Ever After - * * 1/2*

Posted on July 24, 1998 by Madeleine Williams

Ever After...A Cinderella Story

The fairy tale of Cinderella has been retold many times over the years. However, it isn’t often that such a retelling results in a film as revisionist in Ever After. Eliminating the fantastical elements (pumpkins and fairy godmothers), while enhancing the romantic angle, Ever After strives to recast the fairy tale as a misunderstood episode in history. The result works surprisingly well.

According to this version, “Cinderella” was just a demeaning nickname applied to the young Danielle (Drew Barrymore) by her cruel stepsisters. Danielle’s father died shortly after marrying the evil Baronness Rodmilla (Anjelica Huston). Rodmilla takes pity on Danielle and raises her as a pathetic servant girl.

Danielle’s stepsisters, Marguerite (Megan Dodds) and Jacqueline (Melanie Lynsky), are, of course, pampered little snobs. Rodmilla is grooming them for a potential match with the eligible Prince Henry (Dougray Scott). However, after a chance encounter with Danielle, Henry is smitten.

Danielle finds herself in the awkward position of playing a charade. She pretends to be of noble birth and worthy of a prince’s affections. All the while, she struggles to conceal her blossoming relationship from Rodmilla.

This updated telling of the Cinderella tale actually works much better than it seems. Despite its anachronistic class attitudes, Ever After manages to create a lushly realistic backdrop for its timeless tale.

There is, however, one critical flaw in the story which Ever After never addresses. Why does the social climbing Baroness Rodmilla deign to marry Danielle’s low-born father. It’s a crucial question which underlies the film’s themes of class inequality. However, the film shies away from ever providing a substantive answer.

Drew Barrymore delivers a fair performance as the lead. She’s definately more headstrong than most previous Cinderellas. But she’s also unconvincing at times, particularly during weepy scenes.

At least, she has a reliable supporting cast to lean on. Dougray Scott provides an admirable romantic interest, and Anjelica Huston is perfectly cast as the wicked stepmother.

Romantics will no doubt enjoy Ever After, easily overlooking its flaws. Others who attend will find, while not a perfect film, one which is better than they hoped.

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Disturbing Behavior - * *

Posted on July 24, 1998 by Madeleine Williams

Disturbing Behavior

There’s a nugget of a good thriller hidden deep inside Disturbing Behavior, just waiting to get out. Unfortunately, it never gets a chance, and is instead buried in pseudo-thrilling moments mostly borrowed from bad horror films.

Retreating from troublesome family issues, the Clark family moves to the seemingly peaceful town of Cradle Bay. There, eldest son Steve (James Mardsen) is expected to fit in with his classmates in high school. However, there’s something strange going on under the surface.

Even though he doesn’t seem to fit in with them, Steve is immediately initiated by the paranoid druggies. His tour guide is Gavin Strick (Nick Stahl), who, along with his albino buddy U.V. (Chad E. Donella), is convinced that the preponderance of “perfect” students in the school is the result of some sort of conspiracy.

You see, the letter-jacket wearing “popular” crowd are all part of a program called the “blue-ribbons”. It’s a goody-two-shoes study group, in which the members gather at the local yogurt shoppe, listen to a little Wayne Newton, and study for those Straight-As. Oh yes, if that weren’t unnatural enough, they are occasionally beset by “toxic jock syndrome”, wherein they suddenly fly into an unexpected homicidal rage. The strange thing is, most of the “blue-ribbons” were once perfectly normal misfits, just like Gavin.

Steve isn’t quite convinced, nor is token girlfriend Rachel (Katie Holmes), whose role it is to look rebellious, but fall head over heels for Steve anyway. However, to add further suspicions, Steve also has encounters with the overly slick school psychiatrist Dr. Caldicott (Bruce Greenwood) and the delightfully mad janitor Newberry (William Sadler).

Disturbing Behavior is at its best when analyzing the differences between the various archetypical high school social groups, but at its worst when it devolves into an oh-so-typical horror yarn. A more interesting movie would have played up the paranoia inherent between school cliques, and possibly eliminated the homicidal angle altogether. What if we weren’t so sure from the first moments of the film that there is a conspiracy at work here? Well, we’ll never know, as the film takes the easy way out, by extinguishing intriguing ideas with a douse of nonsensical horror blather.

Many of the “shocks” in the film aren’t really shocking at all, when you stop and think about them. However, the film does have a suitably creepy atmosphere going for it. Even if there are no true thrills, it feels as if one may be lurking around the corner. Too bad it never comes.

