'little Indian, Big City'

'Executive Decision'

Rated PG

few days in the wild, Marchado
agrees to escort Mimi back to
he promotional packet for Paris so that the boy can see the
Little Indian, Big City de- "big city." Once in the city, Mimi
scribes the film as a warm- is climbing the Eiffel Tower,
hearted family comedy. skewering pigeons and tranquil-
Although I wouldn't quarrel with izing anyone who obstructs his
the "family film" moniker, more path to adventure.
apropos adjectives would include
In spite of the chaos, or maybe
dimwitted and lighthearted.
because of it, father and
Little Indian, Big City
son forge a bond; and
MOVIES
is a comedy only in the
Marchado begins to
broadest sense of the word.
reevaluate his priorities
The film follows Stephan Mar- and lifestyle.
chado (Thierry Lhermitte), an af-
Little Indian, Big City wears
fluent Parisian businessman, as out its welcome in less than 15
he seeks out the wife who left him minutes. It aims for outrageous,
13 years earlier for the Amazon but only achieves annoyance.
rain forests.
Marchado has re-
cently become engaged
and cannot finalize his
divorce without a sig-
nature from his es-
tranged wife. Upon his
arrival in the jungle, he
learns that his wife was
pregnant when she left
him, and has raised
their son, Mimi-Siku
(Ludwig Briand), in ac-
cordance with the local
When Mimi-Siku (Ludwig Briand), a primitive young
culture.
Indian, comes to Paris, he turns his father's (Thierry
Essentially, Mimi is a Lhermitte) well-ordered life upside down.
wide-eyed little Tarzan
with a mischievous streak that
After viewing Little Indian, Big
would intimidate Dennis the City, I read that the film is one of
Menace. He climbs like a monkey the biggest hits in the history of
and has a particular fondness for French cinema. Then I remem-
knocking people out with poison bered that the French also wor-
blow darts. He's the typical boy ship Jerry Lewis.
next door, but only if you live in
112
the jungle.
After spending a harrowing
—Richard Halprin

Rated R

til its spectacular climax. The ac-
tion builds up very nicely into a
hen CIA think-tanker
real nail-biter and then explodes
David Grant (Kurt Rus-
in a fury, just as we might expect
sell) struggles to land a
from the same team that collab-
small plane during fly-
orated on the brilliant 1987
ing lessons at the beginning ofEx-
thriller Predator.
ecutive Decision, an airborne
Russell and Seagal are pros at
action/thriller, we immediately
making uninspiring dialogue and
know who will ultimately be at
ridiculous situations fun to watch;
the controls of the
Suchet, meanwhile,
film's terrorist-laden
looks and acts the part
747 with 400 passen-
of a terrorist to near
gers aboard.
perfection.
In fact, Executive
So, if you consider
Decision is just what
Die Hard one of the
we hope for in a pic-
best films ever made,
ture featuring Russell,
you will probably be
Steven Seagal and a
satisfied with the com-
plane five miles off the
parable suspense and
ground: edge-of-the-
action ofExecutive De-
seat, pulse-pounding
cision. However, if Air-
fun.
plane! is more your
Like most success-
thing, then don't be
ful action movies, Ex-
deceived by the simi-
ecutive Decision
lar (though barely)
uncannily reflects the
premise: rotten fish
times. A plane has Halle Berry and Kurt Russell try to save 400 passengers ab
and deadly terrorists
oard a 747
been hijacked by ex- from terrorists.
determine the out-
tremists with the se-
come of a film in
rious gripe that their leader has to his intelligence expertise, the starkly different ways.
been nabbed by U.S. feds. And reluctant Grant is drafted by
qt. ,® I/2
these aren't just any terrorists: Special Forces Leader Austin
They are led by the bitter second- Travis (Steven Seagal) to come
— Dan Zimmerman
in-command of their ruthless or- along for the ride. Other team
ganization, Nagi Hassan
members include Rat (John
(David Suchet), whose
Leguizamo), Cappy (Joe
MOVIES
personal agenda is a com-
Morton) and Cahill (Oliv-
Outstanding
plete mystery.
er Platt). Jean (Halle
This isn't just any plane either: Berry), a flight attendant, is the
Very Good
c*')
It has been loaded with DZ-5, the sole reliable contact in the main ®c)N
most deadly nerve gas known to corridor above.
Good
man. With the 747 heading to-
Executive Decision is really only
ward Washington, D.C., Grant a run-of-the-mill action movie un-
Fair

