SIN Entertainment

'Albino Alligator'

'Ragtime'

leading to a high-speed chase in secret agenda or identity,
ing narrative. There is wonder-
which some police officers are hostages and captors alike, and,
agtime is one of the great
ful
balance and variety.
as
alliances
develop
and
shift,
musical theater creations.
onstantly toying with ex- killed.
Just
when you feel you can't
With a host of law enforce- the mood grows ever more tense.
Every facet of this en-
pectations over character
absorb
any more of the
Frequent
filmgoers
know
that
ment
agencies
in
pursuit,
the
grossing production reflects
and plot, Albino Alligator
heartrending
dilemmas, Mc-
talent, intelligence, taste and in-
spends 95 minutes or so on pace slows down considerably, blood will be shed before the
Nally
throws
in a wonderful
credits
roll;
the
trick
is
in
guess-
as
the
gang
(Matt
Dillon,
Gary
spiration. It grips you as the dra-
the verge of being a good movie.
vaudeville
scene.
But there is
Sinise and William Fichtner) ing whose blood that will be.
matic tension builds; it makes
And then it ends.
never
an
extraneous
moment,
As
it
turns
out,
first-time
di-
takes
refuge
in
a
neighborhood
you laugh; it makes you cry.
In the tradition of films like
never
an
irrelevant
line.
The creators have done one of
Dog Day Afternoon and Reser- saloon, just before last call. They rector and Academy Award-win-
Composer Stephen Flaherty
ner Kevin Spacey (Seven,
the most successful translations
voir Dogs, Albino Alligator con- figure they can lay low for
is
probably
less well known than
The Usual Suspects) has . of a novel to the musical stage
cerns itself with the plight of awhile, let things cool
McNally,
even to avid the-
plenty
of
tricks
up
his
down
and
then,
perhaps,
some small-time hoodlums who
MOVIES
ever. •
atergoers.
But his score
sleeve, filling this delib-
are forced to take hostages when slip out the back and dis-
Ragtime is like Les
is
superb
—
popular the-
THEATER
erate
drama
with
a
gaggle
appear
into
the
night.
an ill-conceived heist goes awry.
Miz in that social and
ater
music
yet
operatic in
Of course, they figured wrong. of red herrings and false leads.
The film opens quickly with the
political history play a
its
use
of
"motifs"
and dra-
So
many,
in
fact,
that
the
curve
As
it
turns
out,
this
particular
large role. But the canvas here
midnight scam falling apart,
matic
music
that
illuminates
the
bar doesn't have a back door and balls become more interesting
is much broader, the range of
characters
and
situations.
than
the
film
itself.
the
front
door
has
been
besieged
subjects, people and ideas much
Richard Halprin is an
In the opening scenes, "Fa-
One keeps hoping that the
with trigger-happy cops, ratings-
wider.
attorney 1 film critic.
ther"
leaves his comfortable New
It is a show that
ACATIA0 ., :ww,m 7, "wMe
Rochelle
home on a journey to
covers the immi-
grant experience the North Pole. "Mother" sings
in the early 1900s, . goodbye. Tateh, a Jewish immi-
racism, industrial- grant, is arriving on a death
ization, the labor ship. Each character is intro-
movement, the be- duced, and suddenly the three
ginnings of the are in a beautiful trio that com-
movie industry, bines, compares and contrasts
Houdini, show girl with one another. The effect is
Evelyn Nesbit (the overpowering. You are drawn
girl in the swing) into the story, inescapably, ir-
and an upper class reversibly.
The influence of Stephen
family in conflict: a
daunting chal- Sondheim's music on Flaherty is
lenge, but one discernible, but Flaherty is in no
which the creators way imitative and has developed
have carried off his own distinctive voice.
The emotions that are
brilliantly.
aroused
by Flaherty's music in
This is not an
agitprop show, nor "haunting, taunting" songs like
is it a panoramic "New Music" are balanced by
play, like Noel songs as delightful as "The
Coward's Caval- Crime of the Century." The Eve-
cade, for example. lyn Nesbit character, whose hus-
It is an exception- band, the mad Harry K. Thaw,
ally human story shot his wife's lover, Stanford
which involves the White, sings how "Stan was
audience deeply in killed, Mother was thrilled."
The lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
the lives of the
are the perfect partner to Fla-
play's characters.
In the very open- herty's music: witty where called
ing scene, staged to for, intense and touching and
the evocative and tender at other times.
The Flaherty-Ahrens number
memorable title
"He
Wanted To Say" is as bril-
song, we meet a
First-time director Kevin Spacey on the set of Albino Alligatorwith Faye Dunaway.
comfortable upper-class family in liant in concept and execution
New Rochelle, N.Y. along with as anything I have ever heard
immigrants and bla&s. The con- in the theater. It left me literal-
hungry TV reporters and a spe- next plot twist will lead to a pay-
trasts, the potential conflicts are ly breathless.
Yes, I loved every minute and
cial agent, played by Joe off, but payday never comes.
immediately highlighted and we
everything
about Ragtime.
Montegna. Cornered and des- Though the screenplay is rife
are drawn in this world.
perate, the would-be thieves with artifice and deception, it
The book, by the well-known
turn their plight into a hostage has nothing to say between ma-
and successful playwright Ter-
VT Ragtime is playing at the N-
utstaredireg
situation, hoping to force a hap- neuvers.
rence McNally — adapted from - Ford Centre for the Performing CT)
a
As a result, Albino Alligator
py ending for themselves, if not
the novel by E.L. Doctorow — Arts in Toronto through, Aug 3.
Good
their captives, which include bar never evolves from its initial
does an amazing job of blending Call Livent, (416) 872-2222, for 2
owner M. Emmet Walsh, bar- premise, remaining all trick and
the many characters and sub- ticket information.
013130
maid Faye Dunaway and pa- no treat.
jects into a cohesive, swiftly flow-
trons Skeet Ulrich, John
41/2 Morton Zieve is chairman of
o' ®1 2
Fair
Spencer and Viggo Mortensen.
Holed up inside this dim tav-
Simons Michelson Zieve Inc.
— Morton Zieve
— Richard Halprin Advertising.
ern, everyone seems to have a
Avvf am I

Rated R

C

meter

70