Thursday, April 25, 1996
"The Truth about Cats and Dogs"
Written by Audrey Wells
Directed by Michael Lehmann
Starring Uma Thurman, Janeanne Garofalo and Ben Chaplin
Some things are difficult to believe, but with good acting, a
little romance and a lot of comedy, people can see almost anything
as the truth.
In "The Truth about Cats and Dogs" for example, an unlikely
story becomes believable with Michael Lehmann’s entertaining and
persuasive direction.
The charming tale centers around Abby (Janeanne Garofalo), who
has everything going for her except her looks. When she tries to
avoid an uncomfortable encounter with Brian (Ben Chaplin), a caller
on her radio show, she directs his attention toward Noelle (Uma
Thurman), the beautiful blonde in her apartment building. He
believes he has found the ideal woman, but in reality has stumbled
upon two friends who end up pretending to be perfect inside and
out.
Chaplin’s performance as Brian, a sexy and sensitive man who
unknowingly falls head-over-heels in love with two women, leaves a
lasting impression. In his character’s struggle to uncover the
mysteries behind his seemingly faultless love interest, Chaplin’s
smoldering glances and tortured expressions bring Brian’s emotional
turmoil to life.
As Abby, the character with a perfect personality, Garofalo
delivers witty remarks laden with enough sarcasm to sink a small
city. Behind her character’s self-doubt, Garofalo reveals enough
intelligence and charm to prove that her character’s mind rivals
the beauty of the physically flawless Noelle.
Playing model and aspiring news broadcaster Noelle, Thurman does
her best to breathe life into her character. But by no fault of her
own, Thurman’s persona as Noelle misses the realistic presence that
characters Brian and Abby share. Thurman’s personality-lacking part
is entertaining, but her disinterest in intellectual pursuits is a
violent loser of a boyfriend and occasionally embarrassingly ditzy
lines, is too stereotypical to be seen as anything more than a
hollow shell of a person.
The plot of the film is difficult to buy into, especially when
Brian has the gullibility and naïveté of Lois Lane. In
some of the more outrageous circumstances, it is easier to believe
in Superman’s costume as Clark Kent than Brian’s stupidity.
But among scenes riddled with romance and comedy, it is
difficult to nit-pick over character and plot development. The film
has too many clever lines and magical moments to be dismissed for
its unrealistic storyline.
Emily Forster Grade: B
"Stalingrad"
Directed by Joseph Vilsmaier
Written by Joseph Vilsmaier, Johannes Heide and Jurhen
Buscher
Starring Thomas Kreischmann, Jochen Nickel, Sebastian Rudolph
and Sylvester Groth
A long strand of anti-war films runs through cinematic history.
There are modern classics such as "Apocalypse Now" and "Platoon,"
and most recently, the German production "Stalingrad."
Written and directed by acclaimed German director Joseph
Vilsmaier ( "Herbstmilch," "Rama Dama"), "Stalingrad" explores the
moral and spiritual decay of a small group of German soldiers. The
story fictionalizes the gruesome 1942 battle to seize the Russian
city of the same name. But it is not the war, or its victories,
that are important. It is the men.
The film begins with the soldiers on leave, happy and carefree
while they drink and play cards on a sunny Italian beach. This
freedom quickly ends when the men are suddenly sent to the battle
of Stalingrad. The blue of the ocean becomes the stark, gray tones
of war. For the remainder of the film, there is barely a splotch of
color. Its effect is to move the viewer through the moral decline
experienced by the soldiers  and its power is chilling.
Lieutenant Hans Von Witzland (Thomas Kreischmann) is young and
idealistic, and his only reason for participating in the war seems
to be his desire to continue his family’s military history. He
leads his troops into battle, and his idealism fades when only 62
of his 400 men survive. As the film progresses, Hans’ group
dwindles down to a kind, loyal soldier named Fritz, a young fighter
nicknamed Gege and the aggressive, angry veteran Rollo. The men are
forced to travel together from the bloody ditches of Stalingrad to
the stark, white plains of Siberia. During this journey they come
to realize the cruelty and hypocrisy of warfare.
Vilsmaier rivals Francis Ford Coppola and Oliver Stone with his
ability to create the void and loneliness of war on the screen. He
focuses his camera on the faces of the men instead of showing off
his skill with exaggerated explosions and over-dramatic heroism.
Instead of portraying war as physical action, he brings the
emotions and psyches of the individual soldiers to the surface. His
screenplay, written with Johannes Heide and Jurhen Buscher, is both
poetic and horrifying.
The director gets a lot of help from the cast. The actors embody
a wide range of talents, but they all possess an enigmatic and
unforgettable presence on screen. "Stalingrad" may not be
uplifting, but it is a piercing look at war’s ability to destroy
the spirit, and the mind, of soldiers.
Dina Gachman Grade: A
"Sunset Park"
Written by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld and Kathleen McGhee-Anderson
Directed by Steve Gomer
Starring Rhea Perlman, Fredro Starr and Carol Kane
If you were one of the legion that plunked down hard-earned cash
to see "Dangerous Minds" last year, then you must humbly accept
some responsibility for "Sunset Park." This new film is another
inner-city high school melodrama in the tradition of the
aforementioned Michelle Pfeiffer vehicle, and if getting no
surprises and nothing new out of a film is your idea of a great
time at the movies, then drop what you’re doing and queue up at the
nearest multiplex right now.
