December Capsules
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1995 Michael John Legeros
Contents ========
- CARRINGTON - THE CROSSING GUARD - FATHER OF THE BRIDE PART II - JUMANJI - MONEY TRAIN - NICK OF TIME - SABRINA - WHITE MAN'S BURDEN - WILD BILL
CARRINGTON ==========
Another cryptic period piece, a la PERSUASION. Well-acted by Emma Thompson and Cannes Best Actor winner Jonathan Pryce, CARRINGTON is the story of the unrequited love between British painter Dora Carrington (Thompson) and eccentric writer Lytton Strachey (Pryce). They shared a passion for years, though he was an avowed homosexual who found the female form rather offensive. (Their repression knowing no limits, each maintained separate sexual relationships while always staying very close to each other.) The fine cast, notably Pryce, and an ever-interesting story makes CARRINGTON quite watchable, despite a confusing script that too often misses the nuts-and-bolts of basic character introductions. We get the juicy bits, but not always what comes before. (Anyone up for a tally of how many times Emma takes another hop in the sack? I wonder what Kenneth thought...)
Grade: C+
THE CROSSING GUARD ==================
Here's the hat trick of the season: Sean Penn writes, directs, *and* casts former flames Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston as former spouses, each dealing with the death of their daughter (to a drunken driver) some five years after the fact. He wants to kill the guy that killed her; she wants a more peaceful resolution. Though never completely coherent as a drama, THE CROSSING GUARD is still a reasonably compelling film. The basic conflict carries the story through the frequent slow spots. More interesting are the flashes of philosophy, when Penn pauses to ponder the nature of guilt. Unfortunately, such insight is intermittent and entirely absent by the end. Still, there's that cast. Huston only has a handful of scenes; the best work is from Richard Jordan-look-alike David Morse, as the driver, and Jack, boozed-up and bloated, wasting his nights in a strip club, and, in one unexpected scene, taking the stage with one of the girls.
Grade: C+
FATHER OF THE BRIDE PART II ===========================
Writing/directing/producing team Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers (NOTHING BUT TROUBLE) return with this wholly unnecessary remake- of-a-sequel that's also a sequel-to-a-remake. They up the ante of FATHER'S LITTLE DIVIDEND (1951) by making the father of the bride both a daddy and a grandpa. Mom (Diane Keaton) and Daughter (Kimberly Williams) pregnant together, and Dad (Steve Martin) doing double-takes throughout. In real-life, such an event would take on a demented, tabloid edge; in Disney's white-picket world, baby baby translates into a mild form of wackiness that culminates with Martin Short sitting behind the wheel of an Explorer (what else?) and Dad almost landing on the wrong end of a prostrate exam. Are we laughing yet?
Actually, we *would* be laughing, had these bits not already been shown in the trailers. Who's idea was it to give away all the gags? At least there's Steve Martin, who has more physical grace than most contemporary screen comedians. Even in a subdued role in a subdued movie, he glides through each scene with distinctive flair. Too bad the same can't be said for Martin Short and B.D. Wong. As the returning Decorators from Hell, they grate more than they give. And, yes, that's "SCTV" veteran Eugene Levy as the Middle-Eastern home buyer. Though the marketing staff should be shot--or given trophies; I can't decide which--FATHER OF THE BRIDE PART II is innocuous enough. Relentlessly cheery *and* extolling more family values than we've seen in several months, there's certainly an audience for this golden-lit world of healthy babies, selfless spouses, and happily-ever-after's.
Grade: B-
JUMANJI =======
This cute children's adventure--think THE WIZARD OF OZ meets BIG--is the perfect (and, perhaps, unintentional) companion-piece to TOY STORY. Director Joe Johnson (HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS, THE ROCKETEER) and Company have created a jungle of computer-generated animals that live, breathe, and stampede across the screen. Sure, they look as fake as they do in the ads, but the prospect of what they represent is thrilling. The plot--a mysterious board game causes demented jungle flora and fauna to appear--is fun enough, but the mind can only wander and wonder about how this technology will affect future features. Such as the sequel to JURASSIC PARK, due in `97. For now, (older) kids will eat this stuff up. Robin Williams is surprisingly toned-down as the man-child who emerges from the game. Bonnie Hunt is appealing as his neurotic playmate who has to resume a game started 26 years earlier. The story could be a couple shades darker, though. With better animation and a sharper edge, JUMANJI would qualify as an instant classic.
