MEAN MELISSA

Tit for tat twaddle, set in a kindergarten art class where Samantha is ready to give up on art because Melissa says her pictures are ugly and Mrs. Stirling (who takes two of Melissa's) never picks Sam's for the art show. But Jonathan, who wasn't chosen either, talks her into painting monsters with him. ""I'll paint a Melissa monster,"" says Sam, and when the teacher admires and hangs it, Melissa cries--until Sam agrees to take down the title in return for Melissa's promise ""not to say mean things."" A perfunctory story line, unredeemed by sharp detail or dialogue. And Price,s overalled kids are pathetic samples of the human race, drawn without much more skill than are Sam and Jonathan's monsters.