paul-nemecek Reviews

Meet Joe Black (1998)

Meet Joe Black

[8/10 · 8 July 2018]

In the recent thriller The Edge, Anthony Hopkins played a wealthy businessman who is transformed by a harrowing encounter with death. In Meet Joe Black, Anthony Hopkins plays Bill, a similar character confronting similar themes, but with a very different twist. Here he meets Death as played by Brad Pitt. Death informs Bill that he wants to see what life is like and he wants Bill to teach him. So long as Death is interested and learning, Bill gets more time. When Bill has to introduce Death to his family at dinner, he fumbles around for a name, eventually coming up with Joe Black.

This is hardly the first film to depict bargains with Death. In Ingmar Bergman's Seventh Seal the allegorical figure of death (complete with shroud) is challenged to a game of chess. His intended victim hopes to forestall the inevitable. Bergman's Death character is reprised in Woody Allen's Love and Death, The Last Action Hero, and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. In Meet Joe Black we are spared the shroud since Death decided to borrow a body from one of his victims. (If you gotta' have one, might as well borrow one that looks like Brad Pitt, I guess.)

The real twist in this film comes in what could be taken as the sub-plot. Death falls in love with Bill's daughter Susan. Susan is involved with Drew, her father's right-hand man in the business world. Drew meanwhile is conniving at some underhanded business deals of his own. The plot takes more than a few twists and turns along the way, but in the end it is neither the plot nor the grand theme (if there is one) that makes the film engaging. Sometimes its the ride itself that makes the journey worthwhile.

Frankly, there are more than a few problems of plausibility here (even after we grant willing suspension of disbelief to the central premise). As one small example, Joe Black is fluent in Jamaican patois, but doesn't know how to tie a tie. The cinematography is good, but not outstanding, and the performances are no more that what we would expect under the circumstances.

Still in all, there were more than a few moments along the way where the audience laughed pretty hard. At one point the audience applauded (in the middle of the movie no less), and I'm sure there were more than a few smiles on more than a few occasions. By the end of the film, director Martin Brest (Scent of a Woman) has given us quite a few simple pleasures along the way. If there is a grand theme to the film, perhaps that is it . . . . it's the simple pleasures that make life good, and in the end, caring is everything.

One True Thing (1998)

One True Thing Rings True

[9/10 · 8 July 2018]

One True Thing is a film about a husband and wife dying of cancer. She is dying of inoperable cancer, while he is living with a kind of cancer of the soul. George and Kate Gulden (William Hurt and Meryl Streep, respectively) have two grown children--Brian (played by Tom Everett Scott of That Thing You Do) is a struggling university student and Ellen (played by Renee Zellwegger of Jerry McGuire fame) is a driven journalist on her way up the career ladder.

George Gulden is a literary critic and university professor. His wife, Kate, derives her meaning from holding the family together and from her investments in personal relationships. As the story begins, the whole family is together to celebrate George's birthday with a surprise literary birthday party in which each person is to come dressed as their favorite literary figure. It is during this time that the family discovers Kate's cancer, and Ellen is asked to move back home to care for her mother.

As our central character, Ellen is struggling to win the acceptance of her somewhat distant father, and to come to terms with her controlling mother. Each of these characters is struggling with their own private sense of failure. Through small flashback sequences, Franklin connects the childhood of years gone by with the struggles that Ellen faces even today.

On the surface, the film appears to be a fairly run-of-the mill two-hanky "weepie". Director Carl Franklin manages to take these cliches and weave them into something a bit more complex, something that is ultimately a bit more satisfying. We discover, for example, that Ellen is being interrogated by the police because her mother died from an overdose of morphine. This subplot adds some distinctive twists to the film (and makes it a timely film considering SAC's upcoming Focus Series). Beneath it all, this film is about failure, sorrow, and loss for each of its main characters. But it is also about forgiveness, compassion, and grace.

To fans of Meryl Streep and William Hurt it should come as no surprise that there is some excellent acting in this film. Hurt's character is not unlike past characters Hurt has played in The Big Chill and The Accidental Tourist. There is a complexity to his performance here, however, that goes beyond what he has done before. George Gulden is a man of ambiguous feelings and mixed motives. Hurt depicts this rather well, sometimes through facial expression alone. Meryl Streep is outstanding as always, and Renee Zellwegger's role provides new challenges that she handles quite well.

One True Thing doesn't have a lot of gunfire, heroics, or sinking ships. What is does offer is a poignant story that feels real, that rings true. All in all, an engaging story very capably told.

Music of the Heart (1999)

Predictable Plot, but Still Inspiring

[8/10 · 8 July 2018]

Music of the Heart is pretty predictable. If you've seen Goodbye Mr. Chips, To Sir With Love, Educating Rita, Dead Poet's Society, Dangerous Minds, and/or Mr. Holland's Opus you pretty much know what to expect. What is a little unexpected is that this inspirational and moving film is directed by screammeister Wes Craven (Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc., etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseum).

Even though the story has been told before this is based on the true story of a woman struggling to teach violin in East Harlem. Meryl Streep plays Roberta, a mother with two children, who has been deserted by her husband. A friend encourages her to apply for this teaching job and the rest of the story is fairly predictable.

In spite of its predictability, the film has some very touching moments and is truly inspirational. Meryl Streep at her worst is better than most actors at their best, and Streep is excellent in this role. Add a great supporting cast that includes Angela Bassett, Gloria Estefan, Cloris Leachman and Aidan Quinn, and you have a well-told story with a tried and true theme. Technically, Run, Lola, Run is the more innovative film, but there is a message in Music of the Heart that rings true and inspires. I thought of Bob Briner as I watched this film. Bob's message of roaring lambs is consistent with the theme of Music of the Heart. We should spend less time cursing the darkness, and more time lighting candles. We waste too much time lamenting the emptiness and void of a postmodern world. The message of Music of the Heart is that instead of lamenting the silence, we should burst forth in song.

Run Lola Run (1998)

Poignant Postmodern Parable

[10/10 · 8 July 2018]

Run, Lola, Run is a thoroughly postmodern film. Stylistically, the film uses a variety of visual devices and storytelling strategies that are increasingly common in postmodern films. In theme, the film captures the essence of a postmodern worldview by treating life as a series of random occurrences devoid of any central meaning. Run, Lola, Run is really a short avant-garde film told three different times with variations on theme.

