'The Spitfire Grill'

'She's The One'

Rated R
broken hip for Percy and Han-
nah's relationship to grow from
animosity to genuine respect, un-
dward Burns, the man
e Spitfire Grill is a story of derstanding and friendship.
who brought us The
women and friendship, moth-
In comes Shelby Goddard
Brothers McMullen in
ers and children and, above (Marcia Gay Harden), another lo-
his feature film debut,
all, strength and wisdom.
cal misfit whose meek and timid
is back — again as writer,
Percy (Alison Elliott, The Un- demeanor stands to greatly ben-
director and star — with a
derneath) Talbot has just been re- efit from the strength and power new set of Irish Catholics.
leased from prison. Given her of Hannah and Percy. Shelby's
This time, they're the
choice of towns in which to start friendship with Percy instigates
Brothers Fitzpatrick. And
her life anew, she chooses Gilead,
one of the most delicate per- they've got a whole lot of
Maine, based on the In-
formances of the film;
inishegas going on.
dian lore she has read
Harden's portrayal of Shel-
MOVIES
She's The One has a
while in prison.
by instills a recognition of very "Friends"-like feel (a
Gilead is a small town
Shelby's own strength.
perfect foray for Jennifer
that doesn't take well to strangers,
However, what ensues are
Aniston, who plays Rachel
and Percy, to the residents of this twists and turns in plot that su-
on the hit NBC series, to
town, is even stranger than most. perfluously turn a potentially
cross-over to film) — but
Still a young woman, yet one with beautiful and spiritual story into
with more sex, a lot more
a past, she becomes a waitress at one which is often that, but some-
sex.
the Spitfire Grill, in exchange for times just plain hokey.
Meet Mickey Fitz- if you don't sleep with me, I'll just resort to other personal means,” Rene (Jennifer Aniston)
room and board. Native-Detroiter
Were the film to stick to the re- patrick (Burns), "the only warns her husband (Mike McGlone).
Ellen Burstyn portrays proprietor lationship and insights of these
English-speaking white
Hannah Ferguson — a widow three women, particularly Elliott's
guy driving a cab in New
She's The One takes a hilari-
Mahoney), patriarch of the mot-
who has learned to live with loss, unself-consciously mesmerizing
York," who, according to his dad,
ous,
albeit far-fetched at times,
solitude and warding off nosey Percy, it could be ranking with the
ley duo.
is using the job as an excuse to
While Francis is sleeping look at relationships — failed
neighbors with a brittle sense of likes of last year's Academy
escape reality. Next, is
with Mickey's ex-fiancee ones mostly — and the screwy dy-
humor. Burstyn gives a nice per- Award-winning Antonia's Line.
younger brother Fran-
(Cameron Diaz), Mick- namics of putting the pieces back
formance with the one-dimen-
cis (Mike McGlone), a
ey winds up marrying together and justifying your ac-
sional material she is given to
112 25-year-old loathsome,
tions, to others and
one of his cab
work with.
— Lynne Konstantin up-and-coming Wall
yourself. Using some
passengers, Hope,
Eventually, it takes Hannah's
Streeter and self-pro-
MOVIES
very exaggerated
(Maxine Bahns,
fessed stud — except to
characters (Rene's par-
Burns' real-life girl-
his wife, Rene (Anis-
friend) after a brief- ents and sister, to name a few),
ton).
24 hours — courtship. the film examines sibling rivalry,
JULIE YOLLES
With as much
As Mickey, Burns marriage, divorce and infidelity
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
cleavage and Victo
does a nice job at play- in a frenetic kind of way, with
EDITOR
ria's Secret lingerie as
ing the lovable, free- Tom Petty's new soundtrack as a
she can muster,
form, nonmaterialistic contrast perfect backdrop.
Rene's constant attempts at se- to McGlone's despicable Francis.
For a good laugh and a
duction and fulfillment of basic The irony however, according to voyeuristic opportunity to see how
needs — that's sex, not food — go Dad Fitzpatrick, who's long on the other half loves, She's The
unreciprocated.
opinions and short on actual good One is the one for you.
"Let me get this straight, Fran- advice, is that Mickey, in always
cis, you don't want to cheat on trying to one-up his evil baby
your girlfriend with your wife?" brother, usually succeeds.
questions Mr. Fitzpatrick (John

Rated PG-13

Th

E

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'Stage Diving' Peter Himmelman

Plump Records

eter Himmelman's musical prowess,
intelligence, self-assured wit and ability to im-
provise are featured prominently on his new
CD, Stage Diving, recorded Dec. 6,
1995, at the prestigious Bottom Line club
in New York.
In addition to several entertaining im-
provs and stories, Stage Diving contains live
versions of some of his better songs: "Beneath the
Damage and the Dust," "Raina," "Flown This Acid
World," and "Crushed." Even though acoustic and
unplugged, Himmelman's songs have an edge to

p

Alison Elliot plays Percy Talbot, a woman with a past trying to make a future.

them. They're not wimpy folk tunes, but powerful
songs which run the gamut from tragedy to tri-
umph, from sadness to joy.
Other songs are just plain fun. He can sound
like Elvis Costello at times, though Himmelman's
voice is smoother.
When I reached the end of the album, I
felt like I had been at one of his live shows
— exactly the aim of Stage Diving. Kudos
to Peter Himmelman for giving us a taste of
his unique style.

ct 1/2

— Steve Tapper, Atlanta