Joey McIntyre, left, Eliza Dushku and Mike O’Malley star in On Broadway.

Courtesy of On Broadway

On Broadway, whose title refers peripherally to the one in Boston and not the Great White Way, is a smartly made independent film about a family in crisis.

Following the death of a beloved uncle who was like a father to him, Jack O’Toole (Joey McIntyre) is moved at the man’s wake to write a play loosely based on the lives of his family. He hopes the play will mend the rupture that has existed since Jack was a boy between himself and his father, Martin (Sean Lawlor), who has been in a deep funk ever since a work injury left him an amputee. Uncle Peter has filled in as surrogate father for Jack and, when he is killed in a construction mishap, Jack and the rest of his family are devastated.

Much of the film revolves around Jack trying to rally his friends to put on his play, hire some semi-professional actors and keep them on their toes. There’s humor in writer-director Dave McLauglin’s script, balanced by the kinds of calamities that befall most amateur stage productions, creating a strain on Jack’s marriage. Thus, although a stage space opens up at a local pub, rehearsals are often interrupted because the club owner has booked a band for the same time. At one point Jack and his friends must tear down their stage set so a band can install its equipment on stage.

Worse is that Barry (Peter Giles), the star of the play called God Willing, can’t remember his lines and has ongoing romantic problems which include an on again-off again fling with the show’s leading lady, Lena Wilson (Eliza Dushku). A nice subplot revolves around one of Jack’s friends, Neil (Lucas Caleb Rooney), a big teddy bear of a guy who drives a Boston subway train and surprises everyone by being good enough to take a role in the play. Then he falls for Lena who is caught up with Barry and overly cautious Neil doesn’t know how to demonstrate his feelings.

The fine acting and camera work in On Broadway, which is showing exclusively at the Opera House in Newport, belies the film’s under-$1-million budget. McLaughlin has pulled together his cast into a solid ensemble. You feel that these people are family or have known each other a long time. McIntyre is very good as the beleaguered Jack, whose passion for his play never wavers, even at the bleakest moments. And yet, like many low-budget independent films, its story seems small and stagy and a little too tidy in the way it depends on at least one miracle to solve Jack’s many problems.

(There will be a question-and-answer session with actor-producer Lance Greene, who plays the son of the beloved uncle in the movie, following today’s 7 p.m. screening.)

*** 1/2On Broadway

Starring: Joey McIntyre, Eliza Dushku, Jill Flint, Lucas Caleb Rooney, Mike O’Malley, Sean Lawlor, Peter Giles, Lance Greene, Vincent Dowling.

Rated: Not rated, contains adult themes.

mjanuson@projo.com