Our central characters are Manni and Lola, a couple living on the fringe of underworld life in Germany. The story begins with Manni calling Lola in desperation. He had taken an assignment to deliver some illegal materials in exchange for 100,000 deutschmarks. As manning is riding the subway home, after the exchange, police board the train. Manni is so unnerved that he exits the train leaving his bag of money behind. He has twenty minutes to find and deliver the money of his life is forfeit. Lola tells him to not do anything rash, slams down the phone, and takes off running.

This is the starting point of all three acts of this three-act play. Each time through something slightly different occurs at the beginning. This seemingly trivial event changes the trajectory of the action, which affects everyone, and everything involved in slightly different ways. The message here is that the significance we attach to our lives is the result of random events over which we have little control. It is fitting that the most positive of the three different endings involves a casino and a game of chance. This film is not exactly inspiring, but it is profound and very well done. This is not a film to build a life around, but it is an important film about the postmodern milieu, and Tom Twykwer's writing and direction are creative and engaging.

White Oleander (2002)

Oh What Could Have Been . . .

[7/10 · 8 July 2018]

White Oleander is the story of a teenage girl shuffled between foster homes while she attempts to understand her relationship with her mother and her own troubled past. In a dazzling performance, Alison Lohman plays Astrid, the young girl who starts her pilgrimage through a series of foster homes when her mother is incarcerated for murdering a two-timing lover.

Michelle Pfeiffer plays the troubled mother, a bohemian artist who is clearly not your typical suburban soccer mom. The heart of the story is mother and daughter trying to reconcile their troubled relationship as Astrid moves from one foster home to another with the occasional stop at the juvenile detention facility. Pfeiffer's performance is outstanding and is really just one of four brilliant performances-the other two being Robin Wright Penn and Renee Zellweger as two of the foster moms Astrid encounters along the way.

Robin Wright Penn plays a born-again former alcoholic stripper turned foster mom. Her performance is great, but the character is the first in a series of characters that seems a bit too contrived and a bit too plastic. Zellweger's character seems a little less contrived, but her personal circumstances and the ultimate outcome of her term as foster mom seem very artificial. The third foster mom is a Russian immigrant in love with capitalism and is the most contrived caricature in the bunch.

There is a powerful story here supported by outstanding performances. Unfortunately, the power of the story is substantially diluted in the telling of the story. The story is dark with great potential for depth, but the visuals are so airy and light that there is a fundamental disjuncture between content and tone. This was my primary criticism of Spielberg's The Color Purple. Alice Walker's novel is dark and the characters in the novel are complex. Spielberg "prettified" the novel a bit too much and part of the power of the story was lost in the process. The same thing happens here.

White Oleander is worth seeing if only for the outstanding performances. This is an adequate movie that could have been a really great movie in the hands of a director like Martin Scorsese or Sidney Lumet. Unfortunately, director Peter Kosminsky tries to have it all-- stunningly beautiful blondes in high-key lighting mixed with dark, somber themes of betrayal and loss. Roger Ebert says it best-"the film takes the materials of human tragedy and dresses them in lovely costumes, Southern California locations and star power." Powerful, interesting stories are such a rarity at the cineplexes these days that it is almost painful to see a film with such potential reduced to mere mediocrity.

What Dreams May Come (1998)

See What Dreams May Come

[10/10 · 8 July 2018]

What Dreams May Come is about the ultimate quixotic quest. Robin Williams plays Chris Nielsen, a surgeon who quite literally "marches into hell for a heavenly cause." This is not the first time we have seen Williams playing a bereaved husband. In fact, almost every time he plays a bereaved husband he gets nominated for an Oscar (The Fisher King and Good Will Hunting). This may be no exception.

Early in the film, Chris Nielsen loses his two children in an auto accident. Later in the film, Chris loses his wife. What makes this role a bit different for Williams is that in between these two tragic events, Nielsen is himself killed in an auto accident. Most of the movie takes place in "heaven" as Chris Nielsen adjusts to the afterlife, and what an afterlife it is.

Part of the fun of this film is the art history lesson. One of the ideas put forth in the film is that the afterlife is constructed out of our own hopes and wishes. Because Chris Nielsen loved paintings, his afterlife is made up a series of paintings of which he is a part. The art direction, cinematography, and special effects are nothing short of spectacular. Parts of the film are like a random walk through the National Gallery in London with some scenes borrowing from the impressionists, others the surrealists, and so forth.

Chris is guided through the rules of this afterlife by Albert (capably played by Cuba Gooding Jr.). While learning the rules of the game in the afterlife Chris discovers that his wife has committed suicide. Initially, he is excited about their pending reunion, but Albert informs him that because she committed suicide, she ended up elsewhere, and thus begins the quixotic quest, as Chris tries to find a way to save his wife.

There are two kinds of people that will not be able to enjoy this film. The person who is skeptical about things religious will see it as romantic drivel. The ultra-fundamentalist will have difficulty getting past some of the new age nuances as he checks each point against his Scofield reference Bible. Both kinds will miss a valuable opportunity. Picasso once said "art is a lie that makes us realize the truth." This film is not so much about the afterlife, as it is about this life. While there are some painful deaths to contend with in this film, the film is ultimately about life and ultimate concerns. After seeing the film, my wife and I talked for hours about our lives, our meanings, our relationship.

In addition to the engaging story, beautiful cinematography, and excellent acting by Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra, there is an excellent score by Michael Kamen. Kamen composed the scores for the Die Hard and Lethal Weapon movies, as well as the scores for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Mr. Holland's Opus. The interplay between the outstanding visuals and the dynamic score makes for some interesting impressions of heaven and hell. If you've been trying to find time to see a play, go to an art museum, and/or hear a concert, consider a trip to the movies instead and see what dreams may come.

Unbreakable (2000)

Unbreakable in Unbearable

[5/10 · 8 July 2018]

I looked forward to M. Night Shymalan's Unbreakable with great anticipation. Shymalan's previous film as writer-director was last year's innovative thriller The Sixth Sense. I was, alas, pretty disappointed in this film. In the end, this film was not unbearably suspenseful, it was simply unbearable.