The story of "Sunset Park," which has been told so many times it
needs a serial number, is how one high school faculty member who
cares can make a difference in the lives of ghetto youth. The
basketball court is the center of this yarn’s attention, and the
new coach is Phyllis Saroka (played by "Cheers" alum Rhea Perlman)
who doesn’t at all fit the profile of a winning coach. The players
rankle at her appointment as their coach not just because she’s a
white chick (since that would simply be aping "Wildcats"), but
because she demonstrates no knowledge of the game besides the fact
that the ball goes in the basket.
Phyllis isn’t some ex-Peace Corps do-gooder who takes the job to
touch young lives (heavens, wouldn’t that be sacchariny); she
simply wants to earn enough cash to buy a bar and escape the public
school system. But surprisingly enough, a funny thing or two
happens on her way to the tavern of her dreams.
The players, led by Shorty (played with conviction by Onyx
hip-hopper Fredro Starr), all present Phyllis with an array of
challenges besides the main objective of getting the team to win
games. Add to it a throbbing and eminently marketable hip-hop
soundtrack, and you have all the ingredients a studio feels
comfortable gambling on.
Besides being wholly unoriginal, the stories of the teammates
fail to catch your interest since we’ve seen it all before and done
better. Perhaps director Steve Gomer and screenwriters Seth Zvi
Rosenfeld & Kathleen McGhee-Anderson should have taken studious
notes while watching episodes of "The White Shadow." That ’80s
television series achieved a decade and a half ago what "Sunset
Park" only makes a lackluster attempt at.
Brandon Wilson Grade: D+
"Mulholland Falls"
Directed by Lee Tamahori
Written by Pete Dexter
Starring Nick Nolte, Chazz Palminteri, Chris Penn, Michael
Madsen, Melanie Griffith and John Malkovich
This police drama, based on 1950’s tough guys named the "Hat
Squad," has a lot of potential. There’s murder, sex, love, car
chases  all the prerequisites for a blockbuster.
Unfortunately, all this promise got lost along the way.
The story by Pete Dexter, who penned 1992’s "Rush," is
intriguing at first. It seems like "Mulholland Falls" is going to
swerve off that standard, boring path of big Hollywood films, but
the detour doesn’t last long. The squad is led by Max Hoover (Nick
Nolte) Â who gets to mumble all the cheesy one-liners because
he’s the boss. Hoover’s team consists of Coolidge (Chazz
Palminteri), Eddie Hall (Michael Madsen) and new kid Arthur Relyea
(Chris Penn). The guys set out to solve the brutal murder of
beautiful, big-breasted Allison Pond (Jennifer Connelly). She got
mixed up with some ruthless guys known as the Atomic Energy
Commission, and her death sets Hoover and the boys face to face
with some powerful competition.
This film undoubtedly has star power. It also has Hoover’s wife
Katherine (Melanie Griffith) saying to her moaning husband, "Max
 don’t drool on me Max." Pretty heavy dialogue. Nolte, who
usually gives a powerful performance, sounds like a grunting,
groaning animal in this movie. It doesn’t even make him rough or
sexy. It just makes him seem a little unhealthy.
Adding to Nolte’s death bed charm is Palminteri as  once
again  a tough guy. But in "Mulholland Falls" he’s a
different kind of tough guy. His character is supposed to provide
some comic relief as an over-eating, sensitive cop who is seeing a
female psychologist. His constant cracks about his therapy
sessions, and the annoyance they cause to the stoic Hoover, fall
flat. The actor tries way too hard to get some laughs, and it
shows.
One acting triumph in "Mulholland Falls" comes from the always
captivating John Malkovich. He plays General Thomas Timms, Chairman
of the Atomic Energy Commission. The character has few scenes, but
when he is on camera coldly philosophizing about death and
destruction, the weakness of the rest of the film is forgotten.
Malkovich is the only member of the cast that truly becomes his
role, and his small part almost saves the film.
A final disappointment comes from New Zealand director Lee
Tamahori, who made a memorable feature debut with the critical hit
"Once Were Warriors." Tamahori jumped from independent to
big-budget movies too quickly. He is a perceptive, original
filmmaker, but "Mulholland Falls" doesn’t allow him to show it. If
Tamahori goes back to a more creative project, and casts Malkovich,
he might produce another work of art. For now, he has to sit with
"Mulholland Falls."
Dina Gachman Grade: D-
Uma Thurman and Ben Chaplin in "The Truth About Cats and
Dogs"
(left to right) Fredro Starr, Antwon Tanner, Anthony Hall, Rhea
Perlman and James Harris in "Sunset Park"
Melanie Griffith and Nick Nolte in "Mulholland Falls"
Vilsmaier … focuses his camera on the faces of the men instead
of showing off his skill with exaggerated explosions and
over-dramatic heroism.