eIN Entertainment
'Foxfire'
p
arents and responsible adults
will cringe throughout this
problematic parable of fe-
male empowerment. Teens
may flock to it for all the wrong
reasons.
Foxfire is a tale of four Port-
land high-school girls: Maddy
Wirtz (Hedy Burress, "Boston
Commons"), a seemingly consci-
entious photography/art student;
Rita Faldes (Jenny Lewis), an
ugly dumpling; Violet Kahn
(Sarah Rosenberg), a doe-eyed
promiscuous tart; and Goldie
Goldman (Jenny Shimizu), an es-
tranged, drug-addled loner. Their
lives are changed irrevocably by
the intrusion of a mysterious
stranger named Legs Sadovsky
(Angelina Jolie, Hackers, the real-
life daughter of actor Jon Voight),
an androgynous drifter who
teaches them rebellion, retalia-
tion and "grrls (sic) rights."
homely Rita is most beset upon.
Foxfire is based on the Joyce Her biology teacher, Mr.
Carol Oaths novel originally set Buttinger, is keeping her after
in the 1950s. It has been con- school and fondling her. She is
temporized to the point where it too afraid to say anything.
looks like someone saw a Benet-
Legs, in a series of specious in-
ton ad and decided it would make cidents, establishes herself as a
a good script. It's all chic surface, sort of mystical interloper who
but pretends to delve deeper.
metes out justice to pernicious
Maddy, as the picture begins, adults. But, of course, all the
is taking photos of her boyfriend adults in this teen fantasy are in-
as he bounds butt-naked through sensitive and too busy enforcing
the woods. Later at school, she petty rules to really listen to their
uses a computer graphics pro- kids. And so the kids are free to
gram to manipulate the images raise themselves.
for an assignment. We also meet
The girls join together to en-
Goldie, face down in the toilet
trap the sexually harass-
bowl. Alienated from her
ing teacher, turn an
weathier-than-thou par-
M OVIES
abandoned home on
ents, Goldie has drifted into
the edge of town into a
casual drug use and som-
club house ("Grrls Only!"),
nambulism. Meanwhile, Violet, then break into the school to re-
who for all practical purposes trieve Maddy's portfolio. Re-
dresses like a hooker, can't un- turning to their hideout, they
derstand why the boys are only strip to the waist and tattoo the
interested in her for one thing. Foxfire emblem on one another's
Despite all these tribulations, breas' is in a hazy five-minute in-
terlude.
That scene points out the
main contradiction in the
film's posture. It wants to be
about female risk-taking,
bravery and solidarity. But
this seminude pseudo-rite-of-
initiation smacks of exploita-
tion. Foxfire's young actresses
are so hip and nonchalant,
and the Portland scenery is so
drenched in teen angst, that
such behavior may look cool to
today's teens. But the film's
vigilante heart is false and its
solutions to the malaise of
teen-age existence fall far
short of acceptable.
4:0!
Goldie Goldman (Jenny Shimizu) and Legs Sadovsky (Angelina Jolie) struggle with
finding their independence and making a difference.
— Dick Rockwell
For more about Peter Himmelman
and his Stage Diving release, see to-
day's JNE Music article on page 93.
Rated R
cumstantially terminated.
Soon, Annie, Matthew and Joe
are headed west to take shelter
uppose a giant magnetic me- in the back woods. They're pack-
teorite swept past Earth just ing a shotgun and ready for trou-
close enough to erase all our ble. Once out on the highway,
ATM cards, computer disks, the travelers are stranded. Will
videotapes, hotel room keys, and Matthew, Annie and Joe regain
all other electro-magnetic tech- the technological tools which
nology. "Don't leave home with- have civilized them, become
out it" would become a lame jest. craven scavengers or end up as
The Trigger Effect, written
roadkill?
and directed by David
Koepp's directorial
Koepp (screenwriter for
dilemma is convincing us
MOVIES
blockbusters Jurassic
these characters are be-
Park and Mission Impos-
having differently because of
sible), plays out the rude after- the extremity of their situation.
math of such a technological But by focusing on a nuclear
disaster without providing so family on the verge of a melt-
much as a single clue to its down, he has succeeded only in
cause. This omission
places the story's
emphasis on an or-
dinary trio of subur-
banites who struggle
with the conse-
quences of a world
wide blackout. No
electricity, no tele-
phones, no radio, no
TV, no newspapers.
Following a night
out at the movies,
Matthew (Kyle
MacLachlan) and
Annie (Elisabeth
Shue) discover that
a massive power fail-
ure has rendered
their household ap-
pliances and com-
munications devices
useless. There is no
immediate panic.
Initially, the cou-
ple are easy to iden-
tify with. Their baby
has an ear infection
and needs a pre- How can Matthew (Kyle MacLachlan) and Annie
scription. At the (Elisabeth Shue) survive without technology?
drugstore, however,
the pharmacist has no access to exposing latent hostilities which
on-line records and is unwilling pre-existed and may well have
to dispense medication without erupted on their own.
a doctor's prescription. Matthew
Words to the wise, Matthew
takes matters into his own and Annie: Chill out and relax.
hands by sneaking back into the Take some time off. Get to know
store to steal the medication. each other. Make love, not war.
Law-abiding citizens, whose lives
are generally better because of
,90
4
technology, start to unravel with-
out it.
— Dick Rockwell
A blue-collar friend, Joe (Der-
mot Mulroney), drops by bring-
ing rumors of "looting and
shooting" in town. This paranoia
is shared by neighbors and, for
Outstanding
a while, The Trigger Effect re-
sembles the old "Twilight Zone"
Very Good
episode "The Monsters Are Due
Good
on Maple Street." The societal
ck)
microcosm breaks down even
Fair
further when a prowler is cir-
S
PHOTO BY DEANA NEWCO MB
Rated R
'The Trigger. Effect'
c_)
Bagel Barometer
.0.
MOVIE LISTINGS
ON PAGE 92.