STN Entertainment

'Children Of The Revolution'

and writes fan letters to Josef
Stalin, played by F. Murray
hat's to become of a child Abraham (Amadeus).
Joan's letters are so heartfelt
of two hard-line Com-
munists? That's the that when they reach the film's
question writer and di- somewhat surreal incarnation
rector Peter Duncan poses in his of the Kremlin (reminiscent of
bizarre but entertaining faux Gotham City), they move even
documentary Children of the the man of steel.
The simultaneously buffoon-
Revolution.
like and terrifying Stal-
The Australian movie
in invites Joan in for a
opens by inform-
MOVIES
visit. But when she
ing the audience
crosses the Iron Curtain,
that, unbeknownst
to most citizens, the she discovers she is being fol-
country down under lowed by double agent Dave
was on the verge of civ- (Sam Neill of The Piano), who
il war in 1989. Police has been pursuing her in Aus-
force head Joe Welch tralia as well.
Drunk on vodka, Joan man-
(Richard Roxburgh) has
paralyzed the govern- ages to sleep with both Dave and
ment, leaving the state Stalin, evidently killing Stalin
and impregnating herself in the
in total panic.
Combining documen- process. Despite hints of Stalin's
tary-style interviews monstrous personality and overt
and dramatic (albeit hu- descriptions of his brutality,
morous) scenes, the film Joan is unfazed and continues
explores, literally, the her loyalty to the party. Re-
making of Joe. Cutting turning to Australia before the
back to the early 1950s, changing of the Soviet guard,
we see Joe's mother Joan marries Welch and gives
Joan (Judy Davis of My birth.
The young Joe spends his
Brilliant Career), a pas-
sionate revolutionary for childhood being dragged to ral-
Australia's Communist lies and demonstrations and fan-
tasizing about prisons. During
Party.
By day she fights the the Vietnam War he manages
government's efforts to repeatedly to get arrested, and
outlaw communism; by seduced by a fiery female cop
night she ignores the romantic (Rachel Griffiths), whose Lat-
advances of her gentle admirer, vian grandparents just-so-hap-
Welch (Geoffrey Rush of Shine), pened to have been bumped off
by Dave, under Stalin's orders!
Julie Wiener is a staff writer.

Rated R

Starring together for the first time, Billy Crystal and Robin Williams share the
screen in Father's Day.

aris of Billy Crystal and Robin of the runaway son they each just
Williams should probably look discovered exists.
In no time at all, they realize
elsewhere: They are not going
they
are seeking the same boy and
to like what they are otherwise
have
been duped by the boy's
about to read.
mother,
Collette (Nastassja Kin-
Though it probably seemed like
a can't-miss proposition at incep- ski), whom they each had bedded
17 years earlier. After inexplica-
tion, the much anticipated pair-
bly contacting them out of
ing of these two comic
the blue to pursue her
giants in Warner Broth-
MOVIES
missing child, she fades
is
no
gift
Father's
Day
ers'
into
the background while
to the faithful, as it wears
out faster than a second-hand tie the duo gets on with their trivial
and is as fresh as last year's Old pursuits.
Early on, Crystal and Williams
Spice.
are
somewhat entertaining,
Based loosely on the 1984
French film Les Comperes, Fa- though Williams struggles to stay
ther's Day flounders an artificial in character like a 5 year old
premise that pretends to be con- struggles to color between the
cerned with the theme of re- lines. The film vacillates between
demption. Really, it's just an poorly written scenes and impro-
excuse for putting its stars on the visation before deteriorating into
same screen and letting them do a series of genital injuries and
head butts. Often, it seems that
what they do best.
Unfortunately, they don't do Crystal and Williams are more in-
terested in amusing each other
their best very well.
Crystal plays Jack Lawrence, than the audience.
Father's Day is simply a vehi-
a successful Los Angeles attorney
who trades in wives a _ s often as cle for its stars. That being the
some people trade in leased case, anyone expecting a Mer-
BMWs, and is currently married cedes will be disappointed with
to Julia Louis-Dreyfus. With all this Yugo.
the trappings of success, he still
1/2
doesn't feel complete.
At the other end of the spec-
—Richard Halprin
trum is Dale Putley (Williams), a
failed writer who has nothing to
look forward to but his next sui-
cide attempt.
Outstanding
Under normal circumstances,
the two would never meet. But
Very Good
this film isn't concerned with nor-
mal circumstances and their
Good
t® Q)
paths cross while each is in search

F

cAlik.) 43 1/2

--Julie Wiener

PHOTO BY PH ILIP LE MASURIER

W

Meanwhile, Dave has
come back to claim Joe
as his own child, al-
though subsequent
physical and character
resemblances lead us to
a different conclusion as
to who the real father is.
Sound like a lot going
on? That's only half the
film, which also includes
prison fires, mother-son
conflicts ... and even
kinky sex! Children of
the Revolution raises in-
teresting political and
ideological issues about
the strength of lineage,
the nature of power and
the need for balancing
political loyalties with
family loyalties.
Judy Davis gives the
strongest performance of the
film as a die-hard communist
who refuses to give up her loy-
alty to Stalin, even amidst proof
of his purges and acts of geno-
cide.
Children of the Revolution is
clever, but it is densely packed
and exhausting. By the _end, I
felt I had been sitting in the the-
ater for several hours although
in reality it had only been an
hour and a half. This is not your
typical mindless car-chase flick,
yet it is also lighter than the
stereotypical "art" film. ❑

Bagel Barometer
ck..) ®

.

Fair

Richard Halprin is about to

F. Murray Abraham plays Josef Stalin and Judy Davis is a die-hard communist from down under in Peter Duncan's Children of

the Revolution.

experience his very first Father's
Day — as a father.

No Bagels

Awful