Film of the week:

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- "Domestic Disturbance" resembles a male version of the 1992 hit "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle," in which psycho nanny Rebecca DeMornay tried to kill working mom Annabella Sciorra. Here, a divorced dad (John Travolta) battles his 12-year-old son's new Wicked Stepfather, played by Vince Vaughn of "Swingers."

Like "The Hand that Rocks," "Domestic Disturbance" starts promisingly as a family drama that touches on some hot-button emotional issues. It then morphs into an efficient little thriller. The key word, though, is "little." "Domestic Disturbance" is only about 85 minutes long. Normally, that's not a bad thing, but the film is well enough done that I would have liked to have seen more of both its halves.

It should appeal to adults, especially divorced fathers, but to be memorable it needed another 20 minutes of development.

For one of the few times in his notoriously erratic career, Travolta is well cast. He's a down on his luck craftsman who builds classy but out-dated wooden sailboats. He messed up his marriage, but he's a good man who is trying hard to help his troubled son get along with his mother (played by Teri Polo of "Meet the Parents") and her fiancée, who is everything Travolta's character is not: rich, extremely tall, smart, and scary.

In real life, John Travolta is that rarity -- a big star who doesn't seem to know why the public likes him. Wayne Newton once said that there are no stupid stars. Travolta's no dope - -he's licensed to pilot the 707 jetliner he owns, for example -- but he's bad at choosing scripts. He not only picks the occasional screenplay that will make a miserable movie ("Battlefield Earth," anyone?), but he doesn't seem to grasp what roles are best for him.

So, Travolta signs up to play Kevin Spacey-type roles as evil guys and smart guys, and even smart evil guys. Yet, audiences still want to see him as the same lovable dumb guy he played in "Welcome Back, Kotter," "Saturday Night Fever," "Look Who's Talking" and "Pulp Fiction."

Fortunately, here he's back to his strong suit, playing a decent man the audience wants to identify with. Plus, he lost 20 pounds for the role, so his old boyish charm has fewer layers of middle-agedness to fight its way out through.

Vaughn portrays a newcomer to the small seaside town. He always wears a white shirt and tie and is being honored for his philanthropy by the local Chamber of Commerce as its Man of the Year. So, unless you've lived in a cave outside Kandahar for the last 30 years, you'll instantly recognize that -- in Hollywood's alternate universe -- his extreme respectability marks him as some kind of secret felon sure to abuse his new stepson.

That's not a bad setup. The conflict between child and stepparent is one of the most emotionally potent and universal of all themes. For example, about 1,500 versions of "Cinderella" have been found around the world, making it the most global of fairy tales.

Prominent evolutionary psychologists Martin Daley and Margo Wilson found that a stepparent is 40 to 100 times more likely to kill a young child than a biological parent. Not sharing genes with the child, they explain, the stepparent lacks the natural inclination to love and nurture the kid. (Of course, this Darwinian reality means that we should give extra praise to the millions who do the right thing by their stepchildren. They are doing good more by choice than by instinct.)

The script by Lewis Colick (screenwriter of 1999's fine "October Sky") begins so competently that I was settling down in hopes of watching a domestic drama of the ilk of "Kramer vs. Kramer."

Then, who should show up at the swanky Polo-Vaughn wedding, but the groom's old "business partner," played by the ubiquitous Steve Buscemi.

In contrast to Travolta, Buscemi has few illusions about what kind of roles suit him. Here he is the same weasely little lowlife as in "Fargo" and most of his 74 other movies.

With Buscemi's arrival, the movie shifts from an interesting drama to an adequate but predictable and oddly abbreviated tale of suspense.

Buscemi pesters Vaughn for his share of the loot from some big job they pulled together. Vaughn stabs Buscemi, but his new stepson sees all. The usual ensues, but be forewarned that it ends as abruptly as "Jurassic Park III."

During the filming of "Domestic Disturbance" in Wilmington, N.C., Buscemi actually did get stabbed in the head, throat, and other vital body parts during a brawl outside the Firebelly Lounge. The police maced Vaughn and hauled him off to the hoosegow. The TV report I saw implied that it was Vaughn who had perforated Buscemi, presumably in an excess of method acting zeal.

The truth, though, was that poor Buscemi had been trying to pacify a local hothead with a knife who was indignant over liberties Vaughn had been taking with his girlfriend.

I'm pleased to report that Buscemi, a former New York City fireman (1980-1984), recovered so quickly he was able to show up at his former Engine Company 55 firehouse in downtown Manhattan the day after the World Trade Center atrocity. He then spent a week digging through the rubble looking for his old comrades.

"Domestic Disturbance" is rated PG-13 for some bad words and moderately violent fights.