Thursday, March 19, 1998
Screen Scene
FILM:
"Niagara Niagara"
Directed by Bob Gosse
Starring Henry Thomas and Robin Tunney
If ever there was a more depressing movie, the audience would
just commit a mass suicide. Luckily, "Niagara Niagara" does not
quite cross that line, and the result is a beautifully moving yet
disturbing love story.
It’s the tale of a troubled young couple’s unusual road trip, as
they travel to Canada in search of a rare doll. Seth (Thomas), an
emotionally-starved loner who spends his free time shoplifting,
meets Marcy (Tunney) in a department store where they collide in a
pile of stolen merchandise that they both had taken. She expresses
her strange desire for an African American version of a popular
make-up doll. After a second chance meeting, Marcy impulsively
suggests that they hit the road to find the object of her
obsession. Eventually it’s obvious that Marcy is an unusual young
woman who suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome, an obsessive-compulsive
disorder that produces vocal and physical tics and outbursts.
Throughout the movie, the two must deal with Marcy’s
deteriorating condition after pharmacies deny her feeble requests
for medication; the problems they encounter with people who do not
understand her strange behavior; and their growing love for one
another.
There are no particularly lovable characters in "Niagara
Niagara," although the premise initially suggests that the audience
should cheer for Marcy. But that’s until her violent outbursts
cause the audience to develop an ambivalent feeling toward her. The
audience soon develops an ambivalent feeling toward each of the
miserable characters, and ultimately the story seems better watched
objectively.
Tunney gives an outstanding performance in a physically and
emotionally demanding role. While playing such a volatile character
could easily lead to overacting, Tunney balances the range of
emotions well and allows the audience to truly understand, and
sometimes empathize with, Marcy. Playing with much subtlety and
strength, Thomas is also noteworthy as the more grounded and
practical of the two, although his performance in the beginning of
the movie is a little weak, delivering his lines in a somewhat
unnatural manner that luckily disappears once the film gets
going.
The opening scenes of the film are generally the weakest, not
only because of Thomas’ dull performance, but also because of an
unrealistic plot, in which Marcy and Seth meet under somewhat
forced circumstances. Their friendship seems to be established so
quickly that the audience wonders if they had already known each
other beforehand.
Later in the movie, the couple also goes on a continuous alcohol
and prescription drug binge to which they feel no apparent negative
effects. It is hard to believe that this lethal combination taken
in such large doses would not at least render them slightly
lethargic.
However, "Niagara Niagara’s" dramatic climax and resolution more
than make up for its earlier inadequacies. The intoxicating blend
of music and striking cinematography and interesting dialogue draws
the audience into their sad world and provides for an emotionally
intense, if draining, experience.
Louise Chu
Grade: A-
"Wide Awake"
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Starring Joseph Cross, Robert Loggia and Rosie O’Donnell
This movie is about kids. This movie is about God. This movie is
about single-sex prep schools. But believe it or not, this movie is
about everybody.
While "Wide Awake’s" premise may appeal to a limited audience,
its story is universal. Ten-year-old Cross stars as Joshua A. Beal,
a prep school kid on his first day of the fifth grade, several
months after the death of his beloved grandfather (Loggia). Joshua
has a hard time adjusting to life without his grandpa, although his
yuppie parents (Denis Leary and Dana Delaney) and nun schoolteacher
(O’Donnell) tirelessly try to comfort him with the typical
"you’re-just-a-little-kid" answers. Unsatisfied by their
well-meaning condescensions, feelings of uncertainty and loss
prompt him to embark on a search for God, which takes him on an
adventurous journey characterized by the wide-eyed innocence of a
precocious young boy.
The movie is laced with flashback scenes between Joshua and his
Grandpa that would surely touch anyone who has ever suffered the
loss of a loved one in their childhood.
Each actor gives a strong, heart-felt performance, particularly
Loggia, who is extremely endearing as the sweet, ailing grandpa.
