Recommendations all around. Only three new movies are reviewed here this week but every one of them’s a keeper. Thus, in a, perhaps, unprecedented move, we recommend our entire slate of new movies this week: Braveheart, Funny Bones, and A Little Princess.
New Review
BRAVEHEART
D: Mel Gibson; with Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Catherine McCormack, Angus McFadyen, Brenden Gleeson.In the late 13th century, after England, under Edward I, extended its rule over Scotland, William Wallace helped lead the charge for Scottish independence. There is a real history of Wallace, though not much is actually known and much of what is comes from the unreliable 300-page poem by Blind Harry, written a century and a half after Wallace’s adventures. Wallace was obsessed with liberty and freedom and, as was extremely rare then, incorruptible; he couldn’t be bought with land or money. There is a historical person. Then there is this splendid, rousing adventure by Mel Gibson, a deliberate heroic myth-making tale that combines history with fantasy. Gibson, who starred, produced and directed, audaciously presents this as a classic adventure, without apology, telling the tale of a Scotland suppressed by King Edward I (McGoohan), of William Wallace (Gibson), a commoner who wanted nothing to do with the cause, of his falling in love, of tragic turns that forced him to take up arms in a war for freedom and liberty. Although it presents complex political relationships, these are mostly entanglements designed to complicate and enhance the plot rather than pose real ideological or historical relationships. Gibson plays fast and free with history, but Braveheart is a film of romance, of legend, of possibility, and of freedom. Deftly, Gibson directs this epic along; with most of the story racing to reach the screen, the almost three-hour film rarely drags until just before the end, and even then, redeems itself. No revisionist history here, and few dark undercurrents, war is made to look brutal and fruitless, and at the same time heroic. Wallace begins by leading a small band of rebels and is soon at the head of a large army fighting several battles destined to become famous. This is a movie of warfare, of smoke, of blood, and of fire. Action directing is unusually difficult; it requires enormous imagination to be able to cinematically convey a battle – part of the genius of Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus is that the battle scenes are so coherent. We know where each side is, we know how and when they are crashing. Although Gibson occasionally overuses slow motion, the whole film is beautiful (shot by Legends of the Fall cinematographer John Toll), and the battle scenes are splendid. Lacking Kevin Costner-liberal-revisionist tendencies or Spartacus screenwriter Dalton Trumbo’s overt politics, outside of celebrating violence, freedom, liberty, and the rights of the people against the uncaring nobles – all as extremely broad and nonspecific concepts – Braveheart offers no real vision. But it is the most thrilling epic since Clint Eastwood’s The Ballad of Josey Wales; the scope is grand and the acting ideal for the film. If you can’t stand a certain amount of body-hacking and na�ve adventuring, then this is probably not for you, although Annie, planning to duck out in the middle and go book-shopping, found herself glued to her seat for the entire time. Epics frequently flail about, characters lost in dialogue rather than action, they climax too quickly, or offer great action scenes but no plot. Braveheart overcomes these problems; it is tightly scripted and beautifully directed. If The Wind and the Lion or Robin Hood (MGM’s not Costner’s) or Spartacus are your kind of films, Braveheart will delight. A month back, I had been pondering whether movies still held power for me. Then Annie and I saw the brilliant but harrowing Once Were Warriors. Afterwards, it was as a guest in our home and in our selves for days after, and Braveheart, not so ambitious or extraordinary, proved thrilling, a grand cinematic adventure – beautifully handled myth-making from Gibson, who, by the way, is just fine in the lead.
4.0 stars (L.B.)
