'Leaving Iowa' a little shrill

Never underestimate the power of nostalgia to make modest entertainment palatable.

By way of proof, there's “Leaving Iowa,” Tim Clue and Spike Manton's well-intended but unremarkable and overly long comedy inspired by that time-honored tradition: the family road trip.

I suspect the laughs that accompanied director Rachel Rockwell's production for Fox Valley Repertory (formerly Noble Fool Theatricals) had more to do with fond recollections audience members have of their own childhood experiences than with the uneven script, which shifts between the present and the past to chronicle a rather predictable journey of self-discovery and reconciliation.

Boston reporter Don (the genuinely appealing Alex Goodrich) returns after a lengthy absence to his boyhood home to discover that no one has disposed of his father's remains, which have spent the last three years in an urn atop a basement fuse box. Don takes it upon himself to honor his father's final wishes to have his ashes scattered on the grounds of his childhood home. Upon finding that a grocery store has replaced his grandparents' home, Don embarks on a quest to find an appropriate resting place for his dad.

The action unfolds on Kevin Depinet's appropriately simple set consisting of a two-lane highway against a backdrop featuring spot-on projections from Mike Tutaj showcasing the American Midwest and the travelers who love it.

Along the way, Don reminisces about a particularly memorable vacation the family took to Hannibal, Mo., the birthplace of Mark Twain. Heading up the excursion is Dad (the endearing, unfailingly decent Don Forston), a history teacher with a taste for adventure and a weakness for tourist traps. By his side is Mom (Diane Dorsey), an accommodating woman who reaches her breaking point after a week on the road. Occupying the back seat are preteen siblings Don and Sis (Katherine Banks), who — in one of the show's most enjoyable scenes — briefly suspend their sparring in a joint attempt to convince their dad to take a detour.

Squabbles punctuated by parental platitudes, the occasional outburst of road rage and various encounters with assorted small-town types (portrayed by Sean Patrick Fawcett and Valerie Glowinski) make up the episodic comedy, which can't seem to decide whether it wants to pay homage to Middle America or skewer it.

Excising superfluous scenes involving Don's nagging adult sister and his visit with a disillusioned college buddy would streamline the play, which also needs to make clear the reasons for Don's estrangement from his family.

It might also help to turn down the volume on this noisy production. More troubling is the surprising shrillness that blunts the homespun sentiment that has seemingly made “Leaving Iowa” into a local favorite. (The play — which premiered in 2003 at Naperville's now defunct Shadowfax Theater — was produced in Michigan the following year at Jeff Daniels' Purple Rose Theatre. Chicago's Theatre Building and American Theatre Company revived the show here in 2005 as did the College of DuPage).

That said, the scenes between Goodrich and Forston — some of the best in the show — have a real sweetness.

And the wacky physicality Rockwell incorporates into the car scenes is a hoot.