'If We Are Women' 'Mission: Impossible' T Cr) LU C/) LU CC LU u_i 86 he theme of Joanna McClel- thusiasm and intelligence, at- these women need room to flex land Glass' play If We Are tractive. their emotional muscles.) Women (rounding off the De- In fact, as much as they tell us As Ruth MacMillan, the ma- troit Repertory's "Year of the of their regrets in their own lives, triarch from Saskatchewan, Dee Woman") is like Hammerstein's sometimes almost whin- Andrus is well cast, oh lyric for "Getting to Know You." ing, they are likable. Im- so in touch with her THEATER And like that jaunty, chin-up mensely. If you know memories; Shirley song, its cheeriness belies its se- women, you'll smell the Benyas as Rachel Co- riousness. truth in Glass' play. hen, the bluestocking, If We Are Women is a funny You'll just fill in the is believable as an in- play that skims the cream off the blanks when you get to tellectual and as a milk of pain. Glass has a real "reminds me of ..." heimish hausfrau. knack for language, not just the And so, Yolanda Fleis- (Both were working rhythms of spoken speech, but cher has directed them hard at getting their its inherent beauties, capacity to naturally; they're as lines on opening night, MICH AEL H. deceive and to hurt. comfortable and real as which hampers the MAR GOLIN Glass writes about four a discarded piece of flow a bit.) As Jessica SPECIA L TO THE women: Jessica MacMillan Co- clothing draped across a JEWIS H NEWS MacMillan Cohen, hen is a successful writer from chair back, all the Loretta Higgins has Canada who's divorced from her essence of the occupant still lin- quite an edge of hysteria. She Jewish husband. Her mother-in- gering there. I would like to have closes in on her character. Re- law, Rachel Cohen, is a Jewish seen a bit more of the rhythm cently bereaved (the man she intellectual who sticks to her ex- pumped up: pauses and real has lived with for years has sud- denly died just before the play begins) and fretting over her daughter's way- wardness, she gives a strong, memorable perfor- mance. As Polly, Catherine Worth is marvelous as the least-sympathetic charac- ter. One wants to slap her. Hard. But Glass keeps our sympathies. At play's end, Polly has gone to greet her boyfriend of one night (and the man responsible for her de-flowering) for whom she is insistent on giving up Yale in the fall so she can move to a farm with a guy who has been kicked out of school for selling dope. We know he's going to drop her hard. The two grandmothers, backs to the audience, prepare to meet, smile and hide their feel- ings. Their backs tell the story, braced against bad memories, ready to catch Polly when she falls. Stage lights out. Then the two move to the elaborately set table and each blows out one of the candles. Total darkness. Yolanda Fleisch- er and Joanna McClelland Glass — two women, one mind. Lovely. daughter-in-law with If We Are Women's time are still a great fervor. Jessica's moth- Shirley Benyas and part of the good acting er, Ruth MacMillan, is Dee Andrus, two and direction. an illiterate, no-non- grandmothers in an Four terrific women sense farm woman intergenerational are on the stage at the down from the plains of story. Detroit Rep show, run- Canada on her first air- ning through June 23. plane flight. And finally, Polly (It is a nice set by Richard Smith Cohen, the newest generation: and Bruce Milan, but the stage 18, snotty, intractable, insuffer- is too small to contain some of able and still, because of her en- the histrionic exits called for — Bagel Barometer c ;: t) . 40. __Outstanding Good „ Rated PG-13 Business Cruise got a lot of mileage just by dancing around es, it's got that throbbing, un- in his BVDs? Now he's been mistakable Lalo Schifrin stripped of his Impossible Mis- theme. And superstar Tom sion Force and left hanging out Cruise. Yes, it's got stunts — to dry in a chaotic world full of bullet-train racing (150 mph) suddenly out of work, cold-war through the Chunnel (England to espionage agents all out for them- France), plus choo-choos vs. selves. Sure, there's plenty of copters, and spies vs. counterspies, high-tech surveillance (who's that and agents vs. double-agents, and behind those nifty Foster Grant- treachery and traitors. You know, cams?), top-flight breaking and same old, same old. But basically entering (CIA headquarters, no it's a near-miss on ... Mis- less) and the requisite sion Impossible, the new high-speed pursuit. But MOVIES improbable spy thriller di- whom can you trust? rected by Brian De Palma One of the top secrets be- (The Untouchables). If it only had hind the Mission Impossible Force a heart. is at last revealed — the team's Look for daredevil action sim- salaries. It seems that 60 grand a il sr to the mistaken-identity high year doesn't cut it anymore for jinx of the overlooked thriller If Phelps (Jon Voight). Then, the Looks Could Kill with Richard film's initial mission goes down Grieco. In big-budgeted Mission: the tubes, and Ethan Hunt Impossible, you will be necessar- (Cruise) is framed; seems his par- ily confused by the intricacy of its ents' bank account has mysteri- plot, and amazed by De Palma's ously expanded by $100,000. To ability to juggle all the physical avenge his friends and vindicate stunts and technical intrigue. himself, he must steal or recover You will, however, miss subtle the top-secret list which contains interactions between characters the identities of U.S. secret agents which would allow you to devel- all over the world. If Hunt were op loyalties with any of the really smart, he'd turn his hack- agents, although Vanessa Red- ing talents toward developing an grave, as Max, provides a Internet WEB server, then go sparklingly sinister performance public and make millions which lingers beyond the last overnight. Why risk your neck for frame. And, Ving James, from a measly 60 grand? 1/ Pulp Fiction, has a fresh smile ,®.= /2 that radiates intelligence. Remember when in Risky —Dick Rockwell y 'Cold Comfort Farm' Rated PG-13 ravishingly pleasant time is to be had by MOVIES all in Cold Comfort Farm, a charming Eng- lish comedy of manners — well, make that Miss Manners. It's London in the 1930s, and newly orphaned Flora Poste (Kate Beckinsale), a stylish 20-something, must choose between three sets of relatives offering to take her under their wings: a goody two-shoes scoutmaster, an ailing Scottish bird watcher, or the doom-laden Starkadders of Cold Comfort Farm. Fortunately, Flora has career plans to become a writer (some 30 years hence), and, therefore, she selects the "appalling and interesting" family that will provide the most grist for her liter- ary mill. "I want to learn about real life," she opines. "What for?" inquires her ardent suitor. "So I can put it on paper," she coyly chimes. Shortly after, Flora is carted off to the decrepit and gloomy Cold Comfort Farm. The farm is run, or should I say overrun, by the Starkadder clan who, upon first glance, might be mis- taken as British counterparts of the "close-knit" family in De- liverance. Nonetheless, Flora takes her new surroundings in stride — the dusty pillowcases; the grimy drapes; the dark, dank and dreary ambiance of the entire Starkadder domain. As just one of several delightful running gags that befit this A