'Three Big Couches' 'Kingpin' Rated PG-13 Pat Varga, Laurie Logan and Phyllis Lewis star in Three Big Couches, running in repertory with other original comedies through Aug. 11 at Meadow Brook. n Playscape '96, the Heartlande er. To me you're a cripple." Funny line? Yes and no. Au- Theatre Company's production of Three Big Couches is about thors James and Bronwyn Jame- that nearly universal struggle son know how to fuss up a scene, to break away from our parents, build the tension, catch our ear, become adults on our own, err, but then they seem ambivalent about punchlines. come to grips with life, The Jamesons pile on and then, God help us, the data, adding fuel to become like them. the drama's fire. The sis- On the nattily snug lit- ters are man-eaters, cas- tle set the Heartlande trators, dysfunctional. Theatre Company has The sisters are cute built in the center of ladies who cure with Meadow Brook's stage, cookies, are adorable some 50 of us sat. Three MICH AEL H. ditzes — Arsenic and couches, center stage in MAR GOLIN Old Chintz. a "U," greet us. Each is SPECIA L TO THE At the end of the play, home and roost for three JEWIS H NEWS Paulie is breakin' out, sisters — Teesa, Stella leavin' the nest — but and Ruthie — living together, im- Tommy is comin' back, with his itating grains of sand in an oyster two kids. And one of the sisters existence The roof over their heads is says, "Dreams are for dreamers; dreamers we're not." This Ruthie's, a widow and comedy has a heart of stone mother hen. She invites THEATER and anger. The play re- the brood in — not only solves neither the sadness sis and sis (one a widow, one divorced), but her 30-year-old nor the conflict. There were some admirable son Paulie, still home and waited on hand and foot; Stella's son performances. As Paulie, Jim Steven, now a paraplegic; and Shanley is likable. Well, laugh- soon, Tommy, Teesa's son, whose able. Shanley plays him for laughs wife Debbie (the "choir slut," ac- — a good idea. Steven, trying to cording to Teesa) goes to choir break out of his mold and his practice where she's having an af- chair, is played with affective guile by Peter Edward Hopp, and his fair. Each couch is unique: one has love scene with Ellen (Mary E. afghans and a pillow which says Rychlewski) is honest and touch- "Moms Make Memories." Anoth- ing. As the sisters, Laurie V. Logan, er is floral-covered. Another has Phyllis Lewis and Pat Varga turn wood turnings and a velvet throw. The three women are cut from in competent performances, but the same fabric. And this is where there is only so far an actress can the trouble begins. First for their rise above inhibiting material. sons, who are never allowed too John Seibert, the director, has far off their emotional leashes. "I'm made effective use of the space in physically challenged," Steven the uncredited set. whines to Stella. "Pm your moth- DETR OIT J EWISH I UJ 92 for throwing strikes. Roy figures it any less funny. This is a film he can train Ishmael to compete that unabashedly aims to provoke in a Las Vegas tournament and laughs at any cost, offering jokes lthough Kingpin is a movie split the million-dollar prize. calculated to offend just about that centers on the world of After infiltrating the segregat- everybody. high-stakes bowling, the film ed farm world, Roy convinces Ish- Many of the stunts fail, just as has the feel of a second- mael to forego his Amish ways many succeed, and several se- rate boxer. Instead of throwing and compete for the big prize. On quences are so gross that one punches from all angles, it throws the road to Vegas, they en- must choose to either sur- punchlines — relentlessly, crude- counter the voluptuous render to the onslaught ly and, on occasion, quite effec- Vanessa Angel, who adds or retreat to safety. It is MOVIES tively. a little brains and a lot of during these inspired Woody Harrelson plays Roy beauty to the entourage. moments that one is thank- Munson, an Iowa bowling cham- Naturally, the film culminates in ful for the darkness of the theater, pion who was on his way to na- a showdown at the tournament so that the belly laughs can rage tional prominence when he had against old nemesis, Big Ernie anonymously. the misfortune of getting entan- McCracken. Kingpin is certainly not a film gled with bowling hustler Big Kingpin is directed by Peter for everyone, but if you enjoy hu- Ernie McCracken (Bill Murray). and Bobby Farrelly who brought mor from the gutter, then this Big Em convinces Roy that all the us the inane Dumb and Dumber, film is right up your alley. real bowlers on the pro tour sup- but don't let that alone scare you plement their income by hustling off. Yes, the humor in Kingpin is unwary locals and, when his first more often sophomoric than so- scam backfires, Big Ern sneaks phisticated, but that doesn't make — Richard Halprin off with their winnings while the locals feed Roy's bowling hand into the ball return. Seventeen years later, we find Roy, an impover- ished alcoholic with a goofy prosthetic hand, living in a dive just around the cor- ner from skid row. Having no money to pay the rent, he is forced to satisfy the urges of his repulsive land- lady, a quid pro quo of sorts. Things are looking grim for Roy until, one day at the bowling alley, he hap- pens upon Ishmael (Randy Quaid), a dim-witted Amish fellow with a knack Richard Halprin is an entertainment attorney with a background in film studies. n. Adventures tting of Pi> occhio Woody Harrelson, Vanessa Angel and Randy Quaid plan to bowl everyone over with their scam. .41400iNte 3 bagels bagels 1/2 bagels Independence 4 bagels A Time To Ki 3 bagels Phenomenon 2 bagels Su percop 2 bagels The Rock 4 bagels Courage Under Fire 2 1/2 bagels Maybe, Maybe, Not 3 bagels Lone Star 3 1/2 bagels Mission Impossible 2 1/2 bagels Hunchback of Notre Dame 3112 bagels Primal Fear 2 1/2 bagels