WONDER WHEELS

A thin and unconvincing piece of mush, set in a Newark roller rink where Mike spends all summer preparing for a big audition. At the rink he meets Kitty, and they fall instantly and sappily in love--why they do is anyone's guess; we never get a sense of her personality. Mike's parents are loving and corny, and so are the family conversations. (Regarding Kitty--""Mom, when do you know? How do you know when it's right?"") But Kitty has an insanely possessive boyfriend back in Montclair--she can't stand him but her mother pushes them together--and when he finds out about Mike he locks her in his car with him and the two are found asphyxiated next morning. (""I miss you so very much,"" Mike grieves at her coffin. ""I love you more than life itself."") In the end Mike wins the big skating contest, then stays on alone at the rink to share the experience with Kitty. The publisher's fliers that come with this try to tie it to the coattails of the roller skating revival, but it won't work.