James Mardsen seems, well, too “blue-ribbon” to fill the role of the outsider. Nick Stahl does a much better job, and should have been given the lead here. Katie Holmes is spunky enough in a punk-goth way, despite the fact she doesn’t have much of a character.

Disturbing Behavior isn’t as bad as it could have been, but it wastes plenty of potential as well. Creepy, but never scary (unless you count some horrid dialogue snippets), the film just doesn’t leave a lasting impression.

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The Mask of Zorro - * * *

Posted on July 17, 1998 by Madeleine Williams

The Mask of Zorro

After quite an extended absence from the screen, Zorro has returned in the brand new adventure. The Mask of Zorro typifies what a good summer popcorn movie can be: an action-packed adventure with an actual plot and interesting characters!

The film opens in the final days of the Mexican revolution. The Spanish governor of California, Don Rafael Montero (Stuart Wilson), has done his best to oppress the people and support the aristocracy. The people’s only hope comes from the masked swashbuckler, Zorro (Anthony Hopkins). Don Rafael vows to destroy Zorro with one final plan, before he is forced to leave his governorship.

Flash forward twenty years. Don Rafael has returned to California, now under Mexican rule, with a new scheme that will enable him to rule once again. Twenty years older, Zorro is in no shape to oppose him… so Zorro sets about finding a replacement.

He finds Alejandro Murieta (Antonio Banderas), a common thief in whom he spies the seeds of talent. But can Alejandro learn the talents of Zorro in time to defeat Montero’s evil schemes? And can he place the needs of the people before his own personal quest for vengeance?

Both Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas are impressive as the respective Zorros. Both men embody a certain air of adventure appropriate for the role. Hopkins gives the elder Zorro wisdom, whereas Banderas is given a much broader range, from comedy to romance.

Cast as the younger Zorro’s love interest, Catherine Zeta-Jones is able to keep apace with the fiery Banderas, whether on the dance floor or in a seductive swordfight. The weakest links would have to be the villains, Stuart Wilson as Don Rafael, and his crony Capt. Harrison Love (Matt Letsher). They are not poor adversaries, but neither can hold a candle to Zorro.

Director Martin Campbell, who directed Goldeneye, approaches The Mask of Zorro with much the same style. The end result feels much like a period-set Bond film, starring a suave superhuman hero, and filled with outlandish stunts. This approach actually works refreshingly well, and puts to rest the notion that any modern Zorro film would have to seem dated.

The stuntwork throughout The Mask of Zorro is superb, with the high point being the film’s numerous swashbuckling sequences. Sure, at times things tend to get a little unbelievable, but you are too swept up in the film’s atmosphere to notice.

In a mostly disappointing summer (so far), The Mask of Zorro is finally a summer movie that lives up to its promise.

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Pi - *

Posted on July 10, 1998 by Madeleine Williams

Darren Aronofsky makes his directoral debut with this uneven paranoid thriller, pi. It’s filled with plenty of new concepts and ideas, but also with a healthy dose of pretension.

Max Cohen (Sean Gullette) is a brilliant mathematician on the borders of madness. He theorizes that since mathematics is the language of nature, everything can be comprehended purely and completely on the basis of numbers. The key to understanding is to find the patterns that underlie everything.

To confirm his theories, Max builds an archaic/state-of-the-art computer system to crunch numbers on the stock market. Once he discovers the key, he should be able to predict stock prices at will. But things don’t work out as smoothly as he plans.

He keeps running into a peculiar bug, one which may have caused his mentor, Sol (Mark Margolis), to give up mathematics completely. In addition, he is being hounded by a rabid Wall Street exec (Pamela Hart), as well as Lenny Meyer (Ben Shenkman), a man who believes Max’s number crunching can lead to the understanding of God.

Aronofsky has talent. It’s not every writer-director who could combine topics as diverse as Fibbonacci numbers, phrenology, Kabalah, Chaos Theory, numerology and Go into a single coherent (if not terribly accurate) film. Plus, he is able to go a long way on a low budget, producing some striking cinematography as he goes.

However, despite all of that, pi fails as a film. There are two stories in the film (Max and his theories, and Max and his descent into madness), but neither one is satisfactory. The former is implausible, strains credibility, and is ultimately pointless. The latter is more interesting at times, but while it certainly gets disturbing at times, it’s all style and little substance.

Part of the problem rests with Sean Gullette. As the lead character, he is rather bland (particularly as a “mad mathematician”). None of the actors in the film give stellar performances, but in an introspective storyline, Gullette’s performance is key, and not quite up to par.

pi is stylistically interesting, but empty overall. There’s a thin line between genius and incomprehensible madness. The film falls solidly in the latter camp.

