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‘Langoliers’ ruined by overacting, dialogue

By Daily Bruin Staff

May 11, 1995 9:00 p.m.

‘Langoliers’ ruined by overacting, dialogue

By Jennifer Richmond

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Stephen King has two types of films. The successful and the
unsuccessful. Successful include films like Misery and Stand By Me
where the story is realistic. Unsuccessful films include It and
Christine where the fantastical take over and bizarre occurrences
seem to run the story.

King’s newest film, "The Langoliers," is unfortunately one of
the latter.

Airing as a miniseries on ABC this weekend, "Langoliers" looks
at 10 passengers on a flight bound for Boston who end up trapped in
a time rift facing the terrifying langoliers.

Only the langoliers aren’t so terrifying. They are actually
reminiscent of large fuzzy Pac Men with razor sharp teeth. Special
effects hinder rather that improve the fake appearance of the
langoliers.

If it could be said that the langoliers were the only drawback,
the film might not be too bad. But, they aren’t the only problem.
The script is a serious drawback as well.

While the story, like most of King’s books, makes for a great
read, keeping you glued to the pages and fearing the next line, the
story doesn’t translate well to the screen. The lines are trite,
clichéd and sometimes so stupid it’s hard to believe people
would actually talk that way.

Toward the end of the film, Nick (Mark Lindsay Chapman) is
forced to choose death over life and remain awake while the rest of
the cast falls asleep so they will survive their return to the
present. As he watches the plane get closer to the rift, he yells
to the unconscious pilot, Brian (David Morse), "My God. It’s so
beautiful!" As he says this with tears streaming down his face,
Chapman is so overcome with unrealistic emotion, one can’t help but
crack up hysterical laughing over the corniness of the scene.

But it’s not just the lines that make "Langoliers" so hard to
take, it’s how they’re handled by some of the actors. The above
scene is a perfect example of the overacting, as is an earlier
scene between Christopher Collet’s Albert and Kimber Riddle’s
Bethany.

It’s been clear from the start that the geeky Albert is
interested in the strung-out, chain-smoking Bethany. And the two
have handled themselves perfectly given the situation. But they
screw up the chemistry when she asks him "Do you want to kiss me?"
and he answers with a resounding "YES!" She then replies with
"Well, you better do it. We don’t have much time." Of course they
kiss. But their entire relationship is ruined.

This version of young love is tiresome and annoying. It was more
interesting watching Albert adore Bethany from afar than see him
kiss her in a very anti-climactic scene. This moment also negates
the other believable romance that has bloomed between Nick and
Laurel (Patricia Wettig).

There’s really only one redeeming factor to this entire fiasco
­ Bronson Pinchot’s Craig Toomy. As the obsessed businessman
who knows all too well what the langoliers are, he goes off the
deep end when the flight lands in Bangor, Maine rather than Boston.
Now he’s going to be late for his very important business meeting.
So, like all lunatics, Toomy starts killing as many people as he
can.

Although his actions seem a little extreme, watching Pinchot as
he goes from somewhat sane businessman to totally insane lunatic is
delightful. His fetish for tearing strips of paper to keep calm is
enrapturing and his dark stories of the langoliers are enticing.
It’s unfortunate that Pinchot’s Toomy gets his in the end because
Pinchot is really the only plus to this complete negative of a
film.

TELEVISION: "The Langoliers." Starring Bronson Pinchot, Dean
Stockwell, Patricia Wettig and Mark Lindsay Chapman. Airing Sunday,
May 14, and Monday, May 15, at 9 p.m. on channel 7.

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