W

T

JULIE EDGAR STAFF WRITER

M

illionaires, killers, thrill-
seekers and exiles —
Gary Glaser has gotten
acquainted with them
all lately.
As a filmmaker, he's been able
to work his way into their worlds,
capturing pieces of their stories
in two documentaries that will be
screened at 7 p.m. Wednesday,
March 27, on the campus of
Wayne State University.
The proud and often funny Bor-

derline: The Story of 8 Mile Road

premiered at the Metropolitan
Film Festival last month to an en-
thusiastic response at the Magic
Bag Theatre. Glaser co-produced
and wrote the script with Dave

Toorongian.
Part of the obvious fun is in see-
ing familiar sights and characters
like the Michigan State Fair and
Mr. Belvedere (aka Maurice
"Buddy" Lezell). But Borderline
also explores larger issues of di-
vision — Glaser sees Eight Mile
as a literal and metaphorical di-
viding line — like segregation and
racism.
In it, Glaser, 45, of Oak Park,
follows a neighborhood associa-
tion that battled to shut down a
nearby topless bar, and visits the
"squeegee man" who spends his
nights in a makeshift shelter
along Eight Mile Road and his
days cleaning windshields.

Bagel Barometer

Glaser's heart, and
not just because he
poured a lot of sweat
and blood into it
without much corn-
pensation. He was
reared in a neighbor-
hood south of Eight
Mile Road when
most of his friends
had already moved to
the suburbs.
Borderline is ac-
tually the second
documentary Glaser
Borderline: The Story of 8 Mile Road was co-produced
made after return-
and written by Gary Glaser and Dave Toorongian.
ing home from Los
Angeles in 1993.
"It's our area being defined by Forgotten Voices, a report on a
people who live in this area," writing-poetry program in the
Glaser said ofBorderline. "It's not Western Wayne Correctional Fa-
CNN talking about Detroit, it's cility that he made with Gus Ca-
not ABC News talking about De- landrino, took much longer to
troit. If Detroit's going to have a finish because he ran out of mon-
renaissance, it's got to start with ey. It focuses on the self-discovery
our self-esteem.
of four inmates, three of them lif-
"It goes a long way to show ers, who participated in a creative
we're vibrant, we can get along, writing program sponsored by the
we have a sense of humor."
Ann Arbor-based ArtsGrowth.
The documentary is close to
"The hair on the back of your

PHOTO BY J AMES HOOD

Two Sides Of Reality

has to make a tough call: Does
Hassan plan to trade the pas-
sengers for his leader or does he
have another more sinister mo-
tive?
By using the latest technology,
a rescue team/bomb task force
can be transported to the hull of
the massive jet before the plane
can get too close to home. And due

neck stands up. The stuff they
write is bare-bones," Glaser said.
"It's an intense examination of the
therapeutic nature of art. We see
hardened killers break down and
weep."
Glaser was able to get funding
from the Public Benefit Corpora-
tion and Oakland County Cable
Communications Company (0C-
4) to complete both films. He said
both will be shown on WTVS-56
at the end of the year.

Borderline will be shown at
7 p.m. Wednesday, March 27,
at DeRoy Auditorium on the
campus of Wayne State Uni-
versity, followed by a panel dis-
cussion with poets M.L. Liebler
and Lolita Hernandez; Jerry
Herron, director of American
Studies at Wayne; Gaiy Glaser,
and ArtsGrowth director
Jacquelyn Spring. The event is
sponsored by Left Bank Publi-
cation, WDET-FM and Public
Benefit Corporation. Tickets are
$4 or $3 for students and se-
niors. Call (313) 417-7456. ❑

CO
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CD
CC

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