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WHEN PICASSO
CREATED
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HE INVITED
on-again, off-again relationship with
Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) helps keep
the show perking like one of those
bottomless drinks at the sexy septu-
plet's favorite coffee shop.
"He's a nice, kind guy, a nice Jew-
ish guy — like me," says Schwimmer
of Ross the rejected, whose TV mar-
riage ended when wife Carol (Jane
Sibbett) proved to be the (really) gay
divorcee.
Although his most recent feature
film The Pallbearer died a quick
death at the box office, Schwimmer
fared much better in Breast Men, an
HBO movie about the implant revo-
lution'that led to revolting medical
complications for some patients. As
an avaricious, money-grubbing doc-
tor, Schwimmer played his role with
greedy gusto.
Now, about that relationship with
Rachel. "I think there was a lot of
comedy in that relationship and
probably will be to come," says the
actor.
Now that they're on the outs,
there's an outside world to explore.
"There's probably more opportunity
now for situation comedy, more tak-
ing each of the characters and putting
them with other characters in other
situations.
"But I thought the situations that
Rachel and Ross were in were just as
funny, if not funnier."
Funny thing about "Friends," it
seems to have gotten funnier in its
fourth season.
In fact, one of the stellar series in
the network's Thursday night "must-
see" pantheon is in a holding pattern,
waiting to see whether it will land the
"Seinfeld" spot opening next season
when Jerry and his jokers lock up
their Manhattan apartments and
punchlines for good.
There's still excitement to be had
this season as the "Friends" go off to
London, with one of the group
reportedly set to get married.
Is Ross the one? No one's talking.
Not about that anyway. But the
actor, who made his TV series debut
as a regular on Henry Winkler's ill-
fated sitcom "Monty," bares his feel-
ings about Ross's roots.
"I wish they would play that up
more," says Schwimmer of Ross' Jew-
ishness. "It's important to make peo-
ple aware of what it means to be Jew-
ish."
What it means to Schwimmer is
quite a bit — as it does to the show's
executive producers, Kevin S. Bright,
David Crane and Marta Kauffman.
,
If Schwimmer and company get
along, it's no accident: "I had never
felt so much a part of the process
before, because Marta, David and
Kevin, from the start, really involved
us, really empowered all of us to find
our own characters, really figure out
these relationships. And because of
that, I think we all really feel like it's
a family."
With two more movies on his
upcoming agenda — 6 Days, 7 Nights
and Apt Pupil — Schwimmer would
seem able to relax a bit as Ross.
But it's that high-wire act that the
character pursues that helps NBC net
such a large audience. It's also the lit-
tle things that crack up even the
actors who play the lines.
"I got a kick out of the episode —
the New York blackout episode — in
which Joey {Matt LeBlanc) carried
Ross' lit menorah to create light."
Another example of shedding light
on the meaning of what it is to be
Jewish? "Anything that helps," smiles
Schwimmer. "Anything that helps." 0
AFTERGLOW
Alan Rudolph is a stylist in the
movie jazz tradition — his work
relies on smoke vapors of insinuation,
riffs of mood, themes that sing
through tonal shifts of texture.
You don't need to deeply know
Rudolph's story to guess that he is a
confidante and virtual disciple of
Robert Altman, the supreme jazz-
hearted dreamer of American film.
Filmed in Montreal, Afterglow
makes heavy use of the famous, cube-
boxed Habitat development designed
by Moshe Safdie for a world's fair. So
did Altman in his Quintet, a frigid
disaster in 1979.
Afterglow is far from disastrous. It's
consistently adult and entertaining,
and maybe Rudolph's most connec-
tive film with a fairly large audience
("art" large) since 1984's Choose Me.
But his achievement wobbles. About
a middle-aged couple and a younger
one tangled in sexual overlap, the
film flows out of balance — the older
couple dominates by depth of living,
and by the practiced depth of Nick
Nolte and Julie Christie, who is nom-
inated for an Academy Award as Best
Actress for her role.
My, have they not gone slack. Nolte
has the most fun (as usual), playing
Lucky Mann, a "contractor/entrepre-
neur" whose gift for rehab work
extends to sexual service of women
clients. With his leonine sweep-backs
04
.
FK1ENDS.
W
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caramelized onions, roasted peppers and a dash of color you mighf not expect.
"Grilled Fresh Salmon" with corn salsa, all without the gallery prices.
Stop by and bring a friend, you'll be pleased.
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