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 Black Sheep. Chris Farley and David Spade of Saturday
Night Live dominate this fat guy/thin guy, dumb guy/smart
guy formula comedy. Farley plays the accident-prone, embarrassing
brother of an aspiring senator--a sort of Billy Carter figure.
Spade plays the political handler sent to babysit him. Both characters
seem to be in their early twenties, though the actors are older.
The script is predictable and bland with some unbearably sentimental
moments thrown in just to torture the audience. Farley, in his
blithe willingness to humiliate himself over and over, does manage
to be quite funny sometimes, despite the material. The director,
Penelope Spheeris, made some wonderful films in the eighties but
has sunk to projects like this and The Beverly Hillbillies
movie. If you want to see something honest and funny, rent
her wonderful documentary about headbangers: The Decline of
Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years.
Broken Arrow. It's good guys against bad in this zippy
action flick from acclaimed Hong Kong director John Woo. John
Travolta plays an appealingly evil nuclear weapons thief trying
to waste the world for fun and profit while Christian Slater and
Samantha Mathis do their spunky best to stop him. Travolta's giddy,
over-the-top performance along with Woo's creative, reckless directorial
style raise Broken Arrow above the humdrum predictability
of most action flicks. (The opening boxing sequence alone is worth
the price of admission.) Once the initial dose of characterization
is administered, the plot just whizzes along, punctuated by regular
explosions. Don't expect to have your moral and intellectual horizons
broadened; do expect to be entertained.
City Hall. Does Al Pacino ever rest? This tale of political
intrigue has him playing the mayor of New York, a principled and
moral manipulator, if you can picture that. John Cusack plays
Kevin Calhoun, the mayor's right-hand man who gets sucked into
a murder investigation. It's a man's world out there--there are
hardly any women in this movie except Bridget Fonda, who rushes
through her small role like she can't wait to get out of there.
The main appeal of this movie is the excellent acting by Cusack
and Danny Aiello, as well as a refreshingly restrained performance
by Pacino, but the story never rises above mediocre. After this
movie one guy leaving the theater started yelling, "That
was terrible! Now I know why I don't go to movies anymore: They
suck!" I wouldn't say it was that bad, but I don't think
it's worth $7 to sit in the fetid air of a multiplex and inhale
mediocrity.
City Of Lost Children. Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro,
the dynamic duo who dreamed up the award-winning Delicatessen
four years ago, delve into a retro-future fantasy world that is
such a visual and narrative feast, you won't even mind the subtitles.
Their cinematic Cirque de Soliel is a surreal journey through
a dark, dank harbor town populated by genetic mutants, a cult
of Cyclops kidnappers and a scrappy band of street-wise orphans.
It harkens back to traditional (un-Disneyfied) fairy tales: untamed
flights of fancy that are equal parts funny and fearsome. Miette
(a haunting nine-year-old femme fatale) and One (a simple-minded
circus giant) band together to save One's adopted brother from
the clutches of Krank, a horrible scientist who's slowly dying
because he lacks one vital function: the ability to dream. From
his laboratory on a remote, mist-shrouded rig, Krank invades the
dreams of his stolen children in a desperate attempt to make them
his own...until One and Miette penetrate Krank's sinister fortress
and challenge him on a level playing field--within the world of
a little boy's dream.
Dead Man Walking. Sean Penn gives an amazing performance
as a death-row inmate in this Tim Robbins film. The movie is based
on the true story of Sister Helen Prejean, a nun who befriended
a convicted killer bound for a lethal injection. The nun slogs
through a moral minefield as she visits the prison, the victim's
families, and the family of the condemned man, trying to figure
out what she's doing hanging around with a low-life. Susan Sarandon
does a fine job as Sister Helen, but it's Penn who really steals
the show with his restrained, charismatic portrayal of the convict--it's
almost weird how good he is as the hate-filled, anti-social Poncelet.
The rest of the story sometimes drifts into sentimentality or
preachiness, but whenever Penn is on-screen, everything clicks.
Happy Gilmore. Adam Sandler is a bloodthirsty hockey player
turned pro golfer in this largely unfunny comedy about the pro
golf circuit. Yes, Bob Barker does call Sandler "bitch,"
but the charm of watching Mr. Smooth and Nice talk like a bad
boy is the absolute highlight of this grim picture. Sandler's
antics oscillate between the sickly sentimental and the relentlessly
sadistic, with the emphasis falling on the sadistic. Gilmore turns
to golfing because his sweet grandmother's house is being repossessed
by the IRS and besides, he has a knack for it. On the green, he
pouts, throws tantrums and wreaks havoc in general when things
aren't going his way, like a truly psychotic John McInroe. All
the funny parts are in the preview.
Leaving Las Vegas. A moving, melancholy portrait of a desperate
alcoholic making one last grab for love and redemption in the
city of neon. Nicolas Cage plays Ben, a total loser who has lost
his family, job and self-respect. He goes to Las Vegas in an effort
to escape everything, basically, and there he meets Sera (Elisabeth
Shue), a heart-of-gold hooker who takes him in and accepts him
just the way he is (sort of). There's no moralizing about the
evils of drink here, or romanticizing either--it's just relentless
scenes of Nicolas Cage quaffing liquor like water and spreading
some kind of bottomless sadness all over the screen. Though
Leaving Las Vegas is very sad, it never panders and it never
manipulates the audience. Instead, it treats its grim subject
matter with intelligence and restraint.
Rumble In The Bronx. Hong Kong film fans rejoice! It's
a Jackie Chan film shot in New York! And it's in English, sort
of! Jackie Chan, the Buster Keaton of Hong Kong, is one of the
most engaging action stars of all time. He's credited with inventing
the kung fu comedy and is famous for choreographing and performing
all his amazing stunts himself. Rumble In The Bronx has
the impish underdog protecting his uncle's grocery store in the
bad South Bronx from a coed band of marauding motorcycle thugs.
Thrill to one breath-taking stunt after another of Roadrunner-and-Coyote-style
action come to life! Marvel at the campy coolness of the production
values! The English voices of the Cantonese-speaking actors are
overdubbed and the whole thing is charmingly out-of-synch. Plus,
the plot seems to have been dreamed up by someone whose primary
contact with American culture is '70s action movies. What could
be more delightful?
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