The film reunites Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson (Die Hard with a Vengeance and Pulp Fiction), two great actors wasted in a maudlin mess of mediocrity. Samuel L. Jackson plays a comic book collector suffering from a rare disease that leaves his bones brittle and easily broken. Bruce Willis plays a security guard who is the sole survivor of a disastrous train wreck. Not only has he survived, but he survived without a scratch. Could it be that he is unbreakable?

To be fair, there are inspired moments of writing here, but the whole is decidedly smaller than the parts. The film's tone is uneven--so much so that the audience laughed hysterically at one of the more dramatic scenes--and the acting is pretty flat. In fact, Shymalan's line from The Sixth Sense, "I see dead people" might be more relevant here. The central character follows a fairly traditional hero's quest, but the character has such a flat personality that I was left feeling pretty uninspired. The comic-book ending made the film seem even more disjointed. Throwing together a bunch of talented people does not necessarily result in a talented film.

If you are in the mood for heroes and unbreakable characters, I would recommend two other films currently playing rather than this lackluster loser. Remember the Titans is inspiring, relevant, and wonderfully told. Men of Honor is a wonderful story of courage and character. Both films deal with racism and heroic responses. These are both four-star films in my book. If you really want to see Unbreakable, wait for the video. This is a film that will not lose much in the transfer to the small screen, and if your expectations and the price of admission are a bit lower, you might even enjoy it.

The Game (1997)

Game on!

[9/10 · 8 July 2018]

What do you get when you blend the narrative structure of "The Usual Suspects" with Alfred Hitchcock's theme of the ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances, and the moral universe of Anton Chekhov's short story "The Bet"? You get this finely crafted thriller directed by David Fincher (Alien3 and Seven) and starring Michael Douglas (Falling Down, The American President).

Michael Douglas plays a wealthy investment broker who appears to have it all. For his 48th birthday, his younger brother (well-played by Sean Penn) gives him a gift designed for the man who has everything-a membership in a recreational services club that custom-designs experiences to meet the unique voids of each individual client (or so they say). The catch is that clients never know what's coming, and the line between real life and "the game" gets more and more blurred as the story unfolds.

The movie pushes credibility to the limits, and occasionally, beyond. But the story is engaging enough that I found myself restraining my disbelief until after the ride was over. One of the things that can make this an enjoyable movie-going experience is taking some friends along who like to probe deeper meanings.

"The Game" works not only as an engaging thriller, but also as a moral parable, a social commentary on the hollowness of contemporary society, and a kind of philosophical riddle. Viktor Frankl has described the illness of modern humanity as noogenic neurosis-an existential vacuum in the soul-that leaves us longing for deeper meaning. While "The Game" does not offer profound solutions, it does provide an engaging story about the problem.

The Omega Code (1999)

Theological drivel, aesthetic mediocrity

[2/10 · 8 July 2018]

The Omega Code is a low-budget apocalyptic suspense/thriller produced by Matthew Crouch, and financed by Crouch's father, Paul Crouch, CEO and star of Trinity Broadcasting Network. The basic premise of the film is taken from the Bible code craze, wherein the keys to understanding the last days are believed to be found in hidden codes contained in the Hebrew texts of the Old Testament. These codes reveal events and key players in the unfolding apocalypse in this pseudo-Biblical, quasi-suspenseful thriller.

Let me start with the positive elements of my movie-going experience. The seating was comfortable, the theater was quiet (there were four of us there), and the chocolate dipping dots weren't bad either. Now, on to the negative elements. The acting ranged from adequate (Michael York as the anti-Christ) to dreadful. At points the film looked more like a low-budget soap opera, at other points the acting seemed like a commercial of some kind.

There were some adequate special effects, but the cinematography, narrative structure, and pacing were sophomoric and amateurish. Even if I hadn't read The Late Great Planet Earth the story would have been pretty predictable. In short, this is a story poorly told. Is it a story worth telling? Not really. It could be. It should be. But, alas, it is not.

Mark Noll, in his book The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind references Frank Paretti's works as exhibits in his case for the scandalous state of the evangelical mind. The Omega Code would probably support his case even more. There is a brief reference to a conversion experience here, but it is so muted and minimal in the larger story that the power of saving grace becomes a subplot in the larger theme of pretribulation paranoia. When I compare this to the depiction of conversion experiences and movements of grace in "secular" films like The Mission, Romero, Places in the Heart, The Apostle, or Tender Mercies this film is not even close. If we can't do a decent job of showing what's so amazing about grace we should hang our heads in shame (or at least embarrassment).

Like so much of the stuff produced in this genre, this film is more scatological than eschatological. By mixing in the Bible code theme, the film could do more harm than good by perpetuating the impression that evangelicals are superstitious and gullible. The late Bob Briner called us to be roaring lambs. Unfortunately, this looks like something produced by rabid lemmings. There is a place for Christian artists to create images and stories that depict God's amazing grace and the power of His love. There is a desperate need for Christian voices who will call us to renewal and Christian commitment. Surely we can do better than this.

The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)

Great mythmaking

[9/10 · 8 July 2018]

The Legend of Bagger Vance is about golf in the same way that Field of Dreams was about baseball--that is, hardly at all. This film has the mystic symbolism of Field of Dreams, the sense of time and place of A River Runs Through It, and the triumph of spirit that is at the center of most of my favorite films. It might be an accident that the number of holes played in this epic showdown is about the same as the number of years we get in the big game (on average), but this film is quite clearly about the game of life.

Matt Damon plays Rannulph Junuh, a promising golfer from Savannah whose prodigious career is interrupted, and ultimately diverted, by World War I. He comes back from the war changed, and neglects both his game and his girl as he attempts to drown his sorrows by killing off brain cells little by little. When the Great Depression hits, the whole town of Savannah is devastated and Adele attempts to save the family estate by staging an epic golf match on the golf course her father had designed. The two greatest golfers of the time are enticed to play in the epic, but the town wants Junuh in the game too, to represent Savannah.

Young Hardy Greaves has been a fan of Junuh's almost since birth and Hardy does his best to convince Junuh to enter the fray. When Hardy fails, Adele also tries and also fails, but then Junuh meets Bagger Vance--caddy, wisdom teacher, and philosopher extraodinaire. To say much more about the relationship that develops would be to give away too much of the suspense that propels the story forward. Suffice it to say that Will Smith's portrayal of Bagger Vance is an intriguing mix of Cheech Marin in Tin Cup and Obi Wan Kanobi in Star Wars.