Arbor, Lake Creek, Lakehills, Lincoln, Movies 12, Riverside, Roundrock
FUNNY BONES
D: Peter Chelsom; with Oliver Platt, Lee Evans, George Carl, Freddie Davies, Leslie Caron, Jerry Lewis, Richard Griffiths, Oliver Reed, Ruta Lee, Harold Nicholas.Funny Bones is a wonderfully eccentric movie, one whose narrative advancement occurs more through epiphanies than events. Unfolding in what seems, at first, quite a random fashion, the viewer must trust that the movie will, ultimately, come together and deliver a payoff. Funny Bones rewards that trust handsomely. In many ways, Funny Bones resembles Chelsom’s last film, Hear My Song. That highly acclaimed film also marked this British director’s debut as a feature filmmaker. Each film presents an odd mixture of comic and serious tones, as well as a strong sense of place. Most of the action in Funny Bones occurs in Blackpool, England, a seaside resort and entertainment mecca especially popular during the vaudeville years. But before getting to Blackpool, Funny Bones first visits the scene of a high seas smuggling caper gone awry and then switches, quite disconcertingly, to a Las Vegas dressing-room psychodrama. During the smuggling scene we are introduced to Jack Parker (Evans), who is last seen here diving into the sea below from the crow’s nest of a ship. In Las Vegas, Tommy Fawkes (Platt), the son of a Mr. Showbiz legend (Lewis), is about to take the stage. Always in the shadow of his world-famous father, Tommy is about to make his Vegas debut as a comedian. Bombing spectacularly, Tommy escapes (incognito in a yellow suit) to Blackpool, where he spent his early childhood during what he recalls as the happiest years of his life. Ostensibly in town to buy the funniest physical comedy material he can find, Tommy discovers some crucial keys to his past and future. In Jack, who is now perched atop Blackpool’s famed tower, Tommy finds his comedic other half. Tommy also learns some secrets about his father, as well as some knowledge about the sources of comedy and the art of clowning. The movie also functions at a level beyond the pure narrative; it provides a sort of ongoing meta-commentary on such thorny issues as mortality and the very nature of comedy. Somehow, this description makes Funny Bones sound much darker than it actually is. What it is, actually, is hilarious. A montage of auditioning Blackpool comedy acts is side-splittingly funny. Jack, who is described as a “laugh child,” is a natural-born clown whose problem is not knowing when to stop. His father and uncle, the Parker Brothers, are played by real-life variety artists Freddie Davies and George Carl. As for Jerry Lewis, the role of George Fawkes was written with him in mind and he inhabits the character as commandingly as he did that of Scorsese’s King of Comedy. Cast as Jack’s mother and a professional trouper, Leslie Caron is positively captivating. Moreover, she gets to sing and play a believable Cleopatra. Still, these are only a few of the film’s highlights; oddities are the stuff of this universe. The most significant contribution of Funny Bones may be the way it celebrates the act of dancing on the edge, the way a true artist needs to push the borders and venture into the dangerous beyond. Lovingly recapturing the visual texture of the past while embracing the artistic challenges of the future, Funny Bones is a rare contemporary delight.
4.0 stars (M.B.)
Village
A LITTLE PRINCESS
D: Alfonso Cuaron; with Eleanor Bron, Liam Cunningham, Liesel Matthews, Vanessa Lee Chester, Rusty Schwimmer, Errol Sitahal, Heather DeLoach.Sometimes, when I visit the places of my childhood, I am struck by how small everything is. It’s not just the physical diminution – the knee-level school drinking fountain or the barely-off-the-ground tree limb that seemed so daringly high – but the subdued spirit of the place that affects me. The treetops rustle rather than waltz with the wind, the brilliant colors of the birds and flowers seem muted, and the magic boulder where we tea-partied and cast spells and looked for signs of elves now has a decidedly unmagical, plain-gray rockness about it. I have become such a grownup. But last night, for two enchanting hours, my world became big and colorful and lavish and lyrical again. Director Alfonso Cuaron, in his first American movie, has fashioned a world so real and so engaging that you can feel it and smell it and taste it as surely as if you were there. Based on the Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden) novel, A Little Princess tells the tale of a young girl who moves to her mother’s native land from India, where she has been living with her widowed father. Captain Crewe is called to fight in World War I and determines that Miss Minchin’s School for Girls in America is a safer place than England for 10-year-old Sarah. At first, Sarah’s loneliness and aversion to her new prim and stuffy surroundings is buffered by Miss Minchin’s desire to please the affluent Captain Crewe and by her own affinity for the magic of make-believe. She shares the lore of her beloved India (as well as her Indian nanny’s assertion that all girls are princesses) with her fellow students and with the serving girl, Becky, who quickly become an avid audience for tales romantic. But when Captain Crewe is reported killed in action, Sarah becomes a penniless orphan and is exiled to the attic with Becky to earn her keep. Now it is Becky and the other girls who must keep the magic of hope alive for Sarah. And A Little Princess is radiant with magic. The love between Sarah (Liesel Matthews in her first, but definitely not last, screen performance) and her father (Liam Cunningham) is palpable and enduring – the two have a familial chemistry that fills the theatre. The scenes played out from Sarah’s Indian stories are dazzling. They have the super-dimensional clarity, brilliant color, and oddly voyeuristic feel of Viewmaster slides, while the school is all long polished hallways, subdued colors, and the exaggerated scale of a place that dwarfs children rather than exalts them. From the exquisite costumes to the remarkable set design to the superb performances, this fairy tale comes to life in a way that makes you despair at its ending. But though end it must, its spirit of imagination and its magic of abiding love lingers on.
4.0 stars (H.C.)
