From Hollywood to Broadway, a star that doesn't shine

Discovering that someone known for film and TV roles can deliver the goods on stage is always an exciting moment for an audience, and that's what is under way in the Broadway revival of Richard Greenberg's "Three Days of Rain." Despite media attention, we're not talking about Julia Roberts. Bradley Cooper, who shares the stage with Roberts and Paul Rudd, emerges from two-dimensional roles on screen to create the energetic, tortured third-wheel in this slight play. Cooper ("Alias," "Wedding Crashers") portrays the catalyst who brings together siblings Roberts and Rudd to learn of the disposition of an iconic architectural creation that launched the careers of their fathers, now both deceased. Act 2 depicts all their parents 35 years earlier.

In a story that purports to be about "big ideas," this play presents precious few, with the exception of a handful of big acting moments. Rudd, the always-exceptional actor who has been seen on stage in works from O'Neill to Neil LaBute, is spot-on with both roles. Roberts, bordering on listless, is like a high-school student whom everyone remembers for the wrong reason - not the valedictorian, but the recipient of the perfect attendance award - unexceptional, but there.