Film reviews

Thursday, April 11, 1996

"Denise Calls Up"

Written and Directed by Hal Salwen

Starring Alanna Ubach, Tim Daly and Liev Schreiber

Some things look spectacular when captured on film. Vast
landscapes. Gigantic explosions. Brad Pitt’s hair. Other things,
like people talking on the phone in their empty apartments, are not
so spectacular. In fact they are nearly uncinematic.

Imagine, then, making an entire movie about people talking on
the phone. A disaster waiting to happen? In the hands of a
less-imaginative writer-director, perhaps. Happily, first-timer Hal
Salwen has succeeded in making "Denise Calls Up" a sharp comedy
that adequately transcends its gimmicky premise.

Tim Daly of TV’s "Wings" heads a sparkling cast of relative
unknowns whose obsessive work habits keep them too busy to
socialize with one another in person. The movie opens at Linda’s
(Aida Turturro) apartment the morning after a big party. Within
minutes, Linda is talking on the phone with Gale (Dana
Wheeler-Nicholson), who apologizes profusely for missing the party.
Linda tells Gale it’s not a big deal. No one else showed up either.
Through a successive string of phone calls, it becomes apparent
that this no-show behavior is not an aberration. It is a way of
life for Frank (Daly), Gale, Linda, and their friends.

The main thrust of the plot kicks in when Gale begins conspiring
to set her friend Barbara (Caroleen Feeney) up on a blind date with
Frank’s friend Jerry (Liev Schreiber). As a painful round of phone
tag threatens to quash the relationship between this chronically
shy couple before it can begin, the life of Jerry’s friend Martin
(Dan Gunther) is sent spinning by, yes, a phone call. This time the
caller is a stranger named Denise (Alanna Ubach), who informs
sperm-donor Jerry that he is the biological father of her
soon-to-be-born child.

The fragmentary structure of Salwen’s plot is a bit alienating
at first, and the heavy editing employed to cut back and forth
between the various participants in each phone call are
jarring.

But as Salwen moves from the establishment of his premise to a
clever exploration of the simultaneously intimate and alienating
nature of phone calls, the politics of phone tag, and the role of
call waiting, answering machines, and phone sex in our increasingly
technology-dependent culture, "Denise Calls Up" settles into a
comedic groove characterized by witty dialogue and great
performances. Ubach shines as the irrepressibly quirky Denise.
Schreiber, last seen as an obnoxious bouncer in "Party Girl," and
Feeney lend "Denise" an unexpected human dimension with their
almost fragile portrayals of Jerry and Barbara.

Clocking in at a brisk 80 minutes, Salwen sacrifices some
character depth to quit while he’s ahead, before his novel premise
wears out its welcome. While the conclusion of the film is a bit
frustrating, it is not due to poor writing or craftsmanship. Salwen
is passing judgment on his characters’ unfulfilling lifestyle.
Ironically, this lifestyle is the inspiration for the movie’s
innovative brand of comedy. Colburn Tseng Grade: B+

"Loaded"

Written and directed by Anna Campion

Starring Oliver Milburn, Nick Patrick, Catherine McCormick and
Thandie Newton

Just because Anna Campion shares a name with her directing
sister Jane ("The Piano") doesn’t mean that the two women are cut
from the same cloth. "Loaded," Anna Campion’s low-budget thriller
about a group of turbulent English youths, is eons away from Jane
Campion’s period study "The Piano" or her forthcoming costume drama
"Portrait of a Lady."

Still, one thing is clear: both women are forceful and gifted
directors. While Jane has had time to hone her talents over the
course of making five films, Anna is just beginning. With her
uneven but well-intentioned first feature "Loaded," she shows it’s
a debut to watch.

The premise finds seven 20-something friends spending a weekend
together in an abandoned estate in the country. Led by aspiring
cinéaste Lance (Danny Cunningham), they make plans to shoot a
low-budget horror film, meticulously staging every shot. Over the
course of the production ­ as real-life events appear to
inspire the film-within-a-film ­ we learn more and more about
each character as they discover more about each other. But the more
they learn, the less they want to know.

The volatile Neil (Oliver Milburn) yearns for Rose
("Braveheart"’s Catherine McCormack), a virgin, who is also
responding to the close attentions of Lionel (Matthew Eggleton),
much to Neil’s displeasure. Giles (Nick Patrick), an aloof
intellectual, secretly harbors an obsession with mass-murder
trivia. And practical Zita (Thandie Newton of "Jefferson in Paris")
begins to questions her friends’ values.

When the friends decide to get loaded to form a tighter bond,
they inadvertently cause the opposite to happen. Discovering each
other’s prejudices and preconceptions, their friendships begin to
fray at the seams. When three of the friends leave the scene and
only two come back, the unexpected disappearance of one of their
party plunges them deep into a situation rife with self-questioning
and bad judgment.