Arbor, Highland, Lake Creek, Lakehills, Movies 12, Northcross, Roundrock
First Run
BAR GIRLS
D: Marita Giovanni; with Nancy Allison Wolfe, Liza D’Agostino, Camila Griggs, Michael Harris, Justine Slater, Lisa Parker, Pam Raines, Paula Sorge, Cece Tsou, Chastity Bono.Director Marita Giovanni makes her feature film debut with Bar Girls. Lauran Hoffman adapted her original stage play for this film and served as co-producer. The story stems from the lives and loves of the patrons at a lesbian bar in Los Angeles called Girl Bar. This true-to-life story focuses on the mating rituals and daily routines of the women whose lives intersect nightly at the bar. It is filled with humor, revolving love affairs, work, jealousy, and camaraderie. Loretta (Wolfe) is Bar Girls’ central character. She co-writes a TV cartoon series titled Heavy Myrtle and pushes for lesbian story lines. (To emphasize her point, she takes a TV executive’s troll doll hostage.) One night at the bar, Loretta spies Rachel (D’Agostino) and is instantly smitten. Before long, the two move in together, and not long after that, the jealousy starts. A rookie cop named J.R. (Griggs) and a few ex-lovers also enter the picture. Then, Loretta’s best friend, a happy heterosexual, gets a “woman-centered” buzz and pairs up with the most unlikely candidate in the bar. The bar functions much like a stage to which the women continually return, regrouping in ever-changing constellations and match-ups. Jealous fights break out on a regular basis, but the regulars are all “family” and always welcome back. We see the bar go through changes in its quest for new clientele: hat night, wheat grass shots, etc. The plot is almost incidental; what is intriguing about Bar Girls is the stuff that happens in between events. The casual conversations, the structure of the relationships, the quips, the familiarity, and the jokes – these are what capture our attention, and not because of their insight or invention, but because they’re so natural and yet invisible in the movies. As a story, Bar Girls leaves too many narrative strands dangling and the performances often seem flat. Stylistically undistinguished, the film compensates by providing a real after-hours hangout.
2.5 stars (M.B.)
Dobie
CRIMSON TIDE
D: Tony Scott; with Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, George Dzundza, Viggo Mortensen, James Gandolfini, Matt Craven, Jason Robards.Submarines hold a near-mythic place in the pantheon of Great American Male Film Fantasies, and this juggernaut of a movie plays right into these childlike fantasies of the great submariner ships. As directed by Scott (True Romance, Top Gun), the subs in Crimson Tide – both the U.S.S. Alabama and the Russian Hunter-Killer class sub that is stalking her – are huge, shadowy behemoths gliding soundlessly through the icy brine and looking like nothing so much as a pair of chillingly phallic sea creatures engaged in some bizarre ritual display. Freud, doubtless, would have had plenty to say about this particular genre of American filmmaking. Grounded in the current Chechnyan political instability and the rise of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russia’s spokesman for the extreme right, Scott’s film posits a sudden takeover by rebel Russian soldiers of various strategic nuclear arsenals and the West’s alarm over such an occurrence. Sent in to “give the rebels pause” are Captain Ramsey (Hackman) and Executive Officer Hunter (Washington) of the U.S.S Alabama, ostensibly America’s first and last line of defense in such a crisis situation. Once on board the sub, the two men find themselves not only in close quarters but also in constant conflict, as the complex, Harvard- and Annapolis-educated Hunter and the crusty, combat-hungry Ramsey engage in their own verbal and psychological war while the real thing waits just around the corner. When the Alabama receives what is apparently a legitimate order to launch its nuclear payload at the Russians, mutiny appears to be a given, doubly complicating what is an already emotionally charged tour of duty for the men on board. Scott is a master of slick action films, and Crimson Tide is beautiful to look at: It is, of course, the first big summer movie of the season. Bathed in brilliant greens and blues, even the claustrophobic interior of the submarine is spectacular, and shots of the Alabama breaching before a dive are downright awe-inspiring. The central conflict between Hackman and Washington, though, quickly becomes bogged down in unintentional war movie clich�s as the two act and react to each other (especially in Hackman’s overwrought, bombastic performance) like a pair of noisy schoolchildren. Their conflict has all the subtlety of a torpedo. (But then, who looks to summer blockbusters for subtlety? Perhaps I’m asking for too much here.) Granted, both performances, as well as many by the supporting cast, are top-notch, but it is like watching a couple of pit bulls go at it. Crimson Tide succeeds nicely as a Sturm und Drang action film – the underwater battle scenes are genuine white-knucklers – but it’s no Run Silent, Run Deep. Go see it, get the adrenaline rush, and then go home and forget about it. It’s noisy and fun, but that’s all it is.
3.0 stars (M.S.)
