AkRTS The Michigan Daily Sunday, November 15, 1981 Page 7 'D.B. Cooper' caught minus plot By Richard Campbell THE FIRST TIME we saw Treat Williams, he was everybody's favorite hippie in Hair. The last time we saw him, he was a cop having a nervous breakdown in Prince of the City. Now, we watch as Williams is chased frora Wyoming to Arizona in The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper, a completely meaningless and uninvolving flick. Williams has a marvelous screen presence,,but it is not charming enough to carry a two-hour movie. He has a grin that is almost as infectious as Burt Reynold's, yet the film refuses to back it up with any character. While Reynolds would go broke without his smile, he has learned to follow it through with-if not meaning-style. The film tries to be as riotous and folksy as Sinokey and the Bandit. We are treated to a series of in- credible action= sequences, from a boat ride down some rapids to an airplane frantically ramming a car. The attempt is, however, futile; no concern has been allowed to develop over the character's well- being. Williams stars as D. B. Cooper, the man who hijacked an airplane and got away with $200,000. The Records film picks up on Cooper at his last known location, parachuting from the back of the plane somewhere over Wyoming. From there, writer Jeff Alan Fiskin imagines that Cooper is immediately discovered by an insurance detective, Bill Gruen, representing the company that forked over the money. Gruen, played by Robert Duvall, questions the passengers on the plane and learns that Cooper ser- ved under him in Vietnam. This convenient twist sets up the chases; Gruen tries to catch Cooper, reclaim the money, and retain his job at the company. When Gruen remembers Cooper, the film flashes back to Cooper's training on an obstacle course. This arduous race through the various obstacles forms the basic framework of the film. In the army, Cooper was a klutz, constantly beaten by his sergeant. But now the tables are turned, and he has the upper hand over Gruen. Throughout the film, Fiskin ties numerous references to Vietnam and the '60s into the plot without coming to any conclusion. It isn't as if these references are essential to the film. So, if they aren't added for any purpose, why are they there? The silliness of the film is invaded by the inconsequental references to the war. The pursuit of D. B. Cooper is similar to last spring's Melvin and Howard. Both films take a real event and extrapolate fiction from it. These movies seem to be building a background of myths that the United States, with a history of only 300 years, has lacked. They, take average modern Americans, Melvin Dumar and D. B. Cooper, and create fantasies around them. But while Melvin and Howard offers a realistic and insightful look at Middle America, Cooper doesn't explain any aspect of our culture successfully, no matter how hard it tries. At the end of the film, Cooper implies that he hijacked the plane not for the money; he did it for adventure. Again, this idea is subverted throughout the film with constant attention to the money and to the universal greed of the charac- ters. Cooper fails in every aspect. As an attempted social commentary, a hero film, or a fun-filled chase pic, the film completely misses every chance to do something exciting or significant with the legend of D. B. Cooper. ad DEATH thnBEYOND Medical Investigations and Eastern Mysticism Free Public Lecture Speaker: MATTHEW RAIDER, M.D. Medical investigations on near death experiences will be dis-' cussed in the context of Eastern philosophy and the heritage of Sant Mat-the Path of Surat Shabd Yoga which is the tech- nique of meditation on the Inner Light and Sound. Sunday, November 15 PENDLETON ROOM-MICHIGAN UNION Center for Chinese Studies Twentieth Anniversary Lecture Series Leonard Woodcock SINO-AMERICAN RELATIONS IN PERSPECTIVE Leonard Woodcock has played a vital role in the normalization of relations between the USA and China. Following his retirement in 1977 from the post of international president of the United Auto Workers, he was appointed by President Carter as chief of the US Liaison Office to the People's Republic of China. In that capacity, he was involvec in negotiations that were aimed at full nor-, malization of relations between the American and Chinese governments. In early 1978, he became the. chief US negotiator. and after negotiations were" successfully concluded in December 1978, President Carter appointed him as the first American ambassador to the People's Republic. He resigned from that position in the spring of 1981, and will be an adjunct professor of political science, at the University of Michigan for the 1981-82 Prince-'Controversy' (Warner Brothers) Never has the title of an album described the contents and its creator so aptly. Ever since his first single in 1978, "Soft and Wet," a tribute to the virtues of young love, Prince (Roger Nelson) has been creating a stir with his often sexually explicit and politically critical records. Controversy continues with this tradition. Prince speaks out on politics in "Ronnie talk to Russia," and "Annie Christian describes the anti-Christ's presence on earth through the deaths of John Lennon and the children of Altan- ta. Prince even offers a solution to current problems through sexual means rather than violence in "Sexuality". It's obvious that the 21-year-old Min- neapolis native is concentrating on im- proving his lyrics, which were criticized for being too sexual. However, he remains ambiguous and cloud at times as in "Controversy." You know th'at h'e is trying to say something, but his message isn't very, clear. Fortunately, the album is held together by the music. The melodies are innovative and extremely catchy. especially on the upbeat "Private Joy" and "Let's Work," and the slow and sensual "Do Me Baby." These love songs are raunchy, but it's all in good fun (especially for Prince and his par- tner). Even the cover suggests that Prince is well aware of the. sexually, provocative image he has portrayed through his albums and concerts. Con- troversy shows Prince on the cover looking demure and conservative in a high-neck white shirt, black tie,'and ever-present trench coat. But surprise, inside there's a limited-edition poster of ,his majesty stretching in the shower, garbed only in his infamous black leather briefs, next to a crucifix hanging on the wall. Prince seems to thrive on this uncer- tainty and mystery that surrounds him- self and his music. Hopefully, these kame aspects which make him so'ap- pealing won't prove to be his downfall. --Elizabeth James 'The Smashchords' EP- (Smash Trade) We've probably all heard music as gratingly well-intentioned and spastically psychedelic as this before, but it was probably made by people we liked (or at least knew) in basements, garages, or backyards ... and it was probably while we were in high school, anyway, so what did it matter? All that mattered was that it was loud and elec- tric. And thatwabout defines Th Smash- chords - loud and electric. They've for- ce-fed their cheap guitars through their tiny store-bought amps and come up with a sound so swamped by feedback that it sounds like Ted Nugent playing at top wattage to a packed football stadium ... and it's actually only two guys in their basement. But The Smashchords should not be dismissed simply as objects of derision. There's an unexpectedly charming overload ethos and even a lovably crude sense of melodic development present in their hallucinogenic death throes. Though at times the best description of their sound is Ritchie Blackmore on too many drugs trying to play Chuck Berry, it would not be completely impossible to defend more progressive comparisons. For instance, parts of "Caveman" might remind you of a cross between the "freak-out" sections of The Red Crayola's Parable of Arable Land and The Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat (if you're open-- minded and imaginative, that is). And whom should we thank for this momentous transcription of the fledgling electronic brain damage heretofore only available to the an- noyed parents and impressed peers of high school boys? Why, Rough Trade Records, no less. Those thankless champions of eclectic exploration were so impressed by the demo tapes that this Seattle-based power duo recorded, that they immediately committed six of those compositions to vinyl on The Smashchords' 'own label, Smash Trade. Uh, gee, thanks, Rough Trade. . . I guess. --Mark Dighton academic year. 8:00 pm. Rackham Amphitheatre Wednesday, November 18 } L 4 ,1 I aI II I [ . 0 I-oll 0 A 'I k MEN'S GLEE CLUBS Patrick Gardner, Director. Michigan * James Gallagher, Director, Ohio State IN JOINT CONCERT Saturday November 21, 1981 e 8:00 p.m. e Hill Auditorium Tickets: $4.50 $3.50, $2.50. Student Tickets at $1.50. Available Novembe 16-21 at Hill Auditorium Box Office. ~ S Cj ht Eirhnzrn 13 a i Student Newspaper at The University of Michigan r----------- WRITE YOUR AD HERE! ----------- I -_-- --- ------------- -AND MAIL. 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