The expertly directed cast seems utterly natural, having clearly
benefitted from five weeks of rehearsal. Their refreshingly candid,
unaffected performances help compensate for continuity glitches and
occasionally wandering passages. Most arresting is the handheld
video camera work, intercut with the actual events, which
intriguingly blurs the issues of life, art, and death. Lael
Loewenstein Grade: B-

"Kids in the Hall"

Written by Norm Hiscock & Bruce McCulloch & Kevin
McDonald & Mark McKinney & Scott Thompson

Directed by Kelly Makin

Starring Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, Scott
Thompson and David Foley

Craziness abounds in this movie from Canadian sketch comedy
troupe the Kids in the Hall (produced by "Saturday Night Live"’s
Lorne Michaels). If you like their wacked-out humor, their first
feature "Brain Candy" will set you into a tailspin of laughs.

It all starts with the invention of a pill that cures
depression. Everybody wants to take it, even if the cause of their
despair is as meaningless as a bad hair day. Pretty soon the whole
country is in bliss, and it’s not a pretty sight.

The Kids carry over a few of the characters from their half-hour
television show and add a silly crop of new ones to the mix.
There’s the ruthless corporate pig Don Roritor (Mark McKinney) who
mass produces the happiness drug in his rush to make a fortune, the
too briefly seen White Trash Couple, and the growling heavy-metal
musician Grivo. And that’s just a few. "Brain Candy" throws out
dozens more Kids in the Hall creations, and it still manages to
stick to the plot.

In the film, a quiet little scientist named Chris Cooper (Kevin
McDonald) reluctantly allows Roritor to put the drug on the market.
Cooper still isn’t sure about the side effects of the pill, but
he’s lured by the promise of money and fame and decides to go along
with Roritor’s scheme. The scientist is corrupted by power, just as
America is corrupted by the mood-altering drug. Quite a commentary
on society for a comedy piece.

Director Kelly Makin ("National Lampoon’s Senior Trip") does a
good job maintaining the quirkiness of the Kids in the Hall’s
antics. He’s had practice ­ Makin directed nearly 30 of the
television segments. The movie is full of bright day-glo tones, and
when the anti-depression drug takes hold of the nation the colors
become brighter, reflecting the fake, almost repulsive, happiness
of the pill takers. When the brooding Grivo transforms into a perky
singer, his clothes become a blindingly fluorescent mixture of
oranges, purples and yellows. Not a pleasing vision. The stale
white lab coats of the drug’s creators become pastel dresses and
Hawaiian prints. The effect is hilarious and a little disturbing,
just like the film. Dina Gachman Grade: A-

"James and the Giant Peach"

Written by Kerry Kirkpatrick and Jonathan Roberts & Steve
Bloom

Directed by Henry Selick

Starring Paul Terry with voices by Susan Sarandon, Richard
Dryfuss and David Thewlis

Life is the pits for young James Henry Trotter. And it turns
into life in a pit, a peach pit that is.

Orphaned James is sent away to live with his evil Aunts Spiker
and Sponge (Joanna Lumley and Miriam Margoyles), who leave poor
James in a classic Cinderella situation. For James the step-sisters
are his aunts, the prince that saves him is a 2,000 pound peach,
the palace is New York City, the Fairy Godmother is a random hobo,
the mice are various insect friends, and all of this
bippity-boppity-boo is the result of "crocodile tongues." As
Cinderella, James just needs a little excitement.

This excitement is easily provided by the antics of his new
friends: a Brooklyn born Centipede (voiced by Richard Dryfuss), an
intellectual grasshopper (Simon Callow), and a sexy French spider
(Susan Sarandon), to name a few. Combined with songs composed by
"Toy Story"’s Randy Newman, the alterna-animation of stop motion,
computer generated images and digital effects, "James" surpasses
director Selick’s previous triumph "The Nightmare Before
Christmas."

The film’s live-action sequences are given a surreal quality due
in part to the set construction. The house where his surrogate
family of Spiker and Sponge live draws a thin line between the live
and animated worlds, as do opening scenes with James’ parents. The
truth isn’t that far from the fantasy for James and his pals.

Ronald Dahl’s 1961 classic "James and the Giant Peach," comes to
the screen and will likely become what Dahl’s "Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory" did: the movie every kid has seen 100 and some
odd times, the timeless children’s tale. Of course, what separates
the creativity of "James and the Giant Peach" from your
run-of-the-mill G-rated flick is the moral. What other fable
reminds you to stand up to the raging pachyderms of the world and
fight for 6-year-old dreams? Everyone gets a good laugh and
toddlers are newly empowered; everyone’s happy. Meredith Ransburg
Grade: A-

Alanna Ubach stars in the off-beat and refreshing comedy "Denise
Calls Up."

Scott Thompson (left) and Kevin McDonald wrote and starred in
"Kids in the Hall Brain Candy."