Arbor, Highland, Lake Creek, Movies 12, Northcross, Riverside, Roundrock, Westgate
DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE
D: John McTiernan; with Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irons, Graham Greene, Colleen Camp.Continuing the unlikely adventures of beleaguered NYPD cop John McClane (Willis), this third installment unfortunately forsakes much of the occasionally clever, somewhat wry dialogue and situations of its predecessors in favor of a more generic action-adventure approach that piles on stunt after stunt, explosion atop explosion, and leaves you with nothing so much as a headache and the notion that the Die Hard franchise is indeed dead. Returning to his old stomping grounds in the Big Apple, a now-suspended, separated, and nearly alcoholic McClane is called back into active duty by his superiors when a mysterious mad bomber, who goes by the name of Simon (Irons), begins targeting a decidedly hungover McClane with threats of vaporization and lesser forms of torment. Simon’s first move leaves the blurry-eyed, recently awakened cop wandering around central Harlem wearing a sandwich board emblazoned with a racist slogan guaranteed to render him deceased within in a matter of minutes. To his aid comes shop owner and reluctant sidekick-to-be Zeus Carver (Jackson), who saves McClane’s life not because he’s a good Samaritan, but because “one dead white cop in Harlem suddenly means hundreds more with itchy trigger fingers.” While the two run around the city on various wild-goose chases designed to get them killed, the FBI and Company gamely try to figure out who’s behind all this McClane-directed violence that’s making New York even more hazardous than usual (which should be fairly obvious from the film’s title). McTiernan is an old hand at actioners and, like the pro he is, keeps the film rushing along from fiery stunt to stunt. But after an hour or so you find yourself wishing for fewer big bangs and more pithy extemporizing from Willis, one of the few humanistic – albeit contrived – aspects from the series’ previous outings. Thankfully, Irons (looking decidedly buff these days and not at all like Claus von Bulow) keeps the film from sinking too far into dismal self-mockery with a bravura, nicely twisted performance as the grandstanding, megalomaniacal Simon. Being the riotously loud, bombastic summer movie that it is, you don’t go to see a Die Hard film expecting subtly nuanced characterizations and crisp, airtight story lines – you go to see poor John McClane get the stuffing knocked out of him half-a-dozen times before emerging victorious once again. Which is just what you get this time out. Big surprise, that.
2.0 stars (M.S.)
Arbor, Lake Creek, Lincoln, Movies 12, Northcross, Riverside, Roundrock, Westgate
THE ENGLISHMAN WHO WENT UP A HILL BUT CAME DOWN A MOUNTAIN
D: Christopher Monger; with Hugh Grant, Colm Meany, Tara Fitzgerald, Ian McNeice, Kenneth Griffith.When I was in school, I never minded contracting minor childhood illnesses, for it meant I would end up snuggled into blankets and pillows on the couch, fortified with Saltines and ginger ale, eagerly awaiting the TV “movie matinee.” My favorites were the British movies of the Thirties and Forties, both the silly portraits of bucolic manor life and the darkly humorous class satires. It seemed to me, even then, that these were a people who had a genius – in a low-key way – for making much ado about nothing. Though the Welsh would bristle at being cast into the same lot as the English, they share this genius. Perhaps it is because in such a tiny country, with such tiny villages where so many share the same surname and where nearly everyone knows everything about one another, local events are reduced to a nearly microscopic level. That is to say, they are magnified to about 2,000 times their normal importance. Every incident, no matter how mundane, merits extraordinary attention. That trait, combined with a fierce patriotism for a country which has struggled to maintain its own cultural identity, requires that the inhabitants of the village Ffynnon Garw make a mountain out of a hill. Which, of course, is the subject of The Englishman Who Went up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain, a gentle comedy based on a true story passed down to the film’s director and writer by his grandfather. Rich in lush Welsh landscape and eccentric characters, Monger’s Englishman provides a look, both sweet and sly, at a place most people only know of through Dylan Thomas or Richard Burton. Hugh Grant shines as the reluctant hero and fits perfectly into the World War I era, and though I suppose that someday I might tire of his fumbling charm, that day has not yet come. His shy, innocent Anson is a perfect foil for the conniving patriots, and the movie achieves it best moments when the two seemingly contradictory forces collide. The picture’s deadpan humor and quiet romance is marred by a too-loud, overly dramatic score and some serious pacing problems, but nearly redeems itself with a hilarious ending. Contrary to its ad campaign, this is no Four Weddings and a Funeral and will, no doubt, suffer from the comparison. But if you occasionally crave the cool taste of a pint of bitter and think fondly of those old-fashioned British movies, you might be content spending an evening in Ffynnon Garw.
2.0 stars (H.C.)
