about a dotty conspiracy addict (Mel
Gibson, working overtime but still
winking boyish charm, protectively)
00 and the legal eagle/angel (Julia
Roberts) who comes to believe him
against all odds.
We never do, but so what? Writer
Brian Helgeland and director Richard
Donner keep hurling in morsels of
murk and leftovers of "Hitchcockean"
suspense, desperate to humble us into
an obliging stupor. Meanwhile, Carter
Burwell's score mines old motifs of
OL Bernard Herrmann and Henry
Mancini, and Patrick Stewart shows
off his dome as the brainwasher genius
who is somehow behind the mischief.
Rated R.
ow
Reviewed by David Elliott
THE FULL MONTY
In the decaying city of Sheffield,
England, unemployed steelworker Gaz
(Robert Carlyle), having espied
women going mad over a touring
troupe of Chippendale dancers, figures
that solvency lies in stripping to disco.
His shindig will showcase homegrown
non-talent: Gaz and his mates. And
no stop-with-the-G-strings stuff; to be
sure of packing the house, they'll go
"the full monty."
As Gaz pulls his reluctant group
together, the movie flirts with formu-
la, but through the unlikely sensitizing
of this unlikely crew it remains heart-
felt throughout. Director Peter
Cattaneo brings just the right touch to
this slight but affecting tale: a linger-
ing sadness gradually overwhelmed by
an inexorable and wholly serendipi-
tous joy. Rated R
* * *
Reviewed by Arthur Salm
G.I. JANE
She is, drilled by destiny, Demi
Moore. Buff to the max, doing one-
arm push-ups, shaving off her hair,
kicking Navy SEAL butt when she
must, enduring (for patriotic and gen
*, der-pride reasons) the fanatical hell of
SEAL training, this is not the soft
Demi of Ghost.
Despite the best efforts of sadistic
Master Chief (Viggo Mortenson), who
is "all man" but comes perilously close
O' to being a Nazi version of Jack Webb
in The D.I., the femacho heroine
keeps taking it, right on her upthrust
chin. The story is stretched and then
(in a commando climax) absurd, but
Ridley Scott directed as if his career is
at stake, along with Very.- Important
Issues of Enduring National Value.
f
Meanwhile, Anne Bancroft is a
hard-boiled U.S. senator who is all
feminist rage until stricken with politi
cal fear (even while squishing, she still
barks). This is rather entertaining, but
a question lingers: Why would any
woman want this? Rated R.
* * 1/2
Reviewed by David Elliott
MIMIC
A pretty good giant-scary-bugs-in-
the-subway flick. Three years after
using genetically engineered cock-
roaches to halt a plague, an entomolo-
gist (Mira Sorvino) comes across a
buglike creature as big as a rat. And
it's a baby. Uh-oh. Her husband
(Jeremy Northam), a transit cop
(Charles S. Dutton) and an associate
(Josh Brolin) crawl into the New York
subway system for a look-see; Sorvino
discovers it's never a good idea to
stand alone on a subway platform.
Mimic is a stylish rehash of Aliens -
.Gothic netherworld, slimy gunk,
exoskeleton monsters skittering lick-
ety-split through tunnels. Rated R.
## 1/2
Reviewed by Arthur Salm
SHE'S SO LOVELY
Nick Cassavetes' film, using a script
by his late father, John, and employing
his mother, Gena Rowlands, in a
small, fine role as a psychiatrist, needs
to be anchored in the obsessive
romance of the drinking goofy birds
Eddie (Sean Penn) and Maureen
(Robin Wright Penn).
It wobbles waywardly off that axis
because their psychic connection is so
insular, and because other actors keep
showing up to steal scenes, including
Harry Dean Stanton (very funny as a
booze wreck) and John Travolta (as an
outraged husband with terminal
machismo). In the Cassavetes tradition
it's an acting parade, often brilliant,
sometimes very amusing, quite touch-
ing, not quite pertinent to real roman-
tic fixation. Rated R.
Reviewed by David Elliott
.Excellent
.Worthy
. .Mixed
.... . . .Poor
Forget It
Movie reviews are written by
David Elliott, film critic for The
San Diego Union-Tribune and
other staff writers for Copley
News Service.
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Bagel Club Cafe
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Hours: Mon. - Fri. 6:30am - 9:00pm*Sat.7:30am - 9:00pm•Sun.7:30am - 6:00pm
248 539-7909
9/26
1997
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