It is the mythic dimension that makes this a satisfying film. Like two of his previous films (The Horse Whisperer and A River Runs Through It), this film is best when viewed as myth and metaphor. The brilliant cinematography by Michael Ballhaus contributes to the mythic feel of the film. If there is a flaw in the film it is a relatively minor one. As in A River Runs Through It, director Redford chose to tell this story as one long flashback using extensive voice-over narration. Especially in the beginning of the film, I found this to be intrusive and a bit distracting.

Aside from this minor flaw, this is a wonderful film about grace and redemption, with rich images and refreshing themes. As I left the theater I ran into an acquaintance who is an avid golfer. He said, "I've played courses just like that one." I don't golf at all, so it is a real tribute to the mythic qualities of the film that I was able to walk away saying to myself "me too, me too."

The Insider (1999)

A story worth telling, a story well told

[9/10 · 8 July 2018]

It will come as no surprise to faithful readers of this column that I like good movies. I also like that even rarer event, the important movie. Rarest of all is that special movie that is both good and important. Michael Mann's The Insider is just such a film.

Mann's best-known efforts to date are the films Heat and Last of the Mohicans. This film demands a more subtle and sophisticated guiding hand and Mann clearly rises to the challenge. The Insider is the somewhat fictionalized, but basically true, story of Jeffrey Wigand (played by Russell Crowe), a tobacco executive turned whistle blower. It is also the story of Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), a passionate producer who becomes a whistle-blowing insider in his own right.

The subject matter of the film places it in the tradition of films like Silkwood, The China Syndrome, and A Civil Action. When Wigand agrees to go on the record exposing the cover-ups and perjury by tobacco industry executives he is harassed, threatened, betrayed, and abandoned. The real story here though is how CBS was bullied into softening and burying the story. Pacino's performance as the passionate producer with integrity provides the moral center of the film.

It should come as no surprise that this is a good film. In addition to Mann's capable direction, there are some excellent performances by Crowe (who viewers might remember as Bud White in LA Confidential) and Pacino. Christopher Plummer also does superior work in his less than flattering portrayal of Mike Wallace. The screenplay is adapted from a short story by one of the masters of adaptation, Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, The Horse Whisperer). Cinematographer Dante Spinotti uses color, light, and shadows to infuse the story with rich visual symbols. This is a good film by a team of gifted artists.

But this is also an important film. It would be a mistake to see this film as simply a film about the tobacco industry or the co-optation of the news industry. Ultimately, it is about corporate power in its broadest sense. It was especially interesting watching this film on the weekend of the Microsoft monopoly ruling. The clear message of this film is that we all lose when the bottom line of corporate profits is our only moral compass. We live in a society desperately in need of prophetic critique and moral pronouncement. The Insider does not say all that needs to be said, but it provides a welcome start to a much-needed dialogue.

Spy Game (2001)

A great journey

[8/10 · 8 July 2018]

Director Tony Scott is no newcomer in directing military thrillers and stories of political intrigue. His past films include Top Gun, Crimson Tide, and Enemy of the State. This is not new ground for actor Robert Redford either. Redford plays Nathan Muir, a CIA operative on his last day on the job. At different points, Redford's character reminded me of his previous characters in All The President's Men, Three Days of the Condor, and Sneakers.

In Spy Game, both actor and director live up to the standards set by these previous works, and on occasion even manage to transcend. Redford's Nathan Muir is recruiter and mentor for protégé Tom Bishop (capably portrayed by Brad Pitt). Like this year's Training Day the center of the film is the tension between the cynical, somewhat jaded veteran and the starry-eyed idealist rookie. Like this year's Tailor of Panama or Oliver Stone's Salvador there is a love interest that complicates the relationship between the two men. In an odd twist of casting fate, Catherine McCormack (Braveheart, Dangerous Beauty) plays the love interest in this film and in Tailor of Panama.

The central debate that drives the film is the ethics of espionage. What means are justified by particular desired ends? The question is certainly a relevant and important question in the current political context. The plot, in brief, is protégé becomes a rogue spy in order to save his love interest, and veteran becomes a rogue in order to save his protégé.

Any good thriller has to have sufficient twists and turns to keep us guessing, and Spy Games does not disappoint. The story is well written and director Scott does a good job of making the story come to life. The performances by Pitt and McCormack are solid performances, but Redford's Nathan Muir is the central character and Redford makes the most of the part. In fact, I have difficulty imagining another acting playing the part after watching Redford at work. The Redford persona that started with the Sundance Kid comes through in the world-weary, somewhat cynical Nathan Muir.

I was tempted to review Harry Potter this week (I liked it). For engaging fantasy and escape, Harry Potter is hard to beat. I suspect, however, that Harry Potter fans have already seen the film and Harry Potter detractors will see it when Hogwarts Academy freezes over. If you are ready for a film that will keep you engaged and stimulate conversations about realpolitik in the modern era, or if you want to see Redford at the top of his game, Spy Game is worth a look.

Three to Tango (1999)

Split Double Header

[4/10 · 8 July 2018]

One of the several new movies opening this weekend is the comedy farce Three to Tango. In this ultralight vehicle Matthew Perry plays a partner in architectural firm. His partner is played by the ubiquitous Oliver Platt (A Time to Kill, Indecent Proposal, The Three Musketeers). To make a thin story short, Perry and Platt really need the multi-million dollar project they are bidding on. The millionaire who will fund the contract (played by Dermot Mulroney) needs someone safe to keep an eye on his mistress. Due to a misunderstanding, Mulroney thinks Perry is gay (actually Platt is gay). Perry is commissioned to be the chaperone who must avoid falling in love with his charge (Neve Campbell). He does. So does she. What a mess!

And what a mess just about says it all. The only stroke of genius here is in the casting. The two main characters are one-dimensional caricatures. Fortunately, the casting director was able to find two actors who have become real-life one-dimensional caricatures (Perry and Campbell). The real tragedy here is that there are some great supporting actors relegated to mindless supporting roles. I usually divide movies into categories: see it at the theater, wait for the video, or wait for it to come on television. This film deserves a whole new category--wait until you find someone that needs to be tortured.

