MULTIPLICITY
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1996 Michael John Legeros
(Columbia) Directed by Harold Ramis Written by Mary Hale, Chris Miller, Lowell Ganz, and Babaloo Mandel Cast Michael Keaton, Andie MacDowell, Harris Yulin, Richard Masur, John DeLancie, Eugene Levy MPAA Rating "PG-13" Running Time 115 minutes Reviewed at General Cinemas at Pleasant Valley, Raleigh, NC (9JUL96)
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Michael Keaton plays a man so busy that he has to clone himself to find enough time to work, play, and parent. He's copied three times, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood geneticist (Harris Yulin). "Two" is his aggressive side and takes charge at the office, while "Three" is more prissy and stays home with the kids. ("Four" is the flub; a fuzzy copy with the mind of a child.) Mr. Keaton is very funny-- and distinctly different-- in each of these roles. He gives a command performance that the movie doesn't know what to do with. The best that four (cloned?) writers could come up with are some recycled gags from MR. MOM, a few hundred or so double takes, and one very funny sequence involving the rule over who gets to sleep with the wife (Andie MacDowell, looking dazed and confused even when she's not supposed to be). The latter is also the closest that the movie comes to having a, uh, climax. MULTIPLICITY attempts to end on a serious note and it doesn't work. Twenty minutes are wasted there. Also curious is how absolutely nothing is explained about the character of the scientist. We see him in the cloning sequence and then he just disappears for the rest of the movie. Perhaps he's working on opening a franchise, maybe one called Clones 'R' Us?
Grade: B-
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Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC
legeros@nando.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w)
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