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Small Soldiers - * * *

Posted on July 10, 1998 by Madeleine Williams

If Toy Story told the story of what would happen if everyone’s favorite childhood toy came to life, then Small Soldiers tells the story of what would happen if today’s violent action figures sprung to life. The result is a violence-filled kids movie, which has its moments of creepy fun.

The mayhem begins when a defense contractor, Globotech, buys up the Heartland Toy company. Toy designers Irwin Wayfair (David Cross) and Larry Benson (Jay Mohr) use the latest military computer chips to design the ultimate toys: fully interactive action figures called the Commando Elite, and their monstrous enemies, the Gorgonites.

However, Globotech never foresaw the consequences. When the Commando Elite leader Chip Hazard (voiced by Tommy Lee Jones) activates, he will stop at nothing to destroy the Gorgonites and anyone allied with them.

That anyone happens to be young Alan Abernathy (Gregory Smith) and his neighbor Christy (Kirsten Dunst). Alan’s dad owns a small toy shop, and Alan manages to talk his way into getting the first shipment of Commando Elite and Gorgonite action figures. However, soon he has an all out war on his hands…a war which could turn deadly for his family and friends.

Director Joe Dante, who also directed Gremlins, has applied many of the same touches to this movie. The general theme (peaceful suburbia destroyed by violent little creatures) is the same, and there are several other little details which add to the same feel.

The animation is simultaneously well done and crude. The integration of the action figures into the real world is done superbly. However, the action figures themselves (made of rigid plastic) have very few expressions. As a result, the characters never truly come alive as in, say, Toy Story.

The filmmakers did a good job in voice casting. In addition to Tommy Lee Jones, Frank Langella is cast as Archer, the lead Gorgonite. Rounding out the Commando Elite are Ernest Borgnine, George Kennedy, Bruce Dern, Jim Brown, and Clint Walker. Spinal Tap’s Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer provide additional Gorgonite voices.

The humans are mostly secondary characters. Gregory Smith and Kirsten Dunst are somewhat bland as the leads. However, Kevin Dunn and Phil Hartman add some levity as the kids’ respective fathers.

But let’s not kid around…the center of a film like small soldiers are the toys and the havoc they wreak. At times the film is a bit subversive in its humor, and a little violent for the youngest set, but mainly it is just plain fun.

The violence is mostly toy violence (hence no blood and guts). However, there are a few intense scenes here and there (but all tamer than Gremlins).

Small Soldiers doesn’t pack as much ammo as some of the bigger action flicks this summer. However, it has a bigger punch than a few I could mention.

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Madeline - * * *

Posted on July 10, 1998 by Madeleine Williams

Madeline

This adaptation of Ludwig Bemelmans’ classic children’s book, Madeline, is mostly faithful to the original. Unfortunately, the alterations are the film’s weakest link.

Hatty Jones stars as the title character, an orphaned girl adopted by the church, and attending a girl’s school in Paris. The headmistress is the kindly Miss Clavel (Frances McDormand), who has a sixth sense when something isn’t quite right.

And something often isn’t right, whether the independent-minded Madeline is getting into some sort of trouble, or the school’s chief benefactor (Stephanie Audran) is on her deathbed and her cruel husband, Lord Covington (Nigel Hawthorne) plots to sell the house.

At times, the film threatens to devolve into Home Alonesque nonsense. But, luckily, the film stays above that level and comes up with more creative ways to solve its dilemmas.

Nearly all the familiar scenes from the book are stuffed in the movie at one point or another. For only being 90 minutes long, the filmmakers did a good job of putting everything in, without the end result feeling overstuffed.

Performances throughout are pleasant, but no one really stands out from the work. Hatty Jones is neither annoying nor endearing in the title role.

Those expecting a thrill ride of a movie are apt to be disappointed by this comparatavely bland film. Still, Madeline offers a nice alternative to the standard summer fare.

Fans of the book will be adequately pleased by this interpretation. However, besides being a nice movie, the film has little to offer those toward the book series.

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Lethal Weapon 4 - * *

Posted on July 10, 1998 by Madeleine Williams

Lethal Weapon 4

After an absence of six years, the Lethal Weapon series delivers its fourth installment. However, this rushed production shows many signs of a rushed production and overall wear.

