Three Summer Films
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1996 Ben Hoffman
MATILDA:
In probably the funniest summer film this season, Mr Wormwood and wife, (Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman) aided by Matilda (Mara Wilson) make a most hilariously enjoyable movie for both children and adults alike. By all means, this is not to be missed.
Matilda is a very, very bright child whom the parents are too stupid to notice. At her very first birthday, with a nice chocolate cake in front of her, she spells out her name on the chocolate: M A T I L D A. The idiot parents berate her for ruining the cake, never noticing that the one-year-old is spelling.
By the time she is 8-years-old she has devoured almost every book in the library . . . and we do not mean those that have pictures. Her father wants her to stop reading and watch TV. "What can you learn from a book that you can't learn better from TV?" he demands. "And, by the way, what book are you reading now; she shows him it's MOBY DICK." In a frenzy he tears out the pages and berates her for reading porno books.
At school, she is sent to an institution that is more like a jail, with the headmistress, Trunchbull, (Pam Ferris) , more of a mean old witch than a school principal. Fortunately, there is Miss Honey, (Embeth Davidtz) Matilda's teacher, who helps and understands the child's genius.
Again, forget the summer trash and see a movie worth its weight in gold. See the darling MATILDA.
Directed by Danny DeVito.
ED' S NEXT MOVE:
Quirky Eddie (Matt Ross) is a delight to watch in this very offbeat, funny film. To begin with, Ed's job is that of a geneticist who is trying to improve rice. Ed is shy, naive, and a sweet guy who has not the faintest idea about how to talk to women.
Ed has just moved to NYC from the midwest. He finally finds a place he can share with someone, in this case it is Ray (Kevin Carrol) a handsome young black man. Unlike Ed, Ray knows his way around women. He has to coach Ed in what to say as he listens in disbelief to what Ed is rehearsing when a woman friend is about to arrive.
Lee (Callie Thorne) is, among other things, a violinist in a nightclub quartet. Ray takes him to the club and Ed falls instantly in love with Lee. Their romance is something to behold. The humor is enchanting as is the wonderful dialog. It would spoil the review to tell you more except it is a film you will not want to miss. The acting of Ross, Carrol and Thorne are terrific.
Written and Directed by John Walsh.
Rating: 3 Bytes
THE RICH MAN'S WIFE:
There has been very little worth seeing at the movies these past couple of months. Many of them look so much alike you would have difficulty telling them apart. I am talking about the gore, the shooting, the psychos. . . the so-called "thriller."
In RICH MAN'S WIFE, Tony (Christopher McDonald) is "the rich man." Josie Potenza (the beautiful Halle Berry) is his wife whom he neglects though it is hard to know why. Instead he is deep into his many business deals but finds time to be unfaithful. When he gets murdered, Josie is the natural suspect as she has the most to gain, his wealth. First she tells the police one story and then she promises to tell the truth. What are the cops to believe? Josie turns to Jake (Clive Owen) for "comfort." A bad move as he is a friend of a psycho, Cole, (Peter Greene). Cole wants not only to have Josie but to also blackmail her. Things get real complicated but stay boring as the film has nothing new you have not seen many times before. Only the names are changed to protect the innocent actors.
Halle Berry is beautiful and Peter Greene is slimy and vicious. It takes more than that to make a good movie.
Written and Directed by Amy Holden Jones
Rating: 1.5 bytes
4 bytes = Superb 3 bytes = Too good to miss 2 bytes = Average 1 byte = Save your money
Ben Hoffman
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