Arbor, Highland, Village
FORGET PARIS
D: Billy Crystal; with Crystal, Debra Winger, Joe Mantegna, Cynthia Stevenson, Richard Masur, Julie Kavner, William Hickey, Robert Constanzo, John Spencer, Cathy Moriarty.Wave au revoir and then do like the movie says: Forget Paris. (On general principles, I hate titles that can obviously double as ready-made, critical, straight lines. But I’d hate myself even more if I stoically tried to rise above the opportunity.) Forget Paris is not a total bust: It does have some very funny scenes and moments (most notably, the sequence during which a pigeon, ludicrously, sticks to Debra Winger’s face). And Billy Crystal can be a genuinely funny guy. But why does he insist on having all the marbles? Not simply a star, Crystal is now his own producer and writer, as well as his own leading man. This overreach led to Crystal’s last misfire, the maudlin and mean-spirited Mr. Saturday Night. Clearly, Forget Paris is trying to regain some of the Crystal luster associated with films like When Harry Met Sally… and City Slickers. Through the years, he has carved himself something of a film niche as a spokesman for grown-up baby boomers. In fact, Crystal’s entire career may be viewed as an example of the Peter Principle in action. After starting out as one of TV’s first ongoing gay male characters in Soap, Crystal went on to do a mish-mash of lame comedy routines on Saturday Night Live and elsewhere. His best work in film has always been when he takes direction from others, in projects like Throw Momma From the Train and When Harry Met Sally…. And why couldn’t he be happy with that Academy Awards gig? (He hosted the Oscars four times, and the Grammys three.) What’s wrong with being a great host? Crystal’s self-inflation factor is exactly what is wrong with Forget Paris: too much Crystal and not enough substance. The movie recounts the bumpy path of romance traveled by Mickey (Crystal) and Ellen (Winger). Their history is related in continuing segments by a slow-gathering ensemble of old friends of the couple. The better we get to know Mickey and Ellen, the less appealing the two steadily become. Following a whirlwind romance in which they play at being Americans in Paris, their marriage raises insoluble problems of incompatible temperaments and careers. Neither is there any “chemistry” or believable passion in the pairing of Crystal and Winger. This is only made more painful by the awareness that all the other assembled couples are infinitely more interesting than Mickey and Ellen. Pairing Richard Masur and Julie Kavner as a well-seasoned married couple is casting brilliance. Giving them very little to do is a crime. Ditto for John Spencer and Cathy Moriarty, who were given even less to work with. Only William Hickey emerges unscathed in his on-target portrayal of a just-this-side-of-senile father-in-law. Ever wonder what happens after the ellipses in When Harry Met Sally…? Forget Paris provides the answer in the form of When Mickey Met Ellen….
1.5 stars (M.B.)
Arbor, Highland, Lake Creek, Movies 12, Riverside, Roundrock, Westgate
GORDY
D: Mark Lewis; with Doug Stone, Kristy Young, Michael Roescher, Deborah Hobart, Ted Manson, James Donadio, Tom Lester.Over the last year I’ve fallen into reviewing more children’s films than any other kind, because my most common filmgoing companion is now a four-and-a-half-year-old. I may not see a Disclosure or While You Were Sleeping, but I’m sure to see a Thumbelina, The Goofy Movie, The Penguin and the Pebble, and, of course, Gordy, this fast-paced comedy about a young talking pig who is separated from his family and becomes a hero and a star as he searches for them around the country. There was a time I hardly would have known of a film such as this, much less treated it as the event of the day. Halfway through this movie, I realized that my companion, for the first time in a handful of movies, wasn’t moving but was raptly watching the story unfold. When the farm where he was raised is put up for sale, Gordy (unlike his father, mother, and five brothers and sisters) escapes being sold, trucked off to be fattened up, and, eventually, slaughtered. Determinedly, he sets out to find them. Venturing cross country, he is picked up by the singing young daughter (Young) of a traveling country & western singer (played by real country star Stone). Gordy is then passed along to the young son (Roescher) of an aging, billionaire industrialist (Manson) after the pig saves the boy from drowning in a swimming pool, thus becoming pig hero to the nation and the trademark that revitalizes the father’s company. There is, of course, an evil prince of industry (Donado) plotting against the pig, a bunch of wonderful bungling henchmen, and even sweet, old, country & western romance. A lot happens, it moves quickly, and the film is filled with minor characters who nicely round things out; the young one watched the film from beginning to end, loving it. This is not a date movie.
2.5 stars (L.B.)
Great Hills, Movies 12
Still Playing
DON JUAN DEMARCO
D: Jeremy Leven; with Marlon Brando, Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway, Rachel Ticotin, Bob Dishy, Talisa Soto.In real life, true love may elude the best of us, but in the enchanting Don Juan DeMarco, affairs of the heart are realized by virtue of one’s simple belief in their existence. Director/screenwriter Leven’s script is awkwardly constructed, but it shines when demonstrating how its title character’s fantasy affects the lives of those around him. As the rejuvenated doctor inspired by his patient to rekindle a marriage of 32 years and to seize the day in his later years, Brando is a marvel. At first, his bulky frame and sagging jowls belie any traditional notion of romance, but as he becomes entranced by his patient’s conviction in the power of love, Brando radiates with the joy of life’s pleasures. Don Juan DeMarco is refreshing in its depiction of love after 50 – neither Brando nor Dunaway (who’s wonderfully unaffected here) are spring chickens, but the depth of their commitment and their understanding of each other speak volumes, so much so that it may evoke jealousy in jaded twentysomethings. As the catalyst for all of this romance, Depp is like this corny but lovely movie; he’s oh-so-difficult to resist.
3.0 stars (S.D.)
