Call it film blanc. Like last year's Bottle Rocket, The Big Squeeze imports a seemingly incompatible quality to the caper film: an odd sweetness. Lara Flynn Boyle (who, along with Helen Hunt, has invented a new facial expression, the sexy squint) plays a woman who teams up with a charming transient scam artist and a handsome young gardener to relieve her oafish husband of his money. Never quite sure who's double-crossing whom, they construct an elaborate scheme involving the husband's superstition, a needy cathedral and an allegedly miraculous tree. While The Big Squeeze has just enough good qualities to warrant recommendation, its strengths are notable. Unlike lesser films, its characters seldom seem like a sum total of their quirks, and its conclusion's lack of cynicism is refreshing. Unfortunately, it also has a casual looseness that, while charming at first, ultimately prevents it from making a strong impression. Nevertheless, The Big Squeeze is bright, entertaining and unselfconscious, even if it passes up the opportunity to be more than a trifle.