The good news is that there is another film playing that, while a bit light and predictable, is also charming and witty with some great performances. The Story of Us is directed by Rob Reiner (When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men, Princess Bride). Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer play a middle-aged couple who have lost that lovin' feeling and don't know what to do about it. The plot line is predictable, but there are some great scenes along the way, and some witty lines scattered throughout. Rita Wilson has one of the more memorable scenes as she skewers thoughtless males everywhere. There are some wonderful montage sequences with great accompaniment by Eric Clapton.

The Story of Us is not great art, but it is a timely story told with a wonderfully wry sense of humor and some excellent pacing throughout. Willis and Pfeiffer are at their charming best, and it is worth sitting through the entire movie just to see Michelle Pfeiffer's speech at the end of the film. If you are trying to choose between these two films, the choice is clear. Reiner's The Story of Us is a solid triple while Three to Tango strikes out with just three pitches.

Solaris (2002)

Soderbergh's Solaris

[8/10 · 8 July 2018]

Steven Soderbergh is the second great director to film an adaptation of the highly acclaimed novel by Stanislaw Lem. The late great Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky made the first version of the film in 1972. This version is written, directed, photographed, and edited by the rising star Steven Soderbergh. Astute observers of cinema will recognize Soderbergh as the director who had two films nominated for best picture in the same year (Erin Brockovich and Traffic).

From the previews one might expect a sci-fi space film in the tradition of 2001: A Space Odyssey. This film is actually better seen as a film about the landscape of the mind that happens to be set in outer space. George Clooney plays a psychiatrist and widower who attempts to deal with his grief by burying himself in his work. He is called away from his routine when he is asked to investigate a crisis in outer space. Two astronauts have died, and the survivors have sent back messages that are mysterious and a little scary. The psychiatrist is dispatched to solve the mystery and fix the crisis.

Here he encounters an astronaut known as Snow, a delightful character full of quirks and tics. It took me a while to place the actor, but I finally recognized him as Jeremy Davies, the actor who played Corporal Upham in Saving Private Ryan. Davies gives one of the great supporting performances in the film, but the real sizzle in the acting department comes from Clooney and Natascha McElhone, the actress who plays Clooney's dead wife.

Playing a dead wife might not seem especially challenging but therein lies the rub. When Clooney awakens after his first night on the spaceship, he discovers a live version of his wife in bed right next to him. Clooney soon discovers that the two surviving astronauts in the spaceship have had similar experiences. People go to bed and wake to find people that they have lost and long to see, next to them in bed.

What we have told to this point could almost be gleaned from the previews. To tell more of the plot is to spoil the suspense that is an important part of the experience. If the viewer choosing this film is looking for an extraterrestrial shoot-em'-up he or she will be sorely disappointed. As a love story and psychological thriller, Solaris works quite well and Soderbergh solidifies his status as one of the great directors working in film.

Serendipity (2001)

A Fun Frolic

[7/10 · 8 July 2018]

Roger Ebert is America's most powerful and most respected film critic. In fact, he is the only critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for film criticism. He has an encyclopedic grasp of film history and his writing is witty and full of insights. But sometimes he's wrong. For example, he thought Rocky IV was a great movie and that The Mission was completely undeserving of the critical acclaim it received. His response to Serendipity is the latest case in point.

I am usually somewhat sympathetic to the charge of implausibility and a few too many coincidences in a film. This is Ebert's primary criticism. Serendipity, by its very title, takes fate and coincidence as its central theme. It is clear from the beginning that it takes this theme very lightly and with tongue firmly implanted in cheek. Implausibility is therefore a given.

John Cusack plays Jon Trager, a New Yorker who meets Sara Thomas (Kate Beckinsale) while fighting over the same pair of gloves at Bloomingdales. They are immediately attracted to each other, but they are both involved with others at the time. The chemistry between them is clear from the beginning but Sara comes from the Doris Day school of destiny (as in "que sera, sera-what will be, will be"). Sara has Jon write his number on a $5 dollar bill that she spends. If it comes back to her someday, she will know. She says that she will write her name and number in a book that she will sell to a used book dealer. If he finds it, he will know. Initially, this seems like an extremely creative kiss-off, but we are sure they are meant to be together.

As in all romantic comedies, the suspenseful question is never will they get together. The question is always how. The suspense is built quite nicely and Cusack and Beckinsale have excellent help from interesting supporting characters. In many ways, this film reminds me of what we might get if we crossed Notting Hill with Sleepless in Seattle.

Serendipity is directed by British director Peter Chelsom, but in plot and style it reminds me of the work of Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail). This is the first screenplay for Marc Klein whose previous credits are mostly as assistant to the director for the film While You Were Sleeping.

If you're looking for deep discussions, rent Memento on video or DVD. If you are interested in something fun, witty, and charming, Serendipity is worth a look. Roger Ebert is still my role model, but sometimes he just gets it wrong.

Return to Me (2000)

You've Gotta' Have Heart

[8/10 · 7 July 2018]

The old song says "you've got to have heart" and heart is what this film is all about. Crusty curmudgeons beware; this film is dripping with romantic sap. If you're a sucker for implausibly perfect romances (I am) this is two hours well spent. If your hero is Ebenezer Scrooge you will absolutely hate this film.

David Duchovny plays Bob Rueland, owner of a successful construction company and husband of Elizabeth, his beautiful, charming wife. Early in the film, the couple is in an auto accident. She does not survive. He does, but in body only. If you think of the grieving Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle you've got the picture here.

Minnie Driver plays Grace Briggs, an invalid desperately in need of a heart transplant. The end of Elizabeth's life provides a new beginning for Grace. Some time later, Grace and Bob meet but neither of them are aware that the heart that he is missing is the heart that beats inside of her. Who will realize it first? How will it affect their relationship? These are the questions that drive the film through the second act.

The real heart of the film is relationships. The splendid ensemble cast is part of what makes this film work. The supporting characters are rich portraits of "urban villagers" in ethnic Chicago. Grace is a waitress at an Irish-Italian pub where her grandfather (Carol O'Connor) and his friends play poker and argue about which country produced the greatest singers. The Irishman argues for Bing Crosby, the Italian friend comes up with Sinatra, Martin, Lanza, and more, and the Polish friend is left with Bobby Vinton. I grew up in a Chicago neighborhood where most of my classmates were Polish, Italian, or Greek. I remember similar debates between Myron Dyzurko, Angelo Benedetto, and Quincy Barteslewski. This geriatric "gang of four" is part of the charm of this film, the Chicago setting just adds to it.

Minnie Driver is charming as Grace, but she gets great support from the second tier. In addition to the fearsome foursome, Bonnie Hunt reprises her role as supportive best friend. Hunt has played similar roles in Jerry Maguire and Only You and she is perfect for this part. Jim Belushi plays her husband and provides some great humor throughout the film. But Hunt is ultimately the star of this show since she is one of four people given credit for the story, one of two given credit for the screenplay, and is the director of record. Hunt's direction is occasionally unconventional but her timing is flawless and the end result is wonderful.

This is not a profound film or even a great film, but it is certainly fun and will warm the heart. This film will be of no help if you need a heart transplant, but if you happen to be in need of a tune-up, you might want to give it a try.

Random Hearts (1999)

Random Hearts Hurts

[7/10 · 7 July 2018]

Two people who have never met are suddenly brought together when their spouses are killed in a plane crash. The tragedy is compounded when these two people discover that their spouses were flying to Miami together to continue an adulterous affair. The real tragedy, however, is the collection of talented people that were assembled to make this overly long and ponderous melodrama.

Harrison Ford plays the internal affairs detective whose wife is killed in the crash. Kristin Scott Thomas (Four Weddings and a Funeral, The English Patient, The Horse Whisperer) plays the congresswoman whose husband is killed in the same crash. As they come to discover the ways in which their lives were intertwined in the past, they become romantically intertwined in the present. These are two of the hottest stars working in film, and their contribution to the effort is one of the brighter moments in the film. There are some great moments here in terms of acting.

The cinematography in this film is also worthy of note. Phillipe Rousselaut won an Academy Award for his cinematic vision in A River Runs Through It, and his vision is just as sharp here. There are a number of shots here that would be worthy of a frame and some space on a wall.

The real weakness of the film is its meandering plot and its torturous timing. We're never sure until the end if this is a mystery film, a romance film, or even a detective film. There is an uninteresting and unnecessary subplot involving police corruption that I suspect resulted from basic laziness on the part of the screenwriter. The wretchedly slow pacing may be the result of an overly ambitious editor who decided that everything had to stay.

Random Hearts is directed by one of the great directors of the past two decades. Sydney Pollack has given us Tootsie, Out of Africa, and The Firm to name but a few. Sadly, this film does not have the wit and charm of Tootsie, the epic scope of Out of Africa, or the edge-of-the seat suspense of The Firm. It has a few moments of clever dialogue, but the basic story line is muddled, mundane, and/or mushy. Perhaps the real problem with the pacing is that Pollack also plays a minor role in the film as the congresswoman's spinmeister. If Pollack the director had had the courage to fire Pollack the actor, it might still have been muddled, but it would have been shorter.

The Rainmaker (1997)

Coppola Does Grisham

[9/10 · 7 July 2018]

The first questions I ask in reviewing a film are "was it a story worth telling", and "was it a story well told." Given the artists involved in making the Rainmaker, it should come as no surprise that this film gets a solid yes on both counts. John Grisham (author of A Time to Kill, The Firm, the Client, etc.) is one of the hottest novelists writing today, and Francis Ford Coppola (Godfathers I & II, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders) is one of the great directors of the last twenty years. I knew Grisham had crafted a story worth telling when I read his novel. Fortunately, Coppola handles the material well and turns out one of the best adaptations of a Grisham novel yet.

As is the case in many of Grisham's novels, the hero is a young struggling lawyer just out of law school. But in the Rainmaker, young Rudy Baylor (Matt Damon) is stuck with a law firm that specializes in ambulance-chasing and haunting the halls of hospitals in search of potential clients. When the head of the firm runs afoul of the law, Rudy joins forces with self-described "para-lawyer" Deck Shifflet (Danny DeVito), and the pair strike out on their own.

Their only real client is Dot Black (Mary Kay Place) whose son, Donny Ray, is dying from leukemia. Donny Ray needs a blood transfusion, but the insurance company has refused to cover it. This sets the stage for a real David v. Goliath showdown, with Danny DeVito almost stealing the show as the "sling-carrier" for our 20th century David. John Voight plays Leo F. Drummond, the insurance company's attorney, and does an excellent job of making it easy for us to dislike him and the company he represents. Claire Danes plays a battered wife-and eventual love interest for young Rudy-in a subplot that seems a bit hurried and underdeveloped at points.

One of the things that makes this movie so enjoyable is its smallness. In an era of star vehicles and special effects thrillers, it's a welcome change to watch a film that is simply a good story well-told. There is no over-the-top super performance, and there are no dazzling special effects, but the film is chock-full of solid performances by excellent actors (including Danny Glover, Teresa Wright, Randy Travis, and Roy Scheider). Coppola is known as the director who turns unknowns into stars. He seems to have continued the trend with rising star Matt Damon in the lead role. The Rainmaker is an engaging story with a timely theme, and in Coppola's hands becomes a story well-told.

Pay It Forward (2000)

Inspired Moments . . .

[8/10 · 7 July 2018]

Last week I reviewed a film called The Contender. The title would have been even more appropriate for this week's film Pay It Forward. In the 1954 Oscar-winning film On the Waterfront Marlon Brando has a great speech in which he says, "I could've been a contender, instead of a bum, which is what I am." I left Pay It Forward thinking a great deal about what it could have been.

The premise is engaging. Kevin Spacey plays a middle-school teacher who challenges his students to come up with a strategy for changing the world. One of his students, Trevor, comes up with the interesting idea that is the heart of the film. He says that we worry about paying people back when they do us a favor--maybe we should pay it forward. He decides that he will do something for three different people, instructing them each to do something positive for three other people instead of paying him back. If this exponential altruism catches on it might just change the world.

One of Trevor's not-so-random acts of kindness is to get his mother together with his teacher. Trevor is an only child living with an overworked alcoholic mother. His teacher is a single man with a badly scarred face. He knows that they would be good for each other and does everything he can to get them together.

There are, of course, complications. The primary weakness of the film is best described by quoting Richard Foster. Foster tells of a publisher who responded to a manuscript by saying "this is original and creative . . . unfortunately the parts that are original are not creative, and the parts that are creative are not original." Once we get past the engaging premise the film becomes a virtual compendium of cliches. We move back and forth between the chain of altruism and the budding romance but both plot lines are chock full of melodramatic machinations.

The sad thing is that with a little better writing this could have been an excellent film. The performances are outstanding. Kevin Spacey is excellent as always, Helen Hunt gives one of the best performances of her career, and Haley Joel Osment proves that he is, pound for pound, one of the best actors working.

I liked the film overall, but I really wanted to like it more than I did. In this season where we are drowning in the politics of self-interest, anything that encourages civility and compassion is a refreshing change. My expectations were so high that I left a bit disappointed. I am hoping that if I lower your expectations you might see it and like it more than you thought you would. It would please me greatly to do you that small favor. If it does work out that way, no need to thank me or pay me back, just pay it forward.

Runaway Jury (2003)

A Runaway Hit

[8/10 · 7 July 2018]

Runaway Jury is the newest legal thriller based on a novel by John Grisham. For those who slept through the nineties, Grisham novels have sold more than sixty million copies making Grisham the best selling author of the past decade. Grisham is one of those authors I can't wait to read, and I am usually reading his latest novel as soon as it comes out.

This is the first adaptation of a Grisham novel in quite a while. The author is one of a handful of authors who retains a great deal of control over the filmed adaptations of their works. This includes final approval of cast, directors, and script. I suspect he's fairly happy with the outcome of this latest adaptation.

Gary Fleder directs with a sure hand and manages to keep the story moving quite well. Fleder also directed Kiss the Girls, and Don't Say a Word. Both of those films were high energy and charged with suspense. The same is true here. It is a tribute to the filmmaker that I was on the edge of my seat at several points in spite of the fact that I had already read the book.

Some of the credit for the suspense goes to the cast. Gene Hackman plays a high-powered high-tech jury consultant who uses every means possible to help his clients get the verdict they want. Dustin Hoffman plays the attorney representing the plaintiffs-the family of a man killed in a workplace shooting. The case under consideration is a lawsuit against the gun manufacturers who made the gun used in the shooting. In the novel, the case was about the tobacco industry but tobacco lawsuits are passé, so the change of topic helps the film feel more relevant.

In the end, the basis of the suit doesn't matter, because the story is really about the judicial system itself. John Cusack plays one of the jurors and works with an accomplice on the outside to sell the verdict to the highest bidder. Cusack, Hoffman, and Hackman turn in excellent purposes with Hackman giving us some of his best work in a while. This is Hackman's third appearance in a Grisham adaptation (The Firm and The Chamber) and he does a great job of playing the guy we love to hate. Hoffman is excellent and almost understated as the attorney who believes in justice and due process almost the point of being naïve.

The basic premise of the film stretches credulity at points, and the tone of the film teeters between skepticism and cynicism about the judicial system. The only major distraction for me involved casting. The actor who plays the judge who presides over the trial played the sheriff in another courtroom drama, My Cousin Vinny. I kept waiting for Joe Pesci to pop up. This minor point aside, Runaway Jury is a well-crafted legal thriller that should be a runaway hit.

Panic Room (2002)

Simple plot with some nice flourishes

[7/10 · 7 July 2018]

Sometimes it's easier to enjoy a movie if you start with relatively low expectations. Panic Room is directed by David Fincher (Seven and Fight Club) and stars two great actors who are capable directors in their own right (Jodie Foster and Forrest Whittaker). Because of this my expectations were fairly high, perhaps unreasonably so.

Jodie Foster plays a wealthy divorcee with a teenage daughter. As they are looking at a house they are considering buying in New York, they discover that the house has a unique feature-a hidden room surrounded in concrete and steel. The room comes complete with sophisticated surveillance equipment, a direct phone line and a variety of supplies designed to facilitate survival in the case of a siege.

What they don't know is that the house has another secret, a hidden treasure worth millions of bonds. The person who does know this enlists the aid of two henchmen to help him find the hidden treasure. They think they are entering a vacant house. When they discover otherwise, the complications unfold-enter the panic room.

One of the henchmen (Forrest Whittaker) has spent the last 12 years installing safe rooms for wealthy people. He knows the ins and outs, and he knows that the treasure they want is locked in the panic room with the two rightful inhabitants of the house.

This is an intriguing premise with some interesting symbolism. The safe room that keeps the bad guys out soon becomes a prison that keeps the good guys in. A similar premise was developed in the film The Last Castle when Robert Redford compares castles and prisons. Same basic design, it's just that one is designed to keep people out, the other designed to keep people in.

The film has some excellent cinematography and some great editing. Jodie Foster and Forrest Whittaker turn in great performances as would be expected. Kristen Stewart does an excellent job as the teenage daughter. The other characters are, unfortunately, cartoon cutouts. So much so that at points the film looks a bit too much like Home Alone.

Don't get me wrong. The film is suspenseful and has some outstanding elements. Jodie Foster continues to be one of the top actors working today and her performance here is compelling. In spite of the aforementioned flaws, the film really is worth a look-especially if I have helped lower your expectations.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)

Inspired moments, but . . .

[6/10 · 7 July 2018]

I like films where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. In the best films, individual elements of the film are good, but the dynamic synergy between the pieces is so good that something magic happens and some good pieces of film coalesce into an outstanding work of art. This, alas, is not the case with Once Upon a Time in Mexico. There are some great scenes, some very good performances, and some individual elements (cinematography and editing) that are very good. But in the end the film is a predictable story with a muddled narrative and occasional flashes of brilliance sprinkled liberally around.

One of those flashes of brilliance is Johnny Depp as a CIA agent who is charged with restoring order in Mexico. In an early scene in the film, agent Sands is explaining the importance of order as he eats dinner at a restaurant. He explains that he has been eating pork in restaurants all over Mexico and that the pork at this restaurant is so delicious and so good that he will have to kill the chef so that balance is restored to the order of things.

This scene is reflective in some ways of many of the parts of the film. Johnny Depp has made a career of playing offbeat or quirky characters (Edward Scissorhands, Benny and Joon, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Chocolat, Blow, etc.). He steals the show here just as he did in Pirates of the Caribbean. I actually like the bizarre elements of this scene because it shows the folly of using disorder to restore order.

Unfortunately, deep themes are relatively scarce here, and while the folly of violence is questioned here, it is celebrated without reservation throughout most of the film. To observant students of film this will come as no surprises. This film is actually the third in a trilogy that started with El Mariachi and Desperado. Antonio Banderas reprises his earlier role and does an excellent job. Roger Ebert compares these films to Sergio Leone's "spaghetti westerns" A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.

As a celebration of kinetic energy or as homage to beautifully choreographed acts of violence, Once Upon a Time in Mexico is stunning. There are excellent supporting performances by Salma Hayek, Willem Defoe, and Mickey Rourke. But in the end we are left with a film that is shallow and hollow or-- in the words of a pretty decent playwright--"full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Nurse Betty (2000)

Nurse Betty is in Critical Condition

[5/10 · 7 July 2018]

Nurse Betty is a film about a meek waitress and wife who is thrown into bizarre circumstances and responds in an equally bizarre fashion. Rene Zelwegger plays the waitress who is married to a domineering, boorish used-car salesman. Her husband is also up to his ears in illegal wheeling and dealing unbeknownst to his wife. Betty deals with the dreariness of her day-to-day life by losing herself in a soap opera, and by fantasizing about one of the characters in the soap (a debonair doctor played by Greg Kinnear).

When something happens to her husband, Betty snaps and projects herself into her soap opera fantasy world. She leaves town and drives to Los Angeles looking for the object of her affections. The two criminals who had dealings with her husband pursue her to LA so that they can tidy up loose ends.

In one sense, this film is a standard crime/suspense film. A deeper look reveals a slightly more complex story line about the increasingly thin line between fantasy and fiction on the one hand and the "real world." In this sense, Nurse Betty is a postmodern film with much in common with films like Fargo and Pulp Fiction. The rapid movement between tender moments, funny scenes, and gruesome scenes is standard fare in films with postmodern sensibilities, so much so that the device is already a bit of a cliché.

Nurse Betty also has much in common with films like EDTV, the Truman Show, and Pleasantville. All of these films deal with the postmodern obsession with virtual reality and simulated reality. There are some interesting issues raised in the film and there are clever turns in the story line. The real strength of the film is the superior performance by Rene Zellwegger and the great supporting performance by Morgan Freeman as the hitman with a heart of gold.

The greatest weakness of the film is also in the acting. Chris Rock plays Morgan Freeman's partner and basically plays the same obnoxious character that he played in Lethal Weapon 4--a film that has earned a special place on the list of films I despise. This film has some merit, and could generate some interesting conversations about our media-obsessed society and how it connects with what Thoreau referred to as our "lives of quiet desperation." While I like the basic theme and was impressed by some of the performances, I did not find it as interesting as Pleasantville or as engaging as The Truman Show. When you add the gruesome violence and other gratuitous insertions in Nurse Betty, most viewers would probably have a better time with the video version of one of the films mentioned above.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Wit, Words, and Windex

[8/10 · 6 July 2018]

By the time this goes to press My Big Fat Greek Wedding will have set a box-office record for an independent film. The question that begs to be answered is why? There is no epic love story, no superhero, no psychiatrist-turned cannibal, and no guns-blazing action. So how did this low-budget independent film make its way to the top of the box-office heap? What is it that has audiences going back for more? I think it's because there is no epic love story, no superhero, no psychiatrist-turned cannibal, etc. That is, this could be about the family next door.

I know, growing up in Chicago (where the movie is set), I lived next door to a Greek family, and dated a Greek-American girl who was afraid to tell her parents she was dating a non-Greek. This is the central problem in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Nia Vardalos, the author of the play on which the movie is based, plays Toula Portokalos, a 30-year old "seating hostess" at the family restaurant. Toula is still single and this makes her a failure of sorts in the eyes of her extended family. The good news is that she falls in love and the guy loves her too. The bad news is that her new love is not Greek, and marrying a non-Greek is the only thing worse than being single.

There's not much suspense in how this story ends. The title is a dead giveaway. But the real excitement and charm is in the telling. This film reminded me of two other romantic comedies, While You Were Sleeping and Return to Me. But this film manages the same humor and charm without resorting to plot devices like rescuing a man thrown on the train tracks or finding out that your new love has your dead wife's heart.

Like those stories, much of the charm comes from the quirky family and friends. Michael Constantine is especially good as Toulah's father, a man who believes Windex can cure anything and all words are derived from Greek. Unlike those movies, this one has an air of plausibility. The characters seem like real people, and while the situations seem strange at points, they are close enough to possible that the viewer is easily caught up in the tale.

In an era of special effects razzle-dazzle and movie spectaculars, I enjoyed this small film with a big heart. If you, like me, are bored with all of the formula films, give this one a chance. Just be sure to take some Windex in case you hurt yourself laughing.

The Mummy (1999)

The Mummy for Dummies

[6/10 · 6 July 2018]

In Joseph Boggs' book The Art of Watching Films, Boggs suggests that we should consider the level of ambition of a film in evaluating that film. That is, we shouldn't criticize Sleepless in Seattle for not being Schindler's List. Sleepless in Seattle set out to be a sweet romantic comedy and achieved that goal quite nicely. Stephen Sommers' The Mummy appears to have been spawned with a fairly low level of ambition in mind. The good news(?) is that the director achieved his goal. About the only saving grace of this film is that it doesn't take itself too seriously.

The Mummy is loosely based on the Boris Karloff classic from years gone by. Brendan Fraser plays Rick O'Connell, a soldier of fortune, who knows the way to a famous lost city in Egypt. Rachel Wiesz plays Evelyn, a librarian and would-be archaeologist who joins forces with O'Connell and a few other cliches to find the city and uncover hidden treasures. In trying to uncover the treasure they unleash a curse (guess who) and yotta yotta yotta . . .

One of the few bright spots in the film is John Hannah in a supporting role as Evelyn's brother. Hannah's previous films include Four Weddings and a Funeral and Sliding Doors. His part is more slapstick sidekick here but he carries it off quite nicely. There are some excellent special effects, but I am frankly more than a little weary of films that put special effects where the plot is supposed to be. Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz do okay in their roles, but their roles are really not worth much effort.

In the end, The Mummy looks like the offspring of a misbegotten marriage between Raiders of the Lost Ark and Ghostbusters. Unfortunately, it's not as funny as the latter, nor as exciting as the former, and ends up being a "C minus" grade B film. There are a few scenes that make it inadvisable for kids under thirteen. The rest of the scenes make the film inadvisable for anyone with an IQ greater than that of the average four year-old. Next time out writer-director Sommers would do well to set his sights just a little bit higher.