Great Hills
FRENCH KISS
D: Lawrence Kasdan; with Meg Ryan, Kevin Kline, Timothy Hutton, Jean Reno, Francois Cluzet, Susan Anbeh.French Kiss is a cotton candy movie – a sweeter-than-sugar, lighter-than-air concoction that makes you forget your woes and leave the theatre humming or holding hands. I’m usually a sucker for the pink, sweet stuff. Take Green Card, for a not-so-coincidental example. Same story, really, and though it’s predictably preposterous and shamelessly sentimental, it works. Maybe it’s just Depardieu magic, maybe it’s the over-the-top intonation of a real French actor that Kevin Kline was (perhaps wisely) afraid to tackle. Or maybe I just long for the style and wit of early Kasdan movies (Body Heat, The Big Chill) and can’t help feeling disappointed by his subsequent efforts. Whatever the reason, French Kiss loses something in the translation. Ryan does her cute and goofy thing, yet shines in the picture’s physical comedy. Kline can’t quite capture that peculiarly French appeal that separates shaggy from scuzzy, but Hutton is memorable if only for the garish shirts he sports throughout the movie. But if I’m going to indulge in the sweet stuff, it needs to be fresher than this.
1.5 stars (H.C.)
Arbor, Lake Creek, Lakehills, Movies 12, Roundrock, Village
FRIDAY
D: F. Gary Gray; with Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long, Anna Maria Horsford, Regina King, Bernie Mac, John Witherspoon.Friday is a refreshingly lighthearted look at day-to-day life in the inner city. It suffers from a few problems in the scripting and directing departments, but entertains nonetheless, thanks mainly to the easygoing style of its talented cast. Rich in low-brow laughs, Friday’s most obvious strength is its energetic cast, led by rap superstar Ice Cube and stand-up comedian Chris Tucker. There are a number of memorable supporting performances, with one in particular – John Witherspoon as Craig’s dog-catching father – stealing the show. The downside? Well, F. Gary Gray’s direction is painfully flat, and curiously – especially for a popular music video director like Gray – lacking any interesting visual style. Another drawback is the scattershot script by Ice Cube and fellow rap star D.J. Pooh, which runs out of ideas about halfway through and sets up a bizarre finale. Despite its faults, Friday is lively entertainment, full of personable actors and cheerfully served up with nary a trace of cynicism.
2.5 stars (J.O)
Great Hills, Lincoln, Riverside
A GOOFY MOVIE
D: Kevin Lima; with the voices of Bill Farmer, Jason Marsden, Jim Cummings, Kellie Martin, Rob Paulsen, Wallace Shawn, Jo Anne Worley, Pat Buttram.Even as a child, I hated Goofy, the character. This film, which actually should be titled Son of Goofy, turns out to be a new Goofy. As director Lima says, “Instead of just keeping Goofy one-dimensional as he’s been in the past, we wanted to give an emotional side that would add to the emotional arc of the story. We wanted the audience to see his feelings instead of just his antics.” He’s talking about Goofy, Mickey Mouse’s pal. The movie appears to have forgotten that; instead, it is an adolescent angst drama about his son Max’s ambivalent feelings about having Goofy as a dad and the son’s first experience with love. There are a few comic moments but I’m hard-pressed to think of them. The movie has no audience that I can think of; boys old enough to be interested in the romance don’t go to Goofy cartoons and children young enough to enjoy Goofy will find this too character-driven, plotted, and slow-paced.
1.0 stars (L.B.)
Movies 12
MY FAMILY, MI FAMILIA
D: Gregory Nava; with Jimmy Smits, Esai Morales, Eduardo Lopez Rojas, Jenny Gago, Elpidia Carrillo, Constance Marie, Edward James Olmos.Gregory Nava’s (El Norte) most recent film spans 50 years in the life of the Sanchez family, a Mexican-American clan whose roots in the United States date back to the 1920s in Los Angeles. As written by Nava and Anna Thomas, the film’s epic proportions occasionally diminish into blips in the family’s history as the action takes place in various decades. These 20-year shifts are problematic in terms of developing any real connections with characters. Scenes that attempt to depict the problematic integration of American culture with the Sanchez’s Mexican heritage groan under the burden of representing years of stereotypes. My Family, Mi Familia’s cast represents some powerhouse acting talents, yet the film loses steam because of weak dialogue and underdeveloped characters. My Family, Mi Familia seems to speed through the important developments in this family’s history. While the current state of Hollywood cinema calls out for a strong epic film about Mexican-American life (or any non-Caucasian life, for that matter), Nava’s film does not fill that void.
2.5 stars (A.M.)
