CLOCKERS and Other Films
Film reviews by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1995 Michael John Legeros
Contents ======== - CLOCKERS - JEFFREY - THE TIE THAT BINDS
CLOCKERS ========
Spike Lee adapts Richard Price to mixed effect. The director's over-the-top approach reminded me of Oliver Stone's NATURAL BORN KILLERS, which may or may not suit the genre of urban "gansta" drama. Over-scored and under-lit, CLOCKERS is a surreal murder-mystery-as- morality-play that takes about thirty minutes to settle into. (Hip hop over street slang doesn't help the acclimation process.) The saving grace is the story. Price's portrait of a small-time crack dealer (Meki Phifer) is *far* more potent than anything Lee can do with a camera.
Oscar watch: Keep an eye on Delroy Lindo. His performance as a
neighborhood kingpin could be a contender.
Grade: B-
JEFFREY =======
The fourth wall is almost nonexistent in this silly adaptation of Paul Rudnick's off-Broadway smash. A young gay man's celibate reaction to the AIDS era is played as scattershot sketch comedy, where the walls are torn down so quickly that the film never has a chance to recover. This may have worked wonders on stage, but, here, you can't take a minute of it seriously. And that's a problem when the melodrama steps in. The cast is very appealing, though. Standout Patrick Stewart swishes with style as Jeffrey's best friend, Sterling. Cameos abound, including Nathan Lane as a horny priest. No worries, *indeed*.
Grade: C-
THE TIE THAT BINDS ==================
The nicest thing you can say about THE TIES THAT BIND-- screenwriter Wesley Strick's unfortunate directoral debut-- is that all of the scenes appear to be in the correct order. If you saw *any* film this summer, then you've seen the trailer, which gives away the entire movie: a cute little girl is adopted by two yuppies (Moria Kelly and Vincent Spano), who find themselves in peril with the return of the girl's psychotic, white-trash parents (Keith Carradine and Daryl Hannah, slumming). Zero wit, style, tension, characterization, etc. *must* be somebody's idea of a cruel joke.
[ Insert drum roll... ] Makes CONGO look like CITIZEN KANE.
Grade: F
-- Michael J. Legeros SAS Institute Inc. legeros@unx.sas.com 919-677-8000 x6735
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