STN Entertainment
Richardson this one opportuni-
ty to shine.
Aah, but then there's the mu-
sic.
Charlie Parker was a teen-
ager in Kansas City in the '30s.
Lester Young, for a time, made
his home in Kansas City. So did
Count Basle, Bennie Moten,
Coleman Hawkins and many
more. Altman has brought to-
gether an all-star group of mu-
sicians to portray these legends,
and he utilizes this innovative
and vibrant music as the back-
drop that holds the film togeth-
er, serving, in a sense, as the
film's leitmotif
One scene in particular, pre-
ceding a brutal back-alley mur-
der, portrays Lester Young and
Coleman Hawkins (or rather
their riveting counterparts,
Joshua Redman and Craig
Handy) in a cutting contest of
"dueling saxes." Altman at-
tempts to take the viewer on an
emotional ride from ecstasy to
horror. We reach the musical ec-
stasy, but the horror is not near-
ly as intense, rendering the con-
cept futile.
Altman does, indeed, direct
these musicians (including na-
tive-Detroit tenor saxist James
Carter) to their full grandeur. It
seems that he could have made
himself one heck of a documen-
tary on Kansas City jazz; how-
ever in this production, the
storyline just gets in the way.,
0 () 112
— Lynne Konstantin
themselves, head upstairs and
nail the basement door shut. Ig-
typical adult fantasy would noring their threats and de-
probably consist of exotic mands, Grover informs his
vacations, infinite wealth parents that they will not be re-
or getting stuck in an ele- leased without a reconciliation.
From there, the children at-
vator with Cindy Crawford or
Fabio. For children, a typical fan- tempt to maintain a facade of
tasy might involve food fights, normalcy at the home, doing
unlimited access to candy or ob- chores and going to school as
taining absolute dominion over usual, but Grover makes the
mistake of confiding in his best
their parents and household.
friend, Matt, and
soon the whole
school seems to be
in on the secret.
Grover's peers re-
spond positively,
specifically the
school bully T.J.
(Russel Harper)
and Brooke (Jen-
nifer Hewitt), the
school beauty, and
both want to send
their dysfunctional
parents to the
Beindorf "dun-
geon," too.
With their moth-
ers and fathers
held collectively
captive, the kids
use every conceiv-
able device to con-
vince their parents
to adjust their pri-
orities. But time is
running out be-
In House Arrest, Kevin Pollak and Jamie Lee Curtis star
cause
the next-door
as Ned and Janet Beindorf, parents who are "grounded"
neighbor is a re-
by their children until they find a way to work out their
tired police chief,
marital problems.
and he's getting
suspicious,
Sound kinda hectic? House
Incorporating these possibil-
ities and more, House Arrest, Arrest has more pratfalls and
from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, de- booby traps than every
livers perhaps the ultimate chil- Macauley Culkin movie ever
dren's fantasy. And, although the made. It also has a better sense
film bills Jamie Lee Curtis, of adventure and greater respect
Kevin Pollack and Jennifer Tilly for the intelligence of its target
as its stars, this is a children's audience, which is probably the
movie dominated by relatively 8- to 15-year-old crowd.
Like most films aimed at
unknown young actors.
The story focuses on Grover youngsters, House Arrest casts
and Stacey Beindorf (Kyle the kids in a favorable light and
Howard and Amy Sakasitz), a portrays the adults as silly and
couple of normal suburban kids shallow. This film does not as-
whose sense of stability is pire to great philosophy and at-
threatened by their parents' tempts to steer away from
sudden announcement that they psycho-babble; it's happy just
plan to separate. Unwilling to turning the tables and letti
believe that the marriage is the children do the grounding.
over, the kids throw their par- If such a rating existed, House
ents a surprise anniversary par- Arrest would be rated CG —
ty in their semifinished Children's Guidance suggested,
basement, with hopes of rekin- as much of the material is not
dling the flame and preserving suitable for unsupervised par-
ents.
the family.
When the dinner deteriorates
cS
li Oft.
into another episode of nitpick-
ing bickering between Mom and
— Richard Halpin
Dad, the siblings politely excuse
Rated PG
A
PHOTO BY ELLIOTT MARKS
Blondie O'Hara
(Jennifer Jason
Leigh) and Carolyn
Stilton (Miranda
Richardson) in
Kansas City,
produced and
directed by Robert
Altman.
'House Arrest'
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