Highland, Lakehills, Riverside
PANTHER
D: Mario Van Peebles; with Kadeem Hardison, Bokeem Woodbine, Joe Don Baker, Marcus Chong, Tyrin Turner, Dick Gregory, M. Emmett Walsh, James LeGros.After years of floating around Hollywood, the story of the Black Panther Party has finally made it to the screen, and though some critics point out the film’s occasional historical inaccuracies, the Van Peebles’ (son Mario directed and father Melvin scripted; both co-produced) depiction of the nascent African-American political party-cum-self-empowerment movement is a stirring – if readily dramatized – history lesson for the Nineties. Ostensibly the tale of Panther founders Huey Newton and Bobby Seale and their revolutionary call-to-arms, Panther uses Kadeem Hardison’s fictional character, Judge, as the eyes through which the party is seen. The performances here are almost all first rate, with Chong’s Newton capturing much of the charismatic personality of the party leader and comedian/activist Dick Gregory doing a wonderful turn as local Reverend Slocum. Peebles uses old black-and-white news footage of the party to add an almost documentary feel to parts of the film, but the story frequently has a noticeable (and cloying) “Hollywood” feel to it; there’s gloss on the ghetto and Hoover at times seems more menacing than Darth Vader. Despite these filmic flaws, Panther manages to kick start the mythic elements of the very real Black Panther Party. It’s about time.
3.0 stars (M.S.)
Highland
PRIEST
D: Antonia Bird; with Linus Roache, Tom Wilkinson, Cathy Tyson, Robert Carlyle, James Ellis, Lesley Sharp, Robert Pugh.Priest is an audacious, compelling film that examines the lives of two diametrically opposed yet fundamentally similar Catholic priests in modern Liverpool. Young Father Greg (Roache) is a bit of a holy roller; his sermons ring with fire and brimstone and true religious fervor that loudly clash with the sermons of his fellow priest Father Matthew (Wilkinson). When Father Greg finds himself trapped by the very doctrines he’s been sworn to uphold, he turns his frustration in on himself and seeks solace in the arms of a lover. A male lover… which, of course, leads to further quandaries. Just when you think Priest is getting too, ah, preachy, director Bird injects a solid comic note into the proceedings to let a bit of the hot air out. Priest is less an object lesson about the Church itself than it is a tale about the fight for acceptance, and ultimately, redemption. With a gut-wrenching climax and enough emotional baggage on board to weigh down even the Vatican’s corps of Swiss Guards, Priest is a powerful, touching, and thoroughly riveting portrayal of a crisis in the clergy that rings wonderfully true every step of the way.
4.0 stars (M.S.)
Village
ROB ROY
D: Michael Caton-Jones; with Liam Neeson, Jessica Lange, John Hurt, Tim Roth, Eric Stoltz, Brian Cox, Andrew Keir.With long hair blowing in the chill Highland wind, a swath of MacGregor tartan flung over his shoulder, and sword clattering above his bruised and mud-streaked knees, Liam Neeson fills the kilt of the giant MacGregor (not to mention the big screen) with born-to-it aplomb. Countering Neeson’s quietly formidable Rob is the evil dandy, Cunningham (brilliantly portrayed by Tim Roth), whose effeminate posturing cloaks a deadly efficacy with blades. Unfortunately, not even the trenchant battle between these exceptional players can compete with the conflict inherent in the film itself. Part historical narrative, part epic romance, and part swashbuckling adventure, Rob Roy is overly cultivated, resulting in a stiff, unnatural hybrid that’s quite lovely to look at, but lacking spontaneity. If you’re going to tinker with the conventions of a genre (or two, or three), you’d better do it with verve and wit – two elements missing from Rob Roy. With the tantalizing lure of a sensational cast, a spectacular setting, and 300 years of mythic history, this picture just never delivers the style and action our senses crave.
2.0 stars (H.C.)
Great Hills, Highland
SHALLOW GRAVE
D: Danny Boyle; with Kerry Fox, Christopher Eccleston, Ewan McGregor, Keith Allen, Ken Stott, Colin McRedie.From its opening titles – set against the propulsive rhythms of a techno theme by Leftfield – you know you’re in for something different, something wild. First-time director Boyle scores impressively with this Scottish tale of greed, murder, and the quest for a perfect flatmate that echoes everything from Alan Parker’s The Commitments to The Treasure of Sierra Madre, and never feels anything but wholly original. Boyle keeps the proceedings quick and humorous, despite the gravity of the story. It’s as much a comedy about the modern foibles of roommates as it is a psychological suspense drama, and his camerawork is top-shelf, heightening both the panicky tension that rises as the film moves forward and the desperate comic air the film maintains throughout. For their parts, all three leads are mini-masterpieces of audacious, thoroughly believable acting. Shallow Grave is a bracing, beautifully filmed black comedy-cum-horror show that grabs hold of you in the first few minutes and then refuses to let you go until the bitter, shocking end. Brilliant.
4.0 stars (M.S.)