It’s been over ten years, and the ready-to-retire Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) still hasn’t left the police force. Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) still has psychological issues over his dead wife. But the majority of their problems have already been solved in sequels past, and it is obvious the writers were in a crisis over what to have them do.

So, they turned to several staple television gimmicks. Lethal Weapon 4 is full of pointless subplots involving pregnancy, marriage, rumors and deception… The franchise has become a soap opera for the action set!

The film brings back its most popular characters (even though it doesn’t know what to do with them). Leo Getz (Joe Pesci) returns as an annoyingly incompetent private eye. And Lorna Cole (Rene Russo) returns as Riggs’ pregnant girlfriend (a sad turn from her meatier role in the third installment).

And if coping with existing characters weren’t enough, they introduce a new young cop: Lee Butters (Chris Rock) who, though he gets to do a stand up routine or two, never quite fits in.

The plot, if you could call it one, involves illegal Chinese immigrants used for slave labor. The heavy this time around is Jet Li, in his American film debut, and easily the best thing about this fourth entree.

Jet Li’s action sequences in the film are simply spellbinding (and really the only thing worth the price of admission). Sure, he doesn’t have more than a paper thin character…but when the kicks start flying, you don’t really care.

There are a few other worthy action sequences. (One highway chase scene is entertaining…but somehow familiar.) However, it is obvious this is a series in decline. None of those scenes compare with the similar action sequences in the first two films (though a case could be made against the third outing).

The characters are getting tired as well. The Riggs and Murtaugh banter just isn’t quite as fresh as it was ten years ago. Even Leo Getz has become more shrill and irritating than humorous.

But for the martial arts, Lethal Weapon 4 would have been completely pathetic. Jet Li’s moves may be fun to watch…but they can certainly wait for video.

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There’s Something About Mary - * * * 1/2*

Posted on July 9, 1998 by Madeleine Williams

Peter and Bobby Farrelly (the creators of Dumb and Dumber, and Kingpin) have turned their sights onto a romantic comedy. And in There’s Something About Mary, the masters of bad taste have managed to create a surprisingly good film, their best work to date.

Ben Stiller plays Ted, a writer, who is still struggling with a teenage crush formed thirteen years ago. Back then, he, a pathetic loser, fell in love with Mary (Cameron Diaz), the most beautiful girl in school. Alas, fate intervened and kept them apart, but Ted has been stricken ever since.

Following the advice of his best friend (Chris Elliott), Ted hires a sleazy private detective named Pat Healy (Matt Dillon) to track down his long lost love. However, when Pat finds her, he discovers there’s something about Mary that makes just about every man fall in love with her. Pat decides to forget about Ted and pursue Mary himself.

This may sound like your typical run-of-the-mill romantic comedy, but don’t be fooled. The Farrelly brothers have applied their unique comic sensibilities, and manage to toe one step further over the line.

There’s Something About Mary is crude, vulgar, offensive, and in exceedingly bad taste, but it’s painfully funny. Not every joke hits its intended target, but plenty of them do.

Unlike the previous Farrelly films, the characters aren’t merely stupid people doing stupid things. Instead, there’s actually some time spent developing the characters. Granted, they still are pretty flat, but it is a giant step forward. Surprisingly, the additional depth makes the humor all the more funny (because we’re finally able to see it in contrast).

The cast is outstanding. Ben Stiller manages to inspire just the right amount of pity for his pathetic loser. Matt Dillon makes appropriate amounts of slime seethe from his pores. And Cameron Diaz…well, she fills the role. She doesn’t get to enjoy the comic romping of her costars, but she simply radiates charm.

If you are easily offended, skip this one, for there’s something here that’ll offend even the most jaded moviegoer. However, if you’re open for low humor (and this one gets as low as it goes), There’s Something About Mary may be the funniest movie you’ve seen in quite a while.

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Armageddon - * *

Posted on July 1, 1998 by Madeleine Williams

Armageddon

Armageddon, the second of this year’s death-from-above thrillers (the first being Deep Impact), has entered our atmosphere. And though it hardly fizzles out in the atmosphere, it is far from being a global killer.

Just to give you an example of the differing paces of Deep Impact and Armageddon, the former film detected the incoming comet with a roomy two years to spare…in Armageddon, the asteroid is detected with only 18 days to impact. To counter the threat, NASA creates a plan, gathers a crew, trains the crew, readies not one, but two Space Shuttles for the mission, and launches them all within that narrow window. You can tell realism is not the object here.