Cross, in his feature film debut, is cute and talented, although
his acting inexperience is evident in scenes when he must show
emotional extremes, such as laughing uncontrollably or crying.
Writer and director Shyamalan’s loosely autobiographical work
has a refreshing blend of humor and poignancy that surprisingly
does not come off sappy until the very end. There are some
hilarious moments in the film that are funny, not necessarily
because it is comic genius, but because they capture the essence of
childhood. Anyone who has been a kid (that would be almost
everybody, right?) is instantly taken back to the moment they first
noticed the opposite sex or the experience of knowing, or even
being, the kid everyone picked on.
"Wide Awake," admittedly, is much more meaningful to those who
can identify to being raised in an upper-middle class, Catholic,
single-sex environment. But its beautifully entertaining story
inspires even the most cynical, world-weary wretch out there. "Wide
Awake" teaches you how to appreciate life, which is something to
which everyone can identify.
The majority of the movie is tolerably sweet, but the end
reminds you why you stay away from kids’ movies. The final 15
minutes are a bit overdone and overly sentimental, and many will
leave the theater puking from the fairy dust. But when the dust
settles, you’ll be glad that you took this much-needed break from
"U.S. Marshals" and "Dark City."
Louise Chu
Grade: A-
"Primary Colors"
Directed by Mike Nichols
Starring John Travolta and Emma Thompson
It really is amazing that we live in a country that allows a
movie like "Primary Colors" to be made. The very premise of the
film, a fictionalized but all-too realistic depiction of the
electoral campaign of the current U.S. president, would rule out
its conception in most other nations.
While it is a testament to the First Amendment that "Primary
Colors" opens Friday in a theater near you, the film itself just
isn’t bold enough to deliver what its first half promises. Instead
of being a harsh satire of American politics and the presidential
rise of Bill Clinton, it opts to play it safe as a genial comedy
and, in its final half-hour, a saccharine melodrama. A film that
could have been as smart and funny as "Wag the Dog" becomes as slow
and mushy as "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."
The somewhat disappointing final product really can’t be blamed
on any one party. The performances are all very good, the writing
is clever and the direction is solid. The real difficulty arises in
the film’s total lack of conviction in itself and its own ideas.
Whereas films like "Wag the Dog" and other political satires have
real messages about the way the political game is played, "Primary
Colors" just wants to have a good laugh at the president and maybe
remind us of just what a great country we live in.
The movie is short on plot. (After all, everyone pretty much
knows the outcome before the opening credits.) Basically, an
incredibly naive and idealistic bureaucrat and campaign worker
(Adrian Lester) joins the campaign of Arkansas Governor Jack
Stanton (Travolta, doing an impressive Clinton impersonation). In a
mad attempt to win the Democratic Primaries, Stanton and his staff
face off against accusations of adultery, drug use and
draft-dodging, as well as a thousand other obstacles.
Perhaps the best thing about "Primary Colors" is the hilarious
performance of Billy Bob Thornton, whose turn as the back-woods,
redneck, good-ol’-boy campaign advisor provides far and away the
most laughs in the entire film. Thornton, who proved his acting
abilities in 1996’s "Sling Blade" now shows that he is capable of
being extremely funny as well. Also giving a winning performance is
Kathy Bates as an old friend of the Stantons enlisted to dig up
dirt on any and all opponents for the Democratic nomination.
Unfortunately, these good performances are wasted in the film’s
final half-hour, which pulls a complete turn-around in tone and
theme from the rest of the film. Whereas the first 90 minutes are
witty and maybe even brutal, the film’s conclusion is sappy,
manipulative and smarmy. The film changes immediately from fun and
enjoyable comedy into silly and condescending melodrama. A
potentially engaging diatribe about politics becomes more like a
"God Bless America" rally.
Lonnie Harris
Grade: B-Henry Thomas and Robin Tunney star as unconventional
lovers Seth and Marcy in Bob Gosse’s "Niagara Niagara."