Dobie
THE UNDERNEATH
D: Steven Soderbergh; with Peter Gallagher, Alison Elliott, William Fichtner, Adam Trese, Joe Don Baker, Paul Dooley, Elizabeth Shue, Shelley Duvall.The Underneath is a diverting piece of moviemaking, thanks primarily to fine direction by Soderbergh, who adeptly manages the narrative’s temporal changes – here, flashbacks critically inform the present – without losing his audience. Essentially an anatomy of a botched armored-car heist, The Underneath is the story of a man (Gallagher, in a solid performance) whose past and present collide, with dire consequences. The film’s pivotal scene is breathtaking, a brilliantly conceived triptych in which the criminal act is set in motion to avert the rage of a jealous husband. Soderbergh uses unworldly primary hues to color his film noir, rather than the traditional contrasts in shadows and light. He also relies heavily upon unsettling close-ups, creating an intimacy with characters that doesn’t always feel quite right. Moreover, the film’s last-minute twist ending unnecessarily undermines the conventions in which it is rooted. Although it’s not perfect, or even near-perfect for that matter, The Underneath nevertheless demonstrates that Soderbergh is, without question, one of today’s better filmmakers.
3.0 stars (S.D.)
Village
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
D: Jon Turtletaub; with Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher, Peter Boyle, Jack Warden, Glynis Johns, Micole Mercurio.From the man who brought us the bizarre Disney hit Cool Runnings and – ouch! – 3 Ninjas, comes this love story: lite, a frothy bit of fluff that goes down as easily as cotton candy and almost as nutritiously. It’s charming, in its own little way, but really, this film has as much substance as a Cirrus cloud, despite fine turns from Boyle as the family patriarch and Warden as Godfather Saul. Bullock, as always, is so goonily charming, it’s all you can do not to leap up and try to hug her. In essence, While You Were Sleeping is a swell date movie: romantic, sweet without being cloying, and light on its feet. But that’s all it is.
2.5 stars (M.S.)
Arbor, Highland, Movies 12, Westgate
Previews
CASPER
D: Brad Silberling; with Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman, Cathy Moriarty, Eric Idle, and Malachi Pearson as the voice of Casper.The supernaturally chipper dead kid from Harvey Comics gets his own funny-book flick and, it seems, a shot at romance. When young Kat Harvey (Ricci, Wednesday in the Addams Family films) and her ghost therapist dad (Pullman) move into haunted Whipstaff Manor, the friendly spook is smitten.”Casper is really a relationship story,” swears TV director Silberling. No, it’s not. It’s a Spielberg special effects monster hoping to out-dazzle Jurassic Park. (Over 350 fx shots!) Think Young Beetlejuice, not Lifeless in Seattle.
stars (R.F.)
Great Hills, Lake Creek, Lincoln, Movies 12, Northcross, Riverside, Roundrock, Westgate
JOHNNY MNEMONIC
D: Robert Longo; with Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Takeshi, Ice-T, Dina Meyer, Udo Kier, Henry Rollins, Barbara Sukowa.Cyberpunk singes the screen in this tale of a 21st-century information courier carrying data literally inside his head – in a chip implant – that could cost him his life. If the psycho killers don’t off him, brain crash will. With genre godfather William Gibson adapting his own story, provocative visual artist/video director Longo behind the camera, and a wild cast ranging from rapper Ice-T and spoken wordsmith Rollins to Fassbinder rep players Kier and Sukowa, this one has enough edgy authority to make it the most thrilling sf film in a decade.
stars (R.F.)
Great Hills, Lake Creek, Lincoln, Movies 12, Northcross, Riverside, Roundrock, Westgate
MAD LOVE
D: Antonia Bird; with Chris O’Donnell, Drew Barrymore, Joan Allen, Kevin Dunn.Opposites attract; that’s how this mismatched pair played by Chris O’Donnell and Drew Barrymore become lovers. He’s on his way to college when he gets swept away by the reckless and passionate young Barrymore. “Mad love” is what they experience before reality sinks in. Mad love is also something British director Antonia Bird should know a thing or two about, since her last film project was the controversial Priest.
stars (M.B.)
Great Hills, Highland, Lake Creek, Lakehills, Movies 12, Northcross, Roundrock
TALES FROM THE HOOD
D: Rusty Cundieff; with Corbin Bernsen, Rosalind Cash, David Alan Grier, Anthony Griffith, Wings Hauser, Joe Torry, Clarence Williams III.It’s the Mod Squad ‘s Linc as the Crypt Keeper in this streetwise horror comedy from the men behind the rap spoof Fear of a Black Hat. Writer/director Cundieff and writer/producer Darin Scott put their satiric spin on the old EC Comics-type gore stories with four tales of grim, sometimes supernatural, urban revenge spun by an eerie funeral homeboy (Williams) to three street hustlers trying to recover a drug stash among his clientele.
stars (R.F.)
Great Hills, Highland, Riverside, Westgate
This article appears in May 26 • 1995 and May 26 • 1995 (Cover).