JN Entertainment

Star Wars Special Edition'

'In Love And War'

many ways to see Star Wars, in- knight can glean from all living
cluding, perhaps, as a feminist things around him.
But this is not a movie to in-
n a galaxy called Holly- take on modern society. After all,
tellectually analyze. Star
wood, Star Wars has gotten Princess Leia (Carrie
Wars represents a good,
a facelift for its 20th anniver- Fisher) withholds prized
MOVIES
clean, 1970s American
plans from Darth Vader,
sary.
childhood, and thus can-
Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth saves the galaxy and be-
Century Fox spent three years stows medals on Han Solo (Har- not be viewed according to to-
restoring badly damaged and rison Ford) and Luke Skywalker day's standards. (Although
according to any standards,
faded 35 millimeter prints and (Mark Hamill).
Or see it as a science fiction Mark Hamill cannot act.)
cleaning negatives of the 1977
The clothes are dated, and the
film to produce the new version, retelling of the Third Reich.
acting falls short. In the be-
and Mr. Lucas digitally remas-
ginning of the movie, Luke's
aunt and uncle sport busily
patterned shirts with tab col-
lars, and Solo and Skywalk-
er exhibit longish, shaggy
hairstyles.
Nevertheless, die-hard
Stars Wars fans — young
and old —will delight in
some changes that modern
technology has afforded. Jab-
ba the Hut makes an ap-
pearance in this first flick
(previously, he did not debut
until The Empire Strikes
The scene was filmed
Back).
Harrison Ford confronts Jabba the Hutt, who was digitally enhanced 20 years after the
in 1976 but not included in
scene was filmed, but never seen.
the original Star Wars film.
Other
new features include
tered some of the original tracks Luke's disco shoes and the boots the entrance into the city of Mos
to produce the film for the first of the soldiers on both sides re- Eisley, a scene in the Tatooine
semble the sleek black leather
time in digital sound.
desert where beasts of burden
In the first of the three films worn by the Nazis, and the called Dewbacks move for the
in the Star Wars trilogy to hit the Storm Trooper leaders traipse first time in a grander, more
big screen anew, viewers will no- around in long, black capes with sweeping final space battle.
tice enhanced special effects and thick, guttural accents reminis-
The list of changes is long, but
new scenes — with more to come cent of German.
you will hardly notice them if you
Or
read
it
as
a
metaphor
for
with the re-releases of The Em-
saw the movie for the first time
pire Strikes Back and Return of the Arab-Israeli conflict: fighting at the young age of 6, as I did. For
over desert land to gain political
the Jedi.
those of you who actually lived
With a second look, there are control.
Or the film could be seen as a in the '70s, you will surely notice
religious allegory — the infa- a new face on an old film.
Lynne Meredith Cohn is a staff
t.)
mous force of "May the force be
writer at The Jewish News,
with you" is described by Obie
and has her father to thank for
— Lynne Meredith Cohn
Wan Kenobe as the energy a Jedi
her love of Star Wars.

Rated PG

,

mother and Gerard is her son.
As a story, Some Mother's Son
works on several levels, mixing
factual accounts of hunger strikes
and political haranguing with in-
timate explorations of the lives
affected by the turmoil. Lead by
Mirren's dignified and under-
stated performance, the cast ef-
fectively conveys the complex
commitments the various factions
have to their respective positions.
One could certainly quarrel
with the politics of the movie, as
writer/director George seems in-
tent on sugarcoating the heinous
deeds of his protagonists, casting
them in a sympathetic light in
contrast to the stern, scheming
British. But as a filmmaker, he
is entitled to tell the tale any way
he wants to The only problem
with the film is that George didn't
seem to know how to end it.

After detailing the
horrors ofthe morass,
the conclusion is told
in quick, epilogue
fashion, with words
rather than images.
It's a minor disap-
pointment because
you get lu.red into the
nonfiction aspect of
the story and want to
understand the con-
clusion. I suppose
that's what history
books are for.
40 1) 112

ning her romantic attention even-
tually. He returns home a hero
n first glance, In Love and and awaits the return of his love,
War appears to have the who remains stationed on the
makings of a great roman- front lines in Italy. A turn of
tic movie, known in some events, however, throws the re-
lationship — along with Hem-
circles as a "chick flick."
After all, what could be a bet- ingway's sanity — out of kilter.
The screenplay, by Clancy Si-
ter mix than having the directing
gal, Allan Scott and
Anna Hamilton Phelan,
is weak. Supposedly
based on a true story
that later inspired Hem-
ingway to pen Farewell
to Arms, the screen
adaptation of Heming-
way in Love and War
meanders at times, tak-
ing forever to build the
romance between the
young lovers but almost
no time in tearing it
apart as von Kurowsky
falls for a much older
surgeon. The final scene
seems to fall from the
sky, leaving this viewer
feeling empty, unsatis-
fied and a bit confused.
As for the acting, the
best performance in the
film is delivered by
Chris O'Donnell and Sandra Bullock star as Ernest
Mackenzie Astin as
Hemingway and his nurse In In Love and War.
Henry Villard, Hem-
prowess of the man who made ingway's young rival for von
Gandhi, the writing power of the Kurowsky's affections. Astin is
woman who wrote Gorillas In charming in his pursuit of the
The Mist and Mask, and the act- young nurse and winsome in his
ing presence of two physically relationship with the young
beautiful up- and-coming movie writer.
Bullock, on the other hand, is
stars?
But the movie about 18-year- shallow and lackluster in her per-
old Ernest Hemingway's wartime formance as the nurse. Her light
love affair with 26-year-old Red East Coast accent ebbed and
Cross nurse Agnes von Kurowsky flowed in and out of scenes like
falls far short of its chick-flick tides on a beach. O'Donnell is not
much better, not yet having
goals.
The movie begins with the ar- learned that true acting is more
rival of von Kurowsky (Sandra than a flash of a brilliant smile
and the delivery of a dev-
Bullock) in World War I
ilish glance. He seems to
Italy to help with the Ital-
MOVIES
rely a bit too much on his
ian war casualties, one of
all-American good looks and
whom is Ernie Heming-
way (Chris O'Donnell). Heming- gregarious personality.
Perhaps with time, both of
way doggedly pursues von
Kurowsky, vying along with an these young actors will improve
older surgeon and a younger sol- in their acting ability. But, for
now, this film certainly isn't worth
dier for her affections.
Hemingway triumphs in win- seeing.

PG-13

O

Jill Davidson Sklar is a staff
writer.

.

.

Jill Davidson Sklar

Bagel Barometer

-- Rick Halprin

Helen Mirren as
Kathleen Quigley in Terry
George's Some Mother's

112 Ct

0

Outstanding
Very Good
Good
Fair