Film Reviews

Friday, May 3,1996

"Barb Wire"

Written by Chuck Pfarrer and Ilene Chaiken

Directed by David Hogan

Starring Pamela Anderson Lee, Temuera Morrison and Jake
Noseworthy

"Barb Wire" has about 30 deaths by machine gun fire, three
bodies dropping, no laughs, four sets and two huge plastic breasts
center-screen for an hour and a half. It’s not as bad as it could
be, but it’s not much of an achievement either.

Pamela Anderson Lee steps into the leather as Barb Wire, owner
of the Hammerhead Bar and Grille, a club so tough it’s got a
weapons check. She also acts as a bounty hunter by night to earn a
little extra cash, as financial gain is her only concern.

"Barb Wire’s" first surprise (and first weakness) is its
overdose of plot. You’d hardly expect this cheesy exploitation
flick to test your attention, but due to the extensive narrative
writers Chuck Pfarrer and Ilene Chaiken force upon viewers, it
takes about half of this movie to determine who wants what from
whom.

Barb and her not-so-friendly-friends live in Steel Harbor, the
last free city in the U.S. (now occupied by the Congressionals).
Even though a civil war is supposedly raging, Congressionals visit
Steel Harbor to crack down on the resistance, whose leader is
attempting to locate a defected doctor with the antidote to a
strain of HIV the Congressionals are using to wipe out cities like
Topeka. Yet these revelations come late; most of the first half of
the film concerns a bail jumper in possession of some retina
contact lenses.

Decent casting helps the bloated group sort itself out. Temuera
Morrison, notorious for his menace in "Once Were Warriors," adds a
strange intensity to his under-developed resistance fighter, and
the absorbing Udo Kier provides depth as Barb’s head waiter. Which
brings us to over-exposed sleaze-Barbie Mrs. Lee.

"Barb Wire," does not prove conclusively that she can’t act. Lee
smolders and scowls through this Mad Max wannabe, only talking when
the filmmakers have no other recourse. Her few line readings are
not as laughable as one would expect, and they are understated
enough to be passable. Her gunplay and kickboxing are more
believable, although her primary claim to the role is her ability
to fit into the outfits.

Burdened by a convoluted script and mediocre acting talent,
former video director David Hogan dives repeatedly into his MTV bag
of tricks. He occasionally succeeds (a few shots and sequences are
viscerally engaging), but more often than not the
trailer-titillated audience member is left bored, realizing that
two huge plastic breasts does not a movie make.

Michael Horowitz, Grade: C-

"Last Dance"

Written by Ron Koslow

Directed by Bruce Beresford

Starring Sharon Stone, Rob Morrow and Randy Quaid

It takes guts to be a copycat. After "Tombstone" came Sharon
Stone’s western, "The Quick and the Dead," after "Goodfellas" came
her mobster flick, "Casino," and finally, following "Dead Man
Walking" Stone hits death row with "Last Dance." It seems the
safety net for these clones is casting Sharon Stone as the female
lead and throwing in a few pathetic one-liners.

If it were only that simple. Unfortunately the rule for sequels
holds true for imitations … they don’t work. Stone plays Cindy
Ligget, a woman pending execution for double murder when Rob Morrow
tackles the clemency board as her attorney. With Sean Penn’s
performance as an inmate counting down the minutes on death row
still fresh in our minds, Stone’s portrayal almost makes you feel
sorry for her, as Penn did all the work for her. All Stone had to
add was a few feminine traits; sisterhood between the inmates and a
hysterical crying fit.

There’s no way to pity Rob Morrow. His performance provides the
lethal injection that kills any inkling of life in the movie. His
perpetual "small man" antics are tiring. He can’t stand up to his
brother (Peter Gallagher), or the Governor (Jack Thompson), and he
literally can’t stand up to the rest of the cast who tower two feet
over him.

Beyond the mediocre acting the whole story is hard to believe.
Death row isn’t known for its mousse, makeup or designer dresses.
Then again, is Sharon Stone known for more than just a pretty face?
Sadly, the storyline shifts away from Stone and revolves around
Morrow’s last ditch efforts to save her. What happens? The acting
moves from bad to worse.

If there’s no hope for the acting ability, or the credibility,
don’t count on the fluidity. The relationship between Stone and
Morrow moves from insult-spitting to face-caressing. One minute
they can’t see eye to eye and the next they’re spending the night
in a cell block together. Where did they kiss and make up?

Sharon Stone’s acting works when it’s decorated with full face
makeup and a mini-skirt, but she can’t shine through her prison
blues. It seems Stone should stick to her basic instinct roles and
leave the drama to those who do it best ­ the originals.

