Getting Carried Away

Friday, May 10, 1996

By Dina Gachman

Daily Bruin Staff

The latest Hollywood action movie doesn’t involve guns, muscles
or martial arts. Don’t worry ­ car chases and explosions
abound, but they are caused by something even more frightening than
evil humans. This time nature is the antagonist.

In "Twister," the latest Michael Crichton/Jan De Bont flick, a
group of Oklahoma storm chasers have an exciting day to look
forward to. During a 24-hour period, at least six tornadoes sweep
across the state. These frightening, heart-stopping storms make up
most of the movie’s scenes. And that’s lucky for the filmmakers,
because the rest of the plot fails miserably.

Helen Hunt plays Jo, a tough, small-town girl who saw her father
carried off by a tornado as a child. The experience causes Jo to
blame herself for nature’s mistake, and drives her to devise a way
to uncover the mystery of the twister. Enter Bill Paxton as an
ex-storm chaser (and Jo’s ex-husband) named Bill. He drops in with
his new fiancée, asking a reluctant Jo to sign the divorce
papers. As chance ­ or Hollywood ­ would have it, the
first tornado of the day kicks up, and Bill winds up storm-chasing
with the team. A series of moral dilemmas, personal realizations
and romances ensue between the sporadic storms. The filmmakers
apparently weren’t aiming for realism.

Crichton’s story, co-written with Anne-Marie Martin, lacks any
of the intelligence and intrigue of which he is capable.

The failure of Crichton and Martin’s screenplay is not the
actors’ fault. Paxton is a competent actor who has done what he can
with a badly written role. He’s got that boy-next-door thing that
makes him a prime casting choice for this character. The same can
be said of Helen Hunt, who shows a surprising range and natural
talent not highlighted in her sitcom "Mad About You." The pair have
as much on-screen chemistry as "Twister"’s screenplay will allow,
which isn’t very much.

With characters shaped by stereotypes and dialogue constructed
out of cinematic refuse, "Twister" is not going to inspire any
mental enlightenment. However, it is capable of inspiring awe.
Director De Bont infuses this film with the huge-scale,
hair-raising visuals that he created in "Speed." Gone are the days
of "Godzilla," and, with a lot of help from technology, the special
effects in "Twister" definitely override the ridiculous storyline.
The storms inspire more fear than the creatures in "Jurassic Park"
or the haywire subway in "Speed." They represent nature in its most
chaotic and powerful form, and find humans at their most
vulnerable. The immensity of the tornadoes is emphasized by the
objects that get caught in their wake ­ cows and houses fly
across the screen, and ­ yes ­ diesel trucks are lifted
and dropped back down in requisite explosions. If an intense visual
fix is what you’re after, "Twister" is a good source. Then again,
so is the IMAX.

At the IMAX, the cheesy screenplay and obnoxious soundtrack of
"Twister" can be avoided. The mixture of Lisa Loeb and Van Halen in
the movie grates on the nerves. So does the fact that Paxton’s
character is made into an all-American, storm chasing messiah.
During a particularly introspective moment, Bill stands alone
staring at the sky as the camera angles up to heroize him. The sage
grabs some Oklahoma dirt and lets it slowly fall from his hand.
This technique apparently gives him some secret clue about the
coming storm. And watch out for that subconscious message ­
the director quickly cuts to an American flag, then back to Bill,
an American hero on the quest to stop those evil twisters.

The only legitimate reason to go see "Twister" are the storms
themselves, which erupt in spurts of intense action and power. If
you’re willing to brave the storyline, make sure you see "Twister"
in a huge theater with good sound. Otherwise, it’s just not worth
it.

FILM: "Twister," directed by Jan De Bont. Grade: B-

‘Twister,’ the latest Michael Crichton/Jan De Bont flick, uses
fantastic visual effects to overcome poorly written dialogue and a
weak storyline