'Austin Powers:
International Man of Mystery'

'Leo Tolstoy's
Anna Karenina'

Rated PG-13

A

ustin Powers: International
Man of Mystery makes no
attempt to disguise its
sources of inspiration. Bor-
rowing freely from the early
James Bond films, Bond send-
ups like Casino Royale and, even,
Woody Allen's Sleeper, the film
could easily be dismissed as a
sophomoric attempt at spoofery.
That is, if it weren't so darned
good-natured. Starring Mike My-
ers of "Saturday Night Live" and
Wayne's World fame, the film fol-
lows the groovy adventures of
swinging fashion photograph-
er/secret agent Austin Powers
(Myers) as he foils the dastard-
ly schemes of arch-nemesis Dr.
Evil (also Myers).
The film opens in London at
the height of the free-lovin"60s,
as Powers, sporting crushed vel-
vet and horn-rimmed glasses,
narrowly misses capturing his
rival, who has had himself and
his cat, Mr. Bigglesworth, cryo-
genically frozen and launched
into orbit. Relentless in his pur-
suit, Powers agrees to be simi-
larly preserved so that he can
renew the crusade whenever the
evil one thaws. When Dr. Evil
resurfaces in the 1990s, Powers
is defrosted and joins forces with
feminist Agent Vanessa Kens-
ington (Elizabeth Hurley), who
is rather amused with Powers'
hipster wardrobe, saucy eu-
phemisms and antiquated no-
Mike Myers kicks up his heels in Austin Powers.
tions about "shagging chicks."
Having spent the past 30 years
in suspended animation, both Powers and Evil juvenile, but is delivered with such tongue-in-
cheek mischief that any affront to good
must adjust to life in the '90s. Powers dis-
taste is defused. The actors seem to truly
covers that free love isn't, anymore; Evil
M o I E S
enjoy themselves, and one can't help but
learns from his snickering cohorts (in-
get swept up in the merriment, especially
cluding Robert Wagner) that a million dol-
lars isn't much ransom when you are holding the in a series of innocent scenes with Myers and Hur-
ley that narrowly avoid total frontal nudity.
world hostage.
No, Austin Powers is not geared to please the
Inevitably, the two will do battle to a spectac-
ular finish, but in between, Powers locks horns haughty crowd; but if your brain wants the night
and lips with an array of familiar villains, in- off, this film may be the perfect fit, baby.
cluding the alluring Aliotta Fagina and a team of
bimbo androids.
Much of the humor in the film is naughty, even

Richard Haiprin is a real groovy dresser.

–Richard Halprin

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Avirtul

e are living in a time of ei- other is obscured by the director's
ther renewed appreciation obligations to a complicated plot:
for great literature or a There's too much story to squeeze
worrisome absence of orig- into two hours, and the passion at
inality in the cinema. Witness the its heart is sacrificed. Anna's ac-
tions are inexplicable, fi-
spate of classic works that
nally, because her struggle
have made it to the
MOVIES
is
given short- shrift.
screen of late: Emma,
Sophie Marceau and
Sense and Sensibility,
Bram Stoker's Dracula, Pride and Sean Bean, however, sizzle as the
Prejudice, Jude, Persuasion, Jane lovers. Bean's count is tall and gal-
Eyre, Little Women, Frankenstein lant like a nutcracker, but he is
and The Portrait of a Lady, to weak: He can't help but be swayed
by his mother's admonitions
name a few.
Most of the aforementioned against his plan to marry Anna
were made with a deft touch — once she is divorced. Marceau
just the right amount of reverence, plays the role ofAnna with a mix-
never too daring, not quite boring. ture of dignified self-composure
Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is and raw sensuality. She is clear-
cut from the same cloth. It's an ad- ly the more feeling of the two, but
equate historical drama based on neither character in this version
a literary classic — tasteful and quite comes alive; their inner tur-
elegant, true to its time in both moil, which is the novel's essence,
is captured for only a few. mo-
costume and manner.
Ultimately, however, it is lack- ments throughout the film.
Alfred Molina as Levin, an in-
ing in feeling, and that distracts.
tellectual
at the crossroads of his-
At the center of the maelstrom
is beautiful Anna Karenina, ador- tory, is the only character with
ing mother and dutiful wife, and whom we come to sympathize.
her lover, Count Vronsky, who Molina's soulful eyes and expres-
takes her away from her dull but sive face make him by far the
proper life and promises to mar- most compelling character in this
ry her once her husband grants drama. We understand that he is
neither a loyalist to the czar nor
her a divorce.
Their filmed affair begins with a Bolshevik, that he struggles
the kind of tempestuousness Leo with ideology and with his own
desires.
Tolstoy wanted to
Yet, what Leo
Sophie Marceau and Sean
convey — the pair
Tolstoy's
Anna
Bean
dance
together
for
the
lock eyes through the
Karenina lacks in
roiling steam of a lo- first time in Anna Karenina.
emotional punch, it
comotive at a train
station and are forever changed. more than makes up for in sump-
But the fire of their love for each tuous sets.
Qik).
1/2
Julie Edgar is our senior writer.
— Julie. Edgar

PHOTO BY KEITH HAMSHERE

PHOTO BY KIM BERLY WRI GHT/NEW LINE CI NEMA

Rated PG-13