bennie. A quick stab in the heart.

Bennie, however, still carries with him a letter from Angelo that said, "You're very young now and someday you'll understand. I promise you that I'll come back and get you."

But Angelo turned into Tetro and never returned from his "writing sabbatical," which went from a getaway to write to a sabbatical from writing. We eventually learn what drove Tetro away, why their strong-willed father (Klaus Maria Brandauer) is famous and what happens when Bennie and Tetro inevitably are forced to confront their family history.

Writer-director Coppola plays with shadows, mirrors, dreamy black-and-white and color as he toys with questions of identity, success and salvation. Gallo, never a favorite, is saddled with a character who is gloomy and quick to anger while Ehrenreich (looking a bit like a young, fuller-faced Leonardo DiCaprio) is all inquisitiveness, innocence and good intentions.

Director-writer Coppola aims high but is hobbled by dramatic gestures and histrionic turns that might have played better on stage. He's like a master vintner who makes the most of a so-so batch of grapes, but in this case, it's fruit he planted, nurtured, harvested, aged and served to longtime guests.

Opens today at the Squirrel Hill Theater.

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