Meredith Ransburg, Grade: C-

"The Craft"

Written by Peter Filardi and Andrew Fleming

Directed by Andrew Fleming

Starring Neve Campbell, Fairuza Balk, Rachel True and Robin
Tunney

Everyone should be thankful that "The Craft" isn’t a documentary
about their own high school experience. When four high school
outcasts are granted the power to cast spells on their avengers,
the results make one want to run and hide.

When Sarah (Robin Tunney), the new girl in town, enters the
local parochial school she immediately encounters the "bitches of
Eastwick," the resident witches. Sensing her inner mysticism, she
becomes the missing link to three slightly off-kilter girls who
have been dabbling in textbook concoctions.

Each of the four "witches" has a deep insecurity which becomes
the primary focus of her spells. Bonnie (Neve Campbell) has scars
from severe burns over most of her body, Nancy (Fairuza Balk) is
hopelessly white trash and the other two have slightly more
material maladies.

The serious rituals performed by the circle are often humorous
and read more like group therapy sessions. Early signs that the
spells are succeeding include an antagonistic blonde classmate
going bald and the overdone puppy-like devotion of a football jock
towards Sarah.

Sound trite?

Well, much of the first half of the movie is. Sarcastic
comebacks ("You ladies watch out for weirdos" followed by "We are
the weirdos, mister") suck the appeal out of a decent
storyline.

Slightly reminiscent of such 80s classics as "Heathers" and "The
Lost Boys," the movie tries to combine the social statements and
vampire-like coolness of movies better left without sequels. An
overall gothic element (Nancy is constantly clad in black, right
down to the lipstick) and a soundtrack full of 80s covers adds to
the deja vu.

Director Andrew Fleming ("Threesome") creates scenes that make
the skin crawl, and the special effects almost make the
supernatural seem believable. The scenes where Nancy casts spells
that cover her victims with snakes, rats, maggots and cockroaches
are deftly handled by Fleming; the faint-hearted might even resent
the wall to wall creepiness of the climactic scene. He does the
best he can with the clearly amateur actors ­ the blame for
the movie’s failure to really take off cannot be placed solely on
him.

"The Craft" takes on a lot of issues that go unresolved.
Refusing to remain on the topic of witchcraft, it wanders through
family and social issues rather unsuccessfully. The film is not,
however, a total failure in creating an interesting story about the
ups and downs of unleashed witch power.

Elementary retorts coupled with a blurred sense of time and
place make this movie forgettable. The sheer entertainment of the
whole concept, however, makes it worth seeing and then
forgetting.

Lori Swingle, Grade: C+

"The Great White Hype"

Written by Tony Hedra and Ron Shelton

Directed by Reginald Hudlin

Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Goldblum, Peter Berg and Damon
Wayans

When professional boxing is as boring as it is at present,
sports afficionados are forced to turn to a usually unfulfilling
source ­ the cinema. "Great White Hype" is no "Raging Bull,"
maybe it’s not even "Diggstown," but it slices through the world of
fight promotion with enough humor and energy to make it worth your
while.

Samuel L. Jackson stars as Reverend Fred Sultan, the Don King of
"Hype’s" universe, and Damon Wayans plays his heavyweight champ
James "The Grim Reaper" Roper. When Roper’s fights start becoming
as predictable as the Tyson-McNeeley fight, the Sultan decides to
liven things up a little by playing the race card.

Sultan finds the only guy ever to beat Roper, a dense white guy
named Terry Conklin (Peter Berg) who KO’d the now-heavyweight
champion of the world when they were amateur fighters. This match
wouldn’t seem too exciting or marketable ­ but just wait ’til
the Sultan and his cohorts work to hype it.

The boxing world is certainly ripe for satire, as self-interest
and self-promotion are bountiful targets. "Hype" strains
credibility and never so much as threatens to have emotional
resonance, but Reginald Hudlin’s swift direction and the script’s
amusing patter speed the film’s journey. Sam Jackson oozes "I love
you, man" as he keeps all parties at bay, Damon Wayans talks trash
(and acts boxing better than he acted basketball) and Peter Berg
grabs several of the film’s biggest laughs with his character’s
inanity. Every role in "Hype" is filled with a talented and lively
performer.

The unfortunate flaw of this film is its peripheral misogyny,
perhaps a disturbing by-product of merging hip-hop cinema with the
sports film. You’d hope that Hudlin, who negotiates the minefield
of race relations with humor and style, would afford the token
females in the film some respect.

