ARTS Thursday, January 6, 1983 The Michigan Doily To otsie's n o drag By Joshua Bilmes F YOU ARE looking for an excuse not to see Tootsie, here's the only one I-could think of: Much of the film Will probably be shown as clips on this year's Academy Awards show. Besides etting a number of the acting ominations, Tootsie itself is sure to be nominated as Best Picture. This Oscar'candidate opens with a montage of scenes that show Dustin Hoffman, playing Michael Dorsey, struggling to get a job as an actor. With areputation as being "difficult," he joesn't get any offers. Instead, Hof- fman waits tables to earn a living and ihnstructs at an acting workshop to sharpen his talents. 'At a surprise birthday party for Hof- mfan we meet Jeff, played by Bill Murray, an aspiring playwright trying to get money together to put on his latest work, and Sandy (Teri Garr), Hoffman's girlfriend and a struggling actress in her own right. " Hoffman has been helping Sandy prepare an audition for the popular soap opera '"Southwest General," but $andy is immediately rejected by the ihow's domineering director (Dabney Ooleman). Hoffman gets upset when his 4gent, played by Tootsie's director $ydney Pollack, tells his client that he a "cult failure.'' Determined to prove Pollack wrong, Hoffman gives himself aprofessional sex change. Michael Dorsey becomes Dorothy Michaels and heads over to the Southwest General studios. She bullies her way into getting a reading for the part and bullies her way into getting the part. "Southwest General" is the setting for an assortment of interesting characters. Coleman is the talented director who treats women poorly. Jessica Lange is the show's female lead, who becomes Dorothy's closest friend. George Gaynes is the show's leading man with an overwhelming reliance on cue cards and an equally overwhelming desire to kiss all the ladies in the fictional hospital at least once an episode. Now things begin to get really in- teresting. Pollack mistakes his client for a real woman when they meet at the Russian Tea Room. Sandy begins to doubt Michael when the demands of being Dorothy cause him to arrive late on some dates and miss others entirely. Dorothy, thinking as Michael, falls in love with Jessica Lange. As Dorothy, she gets a marriage proposal from Lange's father, played by Charles Dur- ning. After being on the show a while, Michael finally has the money he needs to produce Jeff's play, but Dorothy's character has become very popular. Michael starts looking for a way out of being Dorothy, and this excellent comedy moves toward its humorous finale. Wha't makes Tