PH OTO BY DANNA DOWSETT SEGREST

'Out To Sea'

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Kate Peckham and Suzi Regan appear as the same character, as a child and as an
adult, in Off the Map.

'Off The Map'

n Joan Ackermann's Off the
Map, at Chelsea's Purple Rose,
John Lepard as Charlie walks
across the stage, stops, slips off
his shoe and dumps out a pebble.
He starts, then stops, picks up
the pebble, removes the other
shoe, drops the pebble in, and
lumbers off.
This is a man's deep commit-
ment to his depression. Often, he
just sits, drinking water, deplet-
ed, he says, because he cries so
much. His friend George, played
by Jim Porterfield, tries water-
color therapy, placing paper,
paints and a jar of water
with a paintbrush in it in
front of Charlie. Charlie
takes up the brush ... and
drinks the water.
You can lead a depressive to
watercolor, but you can't make
him paint.
Ackermann's play, set in 1973
in New Mexico, is the story of one
dysfunctional family, observed
by Bo — as a child and as an
adult. Off the Map has many wry
character tics and some elegant,
poetic language — especially for
the adult Bo (Suzi Regan), who
watches her father Charlie, her
mother Arlene, and herself at age
11.
Kate Peckham, who played

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the slithery, nervous teen-ager
with budding sexuality in the re-
cent Hot L Baltimore, is again a
scene stealer as the young Bo. So
enthralled is she with her char-
acter that she makes us watch
her with wonder: She is a con-
summate stage actress.
The rest of the cast is fine; the
up-and-coming John Hawkinson,
who has played a succession of
roles in area theaters to great
success, is impressive as William,
a short-order cook turned IRS au-
ditor.
Ackermann's play — despite
the neat character twists,
the good language, and
some scenes of merit —
is less than the sum of its
parts. It's as if Tennessee
Williams and Sam Shepard met
in a dark hallway, duked it out,
and no one won.
The play ends with a scene
that could have served as the
opener as well; a frame is need-
ed around this picture of a dys-
functional family which "cures"
itself. Too many details, too, are
unclear, and so much is glossed
over — as if precious, recollected
memories, redolent of reality, are
enough to make a complete play.

=MD

C ' • 4®t

Michael Margolin writes about

the arts.

— Michael Margolin

Bagel Barometer

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‘

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Outstanding

Very Good

Good

Fair

76

tation to join Charlie on a cruise
under the mistaken belief that
the tickets were payment from
pinions on vacation cruises a rare winning bet placed by his
are generally split into two scheming brother-in-law.
camps: those that welcome
It is not until the two are on
the enjoyable break from re- board that Herb discovers that
ality and those that are turned off the trip is indeed free, but only if
by the noise, commotion
the two serve as dance hosts
and sheer excess of the
under the oppressive
MOVIES
experience.
watch of a megalomania-
The same can be said
cal cruise director, Gil God-
for a newly emerging sub-genre wyn (Brent Spiner). Neither
known as the grumpy-old-man Charlie nor Herb are particular-.
movie, from which Wal-
ter Matthau and Jack tr,i
Lemmon are enjoying a
career revival of sorts, ilj-
kvetching and complain- (l-
ing through a variety of g
humorous situations and E.
scenarios. The latest
variation on this theme
comes in the form of
Out to Sea, featuring
Matthau as Charlie, a
downtrodden gambler
trying to stay two steps
ahead of a broken leg,
and Lemmon as
Matthau's brother-in-law
Herb, a lonely widower
fixated on his dearly de-
parted wife.
From the beginning of
the film, it is apparent
that Herb is weary from
Charlie's shenanigans
and wary of his motiva-
tions. Nevertheless,
pangs of sadness from
the passing of a wedding
anniversary leave Herb
with his guard down,
and he accepts an invi-

Rated PG-13

No Bagels

Awful

Richard Halprin is an
attorney I film critic.

Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon go Out to Sea.

ly interested in fulfilling their
dancing duties as they eye the
bevy of available women with
whom they have been forbidden
to frolic. In the spirit of farces
past, Charlie assumes the iden-
tity of a Wall Street tycoon in or-
der to win over wealthy cruise
passenger Liz (Dyan Cannon),
while Herb is forced into pre-
tending that he isa doctor to sus-
tain the affections of Vivian
(Gloria DeHaven). Back and
forth they go, trying to maintain
cover and still get the
goods. By the end of
the movie, everyone
pretty much gets
what's coming to him,
even though the audi-
ence can spot what's
coming without resort
to binoculars.
Though Matthau
tries a little too hard to
be goofy and Lemmon
is a little too grumpy,
both of these actors
show that, even at sea,
they are far from
washed up.
Every film has its
crowd, and Out to Sea
is probably best suited
for those who complain
about too much sex
and violence in mod-
em cinema. Like a
vanilla wafer, the film
is light, sweet and pre-
dictably flaky, but
some people still pre-
fer their snacks that
way.

— Richard
Halprin

ningham comic-book series, Bar-
ry Sonnenfeld's Men in Black is
the straightforward story of two
agents of a super-secret govern-
ment agency who monitor and
control all extraterrestrial activ-
sader in yet another experiment ity on earth.
Rated R
in garishness, Batman and
Will Smith stars as J, an up 1
Robin. After six record-breaking start New York City cop who -
or the past few years, sum- weekends of this malarkey, I had runs across an alien in the line of
mer blockbusters have been almost given up hope for the duty. This close encounter brings
bloated beasts: heavy on spe- summer movie season
him to the attention of K
cial effects and padded out until, finally, a film de-
(Tommy Lee Jones), an
MOVIES
with an overabundance of plot, livered everything it
experienced Man in Black
muddying the waters to make promised to be — Men
who is impressed with J's
them appear deep.
in Black.
prowess and decides to recruit
Starting this summer off with
Big guns, aliens and two guyS him.
a thud was the meandering Lost in black suits. No pathos, no all-
Meanwhile, an extraterrestri-
World: Jurassic Park, followed star ensemble cast and no gris- al aptly described as a "bug," de
by the confounded Caped Cru- tle. Basically, the antithesis of tides he really likes Earth civilian
the current summer movie for- Edgar's (Vincent D'Onofrio) look,
Mike White is the founder of
and tries it on for size, literally,
Cashiers du Cinemart, a Detroit- mula.
Based on the Lowell Cun- masquerading as Edgar and
based film magazine.

'Men In Black'

F