NASA head honcho Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thorton) realizes he needs a drilling team to plant a mega-nuke inside the asteroid’s belly. For some reason, even though the asteroid is “as big as Texas”, they only need to drill 800 feet to get to the very center. But in any case, they need a master driller to head the operation. Enter Harry S. Stamper (Bruce Willis) and his team of overly colorful roughnecks.

Of course, where would the dramatic tension be without a pointless romantic subplot. This is provided by Harry’s daughter, Grace (Liv Tyler), who’s in love with Harry’s right-hand-man A.J. (Ben Affleck). Now, I have yet to become a fan of Liv Tyler, and have yet found no proof that she can actually act. This film gives no exception.

The one thing the film does have going for it is its special effects. The destructive shots as mini-showers pelt major cities are spectacular. Comparatively, the space scenes are nothing special, and even border on bland. The filmmakers seem to recognize this however, and periodically throughout the film they treat us to an intermission of another city being leveled. (Though, you begin to wonder why the asteroids only target urban areas.)

Director Michael Bay has been previously criticized for his music-videoesque directing style of constant motion and quick cuts. However, while not an appropriate style for all films, it certainly fits the action thriller. However, in Armageddon, the effects are a little more disorienting than in, say, The Rock. Particularly once you reach the asteroid where everything is gray and spiky, and everyone is wearing identical spacesuits. It simply gets difficult to identify the characters in the quick shots (a frustrating thing when death is involved).

The action sequences are exciting at times, though the film is hampered when it attempts to find a human villain. The military subplot that’s thrown in is just plain ludicrous. The action sequences never quite leave you completely satisfied, but you’re never bored either.

The acting in the film is par for the course. Most of the characters are one-dimensional quip machines…but they’re funny one-dimensional quip machines. Billy Bob Thornton strives for, but never quite reaches the level of Ed Harris’ similar role in Apollo 13. Bruce Willis handles himself capably, yet again, as an action lead, though this is far from his best character-driven work.

The wafer thin plot of Armageddon can’t hold up to any scrutiny whatsoever. Deep Impact may have been shallow at times, but at least it covered more of the bases.

Still, with its pleasing eye candy and the occasional moment of humor, Armageddon is not a total disaster. But then again, it doesn’t rank up with the best of escapist fare either.

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Out of Sight - * * *

Posted on June 26, 1998 by Madeleine Williams

Out of Sight

Elmore Leonard has quickly become one of Hollywood’s favorite authors. Out of four film adaptations in as many years, the witty and inventive Out of Sight gives Get Shorty a run for its money as the best Leonard adaptation around.

George Clooney stars as Jack Foley, a nice bank robber…you know the type, he uses his charm and his wits rather than a gun. But even charming guys end up unlucky, and Jack ends up in jail. But not for long. He plots an escape with the help of his best friend, and fellow robber, Buddy Bragg (Ving Rhames), and their slow-witted pothead associate, Glenn Michaels (Steve Zahn).

But Jack didn’t count on U.S. Marshal Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez). Appearing at the right place at the wrong time, Karen gets involved in Foley’s escape attempt and the subsequent manhunt to bring him in. However, Karen develops a rapport with Jack Foley, and finds that she begrudgingly likes the guy. But, can love prosper on opposite sides of the law? Or can Karen straighten out Jack before he goes too far in pursuit of just one last crime.

Clooney, who has had a string of solid, but never stellar, film roles, delivers his best performance to date. He blends into his role here perfectly as the risk taking Jack Foley, who’s willing to gamble everything on the chance that Karen Sisco might be his true love.

Jennifer Lopez does an excellent job as well. She actually has a trickier role than Clooney, as a woman who has to balance her emotions with her sense of duty. She and Clooney develop good chemistry together.

The film boasts a superb ensemble. Steve Zahn gives a hilarious performance, and steals nearly every scene he’s in. Don Cheadle is appropriately sinister as a violent ex-con who may or may not be teaming up with Foley. Albert Brooks is enjoyable as a white collar criminal who talks too much for his own good. Out of the cast, only Dennis Farina seems underused as Karen’s ex-lawman father.

Steven Soderbergh gives the film sharp and stylistic direction. With an affectation for freeze frames, he delivers a unique take on the film’s action and love scenes that places Out of Sight a notch above routine crime films.

A recurring series of flashbacks makes the film seem more complex than it actually is. Devoid of its bells and whistles, Out of Sight is actually a fairly straightforward crime story. However, there are only a few spots in the film that seem bare, and they pass quickly.

With smart dialogue, good characters, and an excellent cast, Out of Sight easily smoothes over the rough spots in the plot and delivers on both the action and romantic fronts.

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