Grade: B
MONEY TRAIN ===========
Two hours and two minutes of Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes knocking around as foster-brother transit cops, jerking the chain of their totalitarian supervisor (Robert Blake, playing *way* over the top), and creating every manner of subway-related mayhem. The tone is abominable and almost wincing in spots. The plot--involving the robbery of the car that collects the fares--is equally absurd. (Any kid with a train set could handle The Heist better than the authorities in the movie do.) Woody and Wesley have great chemistry, though, and that's probably enough for most audiences. Sheer idiocy. It'll make millions.
Grade: D+
NICK OF TIME ============
Great gimmick; godawful movie. Joe Everyman (Johnny Depp) has ninety minutes to kill the person in the photo, says bad guy Christopher Walken, or his little girl dies. Here's the gun, here's the hotel, and here's her itinerary. Fail to complete the mission, and your daughter dies. No problem--we saw this much in the trailer and it looked good then. Director John Badham (POINT OF NO RETURN, STAKEOUT) has also shot the story in "real time," so one minute here equals one minute there. Cool. The problem comes with, well, all the rest of it. Instead of leaving Depp alone and to his own devices, the script has Walken's character hounding his every turn. Which is insane. Any chance of innovation is negated through this, and other boneheaded plot points. We threw up our hands and left after 35 minutes of "real time."
Grade: D- (extrapolated)
SABRINA =======
Surprisingly stiff for a romantic-comedy remake, SABRINA still has its charms. The old-fashioned plot--involving a pair of wealthy brothers (Harrison Ford and Greg Kinnear) and their chauffeur's attractive daughter (Julia Ormand)--takes a while to settle into. We're asked to feel sympathetic toward a trio of characters who, in the nineties, come across as either shallow or stupid. Or both. Each projects an innocence, though, that helps to eclipse their flagrant flaws. And, after about ninety-minutes of story, they cease to seem like candidates-for-counseling and begin to function as real movie-people. Exceptionally polished, SABRINA is always eye-catching, even when the story strays down a dead-end alley. Such as an entire segment set in Paris. And how about the pairing of Richard Crenna and Angie Dickinson as the in-laws-to-be? We haven't seen them together since the 1971 TV-movie THIEF.
Grade: B-
WHITE MAN'S BURDEN ==================
The Rod Serling gimmick--the *whites* as the minority race--is intriguing, but writer/director Desmond Nakano doesn't go anywhere with it. Instead of biting satire, or even a revealing, cross- cultural snapshot, Nakano gives a fired factory worker (John Travolta) a gun and lets him kidnap the wealthy industrialist (Harry Belafonte) who was indirectly responsible. The idea, of course, is that each will share a better perspective at the end of their ordeal. And that is the problem. Nakano has created an alternate reality that's just *too* real to believe such a ludicrous plot twist. In fact, as written, the entire second-half of the story would be virtually unwatchable, if not for the extraordinarily humane performances by Travolta and Belafonte. They shine brightly, and provide the small moments of sanity in an otherwise absurd story.
Grade: C+
WILD BILL =========
An arty western that's neither romantic nor revisionist, director Walter Hill's third oater is, from a commercial perspective, dead on arrival. Few heroes and fewer heroics are just some of the challenges to this fictional retelling of the final days of James Butler Hickok. As superbly played by Jeff Bridges, he's bitter, half-blind, and all-too-aware that the end is nearer than farther. (The conflict comes from his past: a string of memories that he can't keep back, and the son of a sweetie who's gunning for the gunslinger.) Leaner and meaner than most Western wear, WILD BILL stumbles a bit at the end. Hill indulges in one too many flash- backs and the rhythm is almost lost. He rights himself for the finale, though, and wraps with an unusually tight closing. Great supporting cast, too, including Christina Applegate, Bruce Dern, Ellen Barkin, and John Hurt. Recommended.
Grade: B-
--
Michael J. Legeros - Raleigh, NC legeros@nando.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w) Check triangle.movies for weekly reviews from MOVIE HELL
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