Glenn Savan's depressing and self-loathing novel about a 27-year-old upper-class Jewish widower mired in self-pity after his beloved wife dies; and who finds love and sexual rebirth with a trailer-trash older woman; was brought to the big screen by the competent director Luis Mandoki (When a Man Loves a Woman; Message in a Bottle). But the savage irony in Savan's book has been face-lifted by screenwriters Ted Tally (The Silence of the Lambs) and Alvin Sargent (Ordinary People) into something else entirely: what passes for low-rent "slumming" in Hollywood means hiring sexy Susan Sarandon to play Nora Baker; the poor; uneducated 43-year-old waitress in a White Palace burger joint who strikes up an unlikely relationship with sad Max Baron (James Spader). Widower Max attends a bachelor party for best pal Neil (Jason Alexander) and discovers that the local White Palace has stiffed the boys a whopping six burgers. Max barges into the joint; bent on getting his money back; and meets a testy Nora; who is bemused at the young man's insolence. While driving home; Max stops abruptly at a bar for a drink. Inside; Nora is nursing a vodka and takes a shine to the tuxedo-clad; handsome; and morose younger man. He gives her a lift; she seduces him; and the rest of the movie examines how two such opposites in manners and morals can find happiness. The only common bond they have is great sex and a private tragedy. White Palace nudges at the dark journey and the smashing of illusion that was at the heart of the novel; but there is still a fairy-tale element to the film that negates the earthy essence that distinguished the book. In Mandoki's vision; White Palace is about overcoming class; family; and outside opinion to find true love. In Savan's book; Max wastes into decline while Nora ultimately thrives in the quest for truth; redemption; and self-forgiveness. She becomes his salvation only after he stops hating himself. But mainstream Hollywood shuns making "protagonists" so mad; bad; or sad; and as such; too much glitter is tossed on Spader; while Sarandon; as usual; is the only one who seems to embody and understand her character's angst. She deserved her Oscar for Nora; not the nun in Dead Man Walking. --Paula Nechak