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'To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday'

of tears; the lumpen Mr. Altman as the hapless single woman is by
is jolted into cliched self-assess- far the most sympathetic of the
f Hallmark made movies, they ment once, after he is proposi- characters because she is stuck on
this island, nobody to talk
would look and sound like To tioned by the sexpot next
to and nothing much to
Gillian On Her 37th Birthday door; and Mr. Gallagher
MOVIES
do but witness some
— all glinting surf and sand, as David is oddly sanguine
wincingly awful melo-
windswept hair, khakis and bright in his grief.
David Lewis (Peter
drama.
Kathy Baker as
white shirts, fluttering sails,
Gallagher) and his
swelling violins, and a plot so ob- Gillian's psycho-bab-
daughter Rachel
1/2
vious it screams like the seagulls bling sister is the only (Claire Danes) try to
get over the loss of
swooping overhead. How this be- actor in this film who
—Julie Edgar
came a feature-length movie is as brings dignity to this wife and mother Gillian
curious as bereaved husband pap. But Ms. Crewson (Michelle Pfeiffer).
David Lewis' (Peter Gallagher)
hallucinatory sightings on the
beach of his wife Gillian (Michelle
Pfeiffer), who died two years ear-
lier in a boating accident.
The story centers on a weekend
in David's sprawling home on
Nantucket. His daughter Rachel
(Claire Danes) has arrived a few
days earlier and frets over her fa-
ther's self-imposed isolation and
obsession with Gillian. In walks
her Aunt Esther and Uncle Paul
(Kathy Baker and Bruce Altman),
with whom she's lived off and on
since her mother's death, along
with Kevin (Wendy Crewson), the
woman they've brought along to
take David's mind off Gillian.
When Kevin finds out the week-
end
marks not only Gillian's 37th
e "lightning doesn't strike for Phillip Locker works hard to birthday but the anniversary of
keep
the
ball
in
the
air.
wice
in
the
same
place"
adage
t
Not that John Seibert as Bob her death, she almost hops back
certainly doesn't hold true in
on the ferry back to Boston. Too
C7=-'
Hollywood, where sequels the convert is not funny. Oh, he bad she doesn't. David, we see
spring forth like mushrooms in an is, especially mincing about in right away, cannot come to terms
enchanted forest. The theater has spangled pumps. The rest of the
with Gillian's death, much less
been less blessed — or blighted, cast, with one exception, carries look at another woman, and
some might say. A rare exception over, too, from Beau.
Again, Robert Grossman as the Gillian fuels his illusion by meet-
is James Sherman's Beau Jest,
ing him on the beach at night to
which spawned a twinftvvist on its paterfamilias is doggedly funny. remind him of his responsibility
You can read between the lines of
original premise, Jest a Second!
to their daughter Rachel and to
In Jest, Sarah, a young Jewish his creased face as he smiles frolic in the ocean with him.
woman, invents a Jewish doctor malevolently, knowingly thwart-
Ms. Danes as the neglected
boyfriend to please her parents, ing his wife's nagging.
daughter
plays her part with quiv-
Stepping up to the fulcrum of
hires an out-of-work actor from
ering
upper
lip, ever on the brink
an escort service and, boom bang this comic seesaw is David Ellen-
stein as Joel, the on-again,
— they're in deep farce.
Julie Edgar, senior writer, is a
off-again out-of-the-clos- former movie reviewer for the
As Jest a Second! opens,
THEATER
et son and lover, di- Metro Times.
the actor has become Jew-
ish by conversion and a Brother Joel (David vorced father and
frustrated therapist. El-
Mr. Mom, a balabusta, by
Ellenstein) and
tween set, street and rehearsal
choice. The twist here is husband Bob (John lenstein is just right.
Rated PG-13
Sarah's jilted boy-
hall. It informatively presents
that he must imitate, by Seibert) flank a very
pregnant Sarah
friend has disappeared.
cross-dressing, a girlfriend
ou get two — count 'em, two the business of acting, which, as
named Randy for his (Linnea Todd) in In his place, now on
— two for the price of one. Pacino- and the others present it,
Meadow Brook
brother Joel's side, is
wife's brother, who is
The question: Is it worth it? looks like fun. There is, howev-
Jest A
John Michael Manfredi
afraid that he'll offend his Theatre's running
In Looking For Richard, er, too much done with man-on-
as Dr. "Randy" Rosen.
parents by telling them Second!,
creator, director and star Al Pa- the-street interviews that do little
through Nov. 17.
He plays Dr. Rosen
he's gay. The real Randy
cino provides two entities: the to add to what Mr. Pacino early
rather broadly, which is
is not his girlfriend; he's
preparation of the actors to do on establishes: The man on the
a style tending to suit Manfredi
his boyfriend.
the play Richard III and seg- street needs help to understand
Its title would have us believe well.
ments of the play itself. Either Shakespeare.
The viewer is given a rare
If you loved Beau, you'll more
that there will be a laugh a sec-
would make for an entertaining
ond. No, not really. Jest is only half than likely enjoy Jest. After all,
presentation, but together there treat — being allowed behind the
as funny as the original, and the a few good laughs is better than
is just too much, and it takes too scenes to witness the actual
process of creating characters for
cross-dressing device wears thin none; and Jest does have a life-af-
long.
by the second act, though Direc- firming ending.
The documentary crosscuts be- a play. The informal shots of ac-
tors digging into their characters &-
Michael H. Margolin has
are often comic and always in-
Sy Manello, editorial assistant,
performed professionally in
sightful, breaking down the bar-
is a member of Detroit Area
theater and dance and is a
—Michael H. Margolin
riers that this play may seem to
Film & Television (DAFT).
freelance critic.

Rated PG-13

I

'Jest A Second!'

T H E D ET R OI T J E W IS H NE W S

J

02

'Looking
For
Richard'

y