Not that the core audience of "Hype" is likely to notice.
They’ll show up for the sharp satire of the boxing enterprise, and
by-in-large, they’ll be satisfied.

Michael Horowitz, Grade: B+

"Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud"

Written by Claude Sautet, Jacques Fieschi, Yves Ulmann

Directed by Claude Sautet

Starring Emmanuelle Beart, Michel Serrault, Jean-Hugues
Anglade

If you wish to acquaint yourself with the work of French actress
Emmanuelle Beart before she becomes known to American audiences as
"that hot French chick" with Tom Cruise in "Mission: Impossible"
this summer, Claude Sautet’s new film provides you with an
exceedingly pleasant opportunity.

Beart plays Nelly, a twentysomething Parisian working several
jobs with a couch potato husband who has no hang-ups about his wife
being the overworked breadwinner. Actor Michel Serrault (two of
whose films have recently been remade American as "Diabolique" and
"The Birdcage") plays the second of the two title characters.
Introduced to Nelly through a mutual friend, Arnaud is charmed by
the much younger woman and offers to alleviate her financial
burdens with no strings attached. Nelly respectfully declines, but
soon after asks her useless husband for a divorce.

Monsieur Arnaud then proposes to the talented but underemployed
Nelly the job of transcribing Arnaud’s exploits as a Magistrate in
the colonies in what will be the old man’s memoirs. Nelly types
away, and as the manuscript moves closer to completion, the two get
closer and more familiar with each other. Arnaud further falls
victim to Nelly’s prodigious charms, and the older man commences
with an unusual and tentative courtship.

Besides the instant obstacle of their age difference, the plot
further thickens when Arnaud’s publisher Vincent (played by
Jean-Hugues Anglade) enters the picture. Besides informing Nelly of
some of Arnaud’s less appealing character traits, he goes on to put
the moves on the newly-liberated Nelly, much to the chagrin of
Arnaud.

Under Sautet’s direction, this quintessentially French
relationship story maintains a steady pace and never cheapens the
characters’ feelings or plights by dipping into predictability
and/or cheap sentimentality (as all too many of this kind of film’s
American counterparts do). Beart and Serrault have real chemistry
together, which results from both a firm grasp on their own
character as well as a clear awareness of the other. The
performances and storytelling make "Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud" a
diverting experience as well as yet another well-executed musing on
that strange effect (known for lack of a better term as love) one
person can have on another.

Brandon Wilson, Grade: B+

"Open Season"

Written and directed by Robert Wuhl

Starring Robert Wuhl, Rod Taylor, Gailard Sartain, Helen Shaver
and Maggie Han

Movies about making movies rarely succeed unless the director
possesses some kind of genius. The same goes for movies about
television. In this case it is Robert Wuhl’s new comedy "Open
Season" that attempts to charm audiences with its look at the
corruption of television ratings systems. Wuhl just lacks that
filmmaking genius, and his directorial debut falls flat.

Wuhl wrote, directed and stars in "Open Season," so he is the
one to look to explain all of the stale humor, stereotyped
characters and the very dull plot of this movie. It tells the story
of a do-right guy named Stuart Sain (Wuhl) who goes from working
for a television ratings company to nearly running a public
broadcasting station. It’s about the lack of integrity in the TV
world and in America. It’s about the chaos that ensues when public
television surpasses the big networks. It’s about ­ nothing
interesting.

Wuhl could have turned this idea into a truly funny social
commentary, but instead it is a slow-paced, poorly acted film with
almost no humor. His writing is much too cheesy, and he relies on
too many techniques and conventions of 1950s television writing.
His jokes sound like they come from the Bob Hope school of
pointless, sticky sweet comedy. And Wuhl doesn’t even have Hope’s
excuse of old age and too many years in the business. Wuhl’s
material should have had a fresh, sarcastic bite to it, but it is
closer to Hope’s saccharin taste.

In spite of the lame humor, Wuhl’s efforts do not completely
fail. He shows a competent directing style, framing the story as a
romantic fable rather than trying to add too much seriousness to an
already struggling plot. Wuhl’s supporting cast strengthens his
project, which can partly be attributed to his direction. Helen
Shaver is enticing as Rachel Rowan ­ the down-to-earth, flaky
owner of the public television station PBT that hires Sain. Veteran
star Rod Taylor is equally successful in his role as Billy Patrick
­ the heartless workaholic who runs the big network that’s in
competition with PBT. These performances don’t quite save "Open
Season," but they do make it a little more worthwhile.

Dina Gachman, Grade: C-

Pamela Anderson Lee stars in "Barb Wire."