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1467-3999
25290 GREENFIELD North of 10 Mile Rd.
CATERING FOR ALL OCCASIONS
MORT AT THE MOVIES
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TUES. THRU SAT.
4:2
ROY
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362-1262
Concourse, Top of Troy •- 755 W. Big Beaver
ihz Aa'new
Lemon Peel
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Also the Best Place to Unwind
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HOURS: Monday - Saturday 11-2 a.m., Closed Sunday
575 S. Hunter (Woodward) • Birmingham • 644-0588
IRVING'S
DELI & FAMILY DINING
IN LA MIRAGE MALL
29555 NORTHWESTERN HYW. BET. 12 & 13
352 3840
-
BREAKFAST SPECIALS 7 DAYS TILL 11 a.m.
FRIED $178
MATZO I
LOX, EGGS, &
ONIONS $ 98
Bagel, Roll or Toast
TUESDAY THRU FRIDAY FROM 5 p.m.
WHOLE ROAST CHICKEN
FOR TWO
INCLUDES: COT. FRIES, COLE SLAW & BREAD BASKET
.
$65
DINNER SPECIAL—FEB. 6 THRU FEB. 12
WHOLE
STUFFED CORNISH HEN
INCLUDES: SOUP OR SALAD, VEG.
AND BREAD BASKET
58
mommilms
Dinner 4 p.m.-1 a.m.
Lunch 11 a.m.
Friday, February 6, 1987
$498
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
MORT ZIEVE
What Outrageous Fortune
(rated: R) has, in the first place,
is a very good script. It has a
strong action plot that moves.
(Remember, that's what
movies are supposed to do!) It
has fresh characters. It has
funny dialogue.
I start with the script be-
cause a good, strong script is
what's missing from so many of
today's pictures. Millions in
production are lavished on
non-existent concepts, boring
characters, and predictable
dialogue.
Not so here. There's a won-
derful script. And there's Bette
Midler.
I have to confess right at the
outset that I am a Bette Midler
devotee. I think she is an ex-
traordinarily gifted actress.
Now, I've chosen my words
carefully. I didn't merely say
she is a gifted comedienne, be-
cause she is so much more than
just that. Did you see her in
The Rose? What a range she
displayed!
In Outrageous Fortune, Mi-
dler is indeed The Divine Miss
M. She does all her shtick, all
the campy put-on that makes
her the Mae West of the '80s.
Opposite her is Shelley
Long, famous on TV's Cheers.
Long does a wonderfully comic
turn here.
I laughed a whole lot, as did
most of the audience when I
saw this one. It's an improba-
ble comic fantasy that should
surely delight you.
Platoon (rated: R) is another
winner, way over at the other
end of the theatrical spectrum.
You've doubtlessly read some
of raves or the Time magazine
cover story. In this case, I agree
with the critics and publicists:
this is a tremendous achieve-
ment.
There has been a lot of con-
troversy as to how accurate a
depiction of the Vietnam War
this is. Pauline Kael, of the
New Yorker for example, de-
nigrates the authenticity of
Platoon, saying its version of
the war is just as theatricalized
as most of its genre. Vietnam
veterans have taken public
positions on both sides of the
argument.
Be all that as it may. As a
film, whether or not it is histor-
ically accurate, it is overpower-
ing. For the first time I felt the
chaos, the frenzy, the fear of a
gruesome guerilla war. The
characters all jumped out from
the screen in their reality.
These are no stock Hollywood
heroes and villains, no buddy-
buddy teams performing
superhuman feats. These are
real men, with all the virtues
and faults of real people placed
under a terrible, terrifying
pressure.
Platoon is one of the
strongest anti-war arguments
I have ever seen. It is shaping
up, deservedly so, as a box-
office blockbuster.
Bedroom Window (rated: R)
is an exciting thriller, some-
what on the light side. It owes
more than its title to Alfred
Hitchcock's Rear Window.
Much of the plot outline and
many of the elements seem to
be an homage to Hitchcock.
Some of our savants have de-
rided the movie for being a
puerile imitation of Hitchcock.
But this is unfair, unneces-
sary, and like all comparisons,
odious.
Let's face it, gang. Alfred
ain't here any more. He's gone
to the great studio in the sky.
So there just won't be any more
of his films.
And when we get one that's
as entertaining as Bedroom
Window is, let's just sit back
and enjoy it, for what it is.
Steve Guttenberg is the
charming, slightly innocent
good guy who gets himself in a
mess by trying to protect his
married mistress.
Isabelle Hupert is appropri-
ately sophisticated, selfish,
and Gallic as the mistress.
Elizabeth McGovern, as a
street-wise waitress, gives
probably the best performance
in the film.
The Mission (rated: PG) is
high-minded but not suc-
cessful. The film-makers' mis-
sion was to show us how horri-
ble the Spanish and Portugese
acted toward the native In-
dians in South America in the
18th Century. By extension,
this would apply to how Euro-
peans and Americans have
generally treated indigenous
native populations. Specifi-
cally, it can be taken as a
metaphor for our cruel adven-
ture in Central America right
now.
While. all this is laudable,
the unfortunate fact is that the
script just isn't good enough.
Robert Bolt, a marvelous
writer with a string of huge
successes, is credited (or should
I say, charged?) with the script;
but it just doesn't make it.
Or did Bolt play a part
somewhere along the way and
have his work bowlderized by a
troop of Hollywood hacks?
There's always a problem in
doing these historical things as
to how the characters should
speak. Should they use the
phony, quasi-historical kind of
stilted speech that makes us
believe that this is an ancient
time? Or, should they speak
contemperaneously?
The decision here was to
have them speak in modern,
contemporary terms. And it's a
flawed decision.
It's extremely disconcerting
to see characters in 18th Cen-
tury garb, in elaborate 18th
Century settings, talking like
they're lunching at the London
Chop House.
There are a lot of good things
going for The Mission: two ex-
cellent actors in the central
roles, Robert DeNiro and
Jeremy Irons; and there is
some breath-taking photog-
raphy. There is an especially_
effective use of music. There is
a large and mostly good sup-
porting cast. (Except for the
"bad guy" Spanish Governor
who seems to have come out of
a Star Wars production.)
The Mission is worth seeing.
It's too bad that it doesn't
achieve its objective because of
a damaged script. But it does
offer many satisfactions.
GOING PLACES
Continued from preceding page
CHILDREN
SESAME STREET LIVE: Cobo
Arena; now through Sunday,
Save Our Street, admission.
567-6000.
PEANUT BUTTER PLAYERS:
Austin Hall, 18000 E. Warren,
Detroit, The Electric Sunshine
Man, 1 p.m. Saturdays and
Sundays through April 26, ad-
mission, reservations, 559-
6727.
THEATER
DOWNTOWN DINNER THEA-
TER:Veterans Memorial Build-
ing banquet hall, They're Play-
ing Our Song, presented by
Jimmy Launce Productions,
cocktails 6:30 p.m., dinner at 7,
curtain at 8:45 today, every
Friday and Saturday, admis-
sion, reservations, 224-6000.
BIRMINGHAM THEATRE: 211
S. Woodward, Birmingham,
Nunsense, 8 p.m. today and
Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, ad-
mission, 644-3576.
HILBERRY THEATRE:Wayne
State University, A Delicate
Balance 8 p.m. today and
Saturday, As You Like It, 11
a.m. Tuesday, admission,
577-2972.
ATTIC THEATRE: 7339 Third
Ave. at West Grand Blvd., Ma
Rainey's Black Bottom, now
through Feb. 15, admission,
875-8285.
MEADOW BROOK THEATRE:
Oakland University, Roches-
ter, A Flea In Her Ear, 8 p.m.
Thursday through Feb. 22,
admission, 377-3300.
THE VILLAGE PLAYERS: 752
Chestnut, Birmingham, The
Children's Hour, 8:30 p.m.
today and Saturday, admis-
sion, 644-2075.
WOODS PLAYERS: Hun-
tington Woods Library, The
Good Doctor, 7:30 p.m. Wed-
nesday, free.