Friday, January 17, 1997
"Albino Alligator"
Directed by Kevin Spacey
Starring Matt Dillon, Faye Dunaway
Considering his resume, one would assume Kevin Spacey is a great
director. After impressing audiences with theater stints in
Shakespearean productions and disturbingly convincing film roles in
"Swimming with Sharks," "Usual Suspects" and "Seven," Spacey should
understand the filming process well enough to skillfully direct a
picture.
But anyone who makes this assumption will be disproved after
watching Spacey’s directorial debut. In "Albino Alligator," a
melodramatic character study, Spacey proves why good actors do not
necessarily make good directors.
Set almost entirely in a hole-in-the-wall bar, the film follows
Dino (an oddly cast Matt Dillon), his brother (an even more
strangely cast Gary Sinise) and his sadistic partner-in-crime (a
convincingly evil William Fitchner) as three criminals who, after a
clumsy screw-up and a car crash, hole up in the bar to heal their
wounds and clear their heads. But when the police find their car
and surround the bar, Dino and his brother and partner’s only hope
for escape is to keep the bar’s customers and bartender (a
typically over-dramatic Faye Dunaway) as their hostages. For the
rest of the film, the stiff camera shots and lack of changing
scenery make for a basically dull movie.
The film is quiet, almost apologetic in the way these stock
characters predictably unfold. The only unique role in the film is
Dillon’s too-immoral-to-like, too-charismatic-to-hate character.
But Dillon’s clean features are a little too handsome for the role
of this dark, brooding criminal caught between his brother’s
honorable ideals and partner’s understandable desires.
And Faye Dunaway is too weepy and whiny to take on the role of
the tough barmaid eager to save herself and her customers. Her
nervously shifting eyes and random tears surface when her lines
indicate that she is the least afraid. Yet she remains dry-eyed
when slapped around by Dino and confident when threatened with her
life. Her performance is overdone and, for the role she plays,
inappropriate.
The character-heavy, action-deprived movie is more like a play
than a film. And with a lack of impressive performances and little
directorial ingenuity, this bland film is an unnecessary blight on
Spacey’s otherwise impressive career.
Emily Forster
Grade: C-
"Metro"
Directed by Thomas Carter
Starring Eddie Murphy, Michael Rapaport
Eddie Murphy is smooth. He plays every role with a comfortable
familiarity, perhaps because he tends to play the same role over
and over. He’s sarcastic, quick witted and never stops using that
same characteristic laugh. But it works, which is why Eddie Murphy
is still capable of carrying a movie on his own.
His newest action-comedy, "Metro," falls under the category of
action-cop-with-an-attitude, a la "Beverly Hills Cop" 1, 2 and 3.
Murphy plays Scott Roper, a San Francisco cop who negotiates with
criminals involved in hostage situations. His easygoing lifestyle
takes a drastic turn, however, when he comes up against a criminal
who has a personal problem with Roper. Michael Wincott ("Strange
Days," "The Doors") plays the maniacal killer, Korda, whose eerie
voice and torture techniques scare the once unbreakable Roper.
When Roper realizes that Korda is not the average criminal, he
turns to his rookie trainee, Kevin McCall instead of involving his
department. Michael Rapaport ("Beautiful Girls," "Mighty
Aphrodite") plays McCall, an expert sharpshooter who is recruited
to become a negotiator. Rapaport is quickly becoming a big name in
film, and it is easy to see why with his subtle yet convincing
performance. He works well with Murphy and holds his own against
Murphy’s sharp wit.
"Metro" blends action and suspense with humor quite
successfully, and the action sequences are heart-pounding. No
matter how intense the film gets, Murphy can throw out a one-liner
and it just works.
Interestingly, the previews for "Metro" do the film no justice.
While most trailers can make even the weakest film look bearable,
the clips of "Metro" mainly focus on Murphy’s humor and don’t
address the action portions in their true light. "Metro" is a great
Eddie Murphy standard, and chances are that this film and "The
Nutty Professor" will go down as his comeback duo.
Lori Swingle
Grade: A-
"Beverly Hills Ninja"
Directed by Denis Dugan
Starring Chris Farley, Nicollette Sheridan
It seems Chris Farley likes to play the good-hearted fool. He
did it in "Tommy Boy," he did it again in "Black Sheep," and he
goes for it a third time in his new film "Beverly Hills Ninja."
Aside from running into inanimate objects, Farley adds a few
roundhouse kicks and karate chops as he plays Haru, the Great White
Ninja. Farley is exactly that if you ignore the ‘great’ and
‘ninja.’
The plot is straightforward and simple. Haru must help
Nicollette Sheridan’s character unravel her boyfriend’s evil plot
to counterfeit bills. So Farley travels to Beverly Hills from Japan
to help. Unknowingly, his older brother (played by Robert Shou) is
sent to protect him.
Along the way, Farley runs into things, the directors satirizes
the cultural differences between the two countries, Farley runs
into things, the writers take jabs at L.A., and things run into
Farley. To Farley’s credit, he is excellent at running into
situated objects and it is funny the first few times. But the movie
lacks consistently humorous elements. In several scenes the story
seemed to sag and go no where, especially the Sheridan-Farley
puppy-love sequences.
Since the movie has a predictable plot, director Denis Dugan
could have focused his attention on the sight gags and dialogue,
but instead most of the jokes were as dry as the plot.
There are some rays of light that make the movie enjoyable, like
Farley’s skill of improvising. It should have been used in more
than just the strip club and restaurant scenes, which were
absolutely hilarious. It was too bad the entire movie did not
measure up to these two scenes.
Chris Rock’s limited role as Joey the bell boy added a nice
comic contrast to Farley’s more physical style of comedy. For the
die-hard Farley fan, "Ninja" is a nice showcase of his comedic
skills. For the rest of us, "Ninja" would be best watched with a
fast-forward button.
Trinh Bui
Grade: C+