Castine

After California's hectic trendiness palls on them, writer Cassie Randall and her boyfriend, pop psychologist Greg Wier, search for a placid, stereotypically rustic New England town to settle in. They decide upon quaint Castine, Me., and are soon joined by two nonchalant friends from California. Castine's unsullied beauty heartens Cassie, yet the stability she craves is elusive. Matrimony intrigues her, but Greg's overbearing affability renders him unsuitable. Just when her dissatisfaction deepens, Reverend Stefan Kollar, the Czechoslovakian chaplain of the Maine Maritime Academy, claims Cassie's affections. Sensitive and unpretentious, Kollar feels an abiding reverence for his faith, his ethnic heritage and for Cassie, with whom he begins an exhilarating affair. Despite their compatibility, she balks when Kollar proposes, for she must weigh her love for him against the distasteful prospect of remaining in staid Castine. Chute ( Eva's Music portrays these disparate characters with laudable perceptiveness, and with touches of comedy. (February 6)