Cicely Tyson, an Oscar nominee and double Emmy winner, will receive the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award tomorrow from the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

She'll also be on screen at the Columbus Theatre tomorrow night when the festival presents the world premiere of her latest film, Fat Rose & Squeaky. The film, a meditation on the crises people face as they grow old, co-stars Oscar winner Louise Fletcher.

As it approaches its finish line, it's clear director Sam Irvin and the two celebrated actresses have finally mined the great poignancy and sensitivity that has been lurking in the script by Virland S. Harris. But until the final 10 or 15 minutes of Fat Rose & Squeaky, Irvin's film is mired in many talky moments of soul-searching philosophical questions or plain old bickering between these two, neither of whom is Fat Rose or Squeaky.

The title characters turn out to be -- well, at first they seem to be irresponsible caregivers for Bonnie (Fletcher). They make fun of her, steal the money she has hidden in her wall full of books, even knock her down. In reality -- or non-reality -- they are figments of Bonnie's imagination, clearly the most annoying parts of her psyche.

Nearly the entire five-character film takes place in the cluttered living room of the house in San Jose, Calif., that the stolid Bonnie has owned since 1949, thus giving the film a claustrophobic, stage-bound feel.

Tyson's flamboyant Celine, a former dancer who dresses in vibrant colors, is Bonnie's longtime next-door neighbor who takes a protective interest in her old friend. She comes often to check on her, delivering food on set days of the week.

Trouble comes in the form of Bonnie's long-lost fortune-hunting great niece (or is she?), Christine (Jo Anderson, who is a dead ringer for actress Julianne Moore). She's a flashy antiques dealer from Los Angeles who clearly covets Bonnie's knickknacks and furniture. She wants to get power of attorney over Bonnie's life and then push the reluctant Bonnie into a retirement home.

It's a familiar story that has a lot to say about the questions facing the elderly and their families, and it will hit close to home for many.

But Harris, recognizing that too much of his script would amount to talking heads on a subject that sounds like an afterschool special for the aged, invents Fat Rose (Lea DeLaria) and Squeaky (Julie Brown). The mannish Fat Rose and the red-haired Squeaky, who dresses in a railroad conductor's cap and talks a lot about going to see trains (Bonnie's family were railroaders), are bizarre characters who quickly wear out their welcome. But, like a pair of comic relief characters borrowed from Shakespeare, they keep turning up throughout the film to pull their nutty pranks.

Fletcher is very good as Bonnie, a woman who is trying her best to retain her sanity and hold her life together. She fears being put in an old folks home, losing her well-ordered life and her home. "There's nothing golden about being an old lady," she says crankily. Fletcher captures Bonnie's sad dilemma and brings it home, finding salvation in a crisis.

Tyson, saddled with a French accent, has the steely resolve of a tigress who is fiercely devoted to her friend. She is still grounded in reality and tries her best to get Bonnie over the rough roads. You may find yourself wiping away a tear, if you can slog through the long, slow and sometimes insane set-up.

Fat Rose & Squeaky will play at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Columbus Theatre as part of the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

mjanuson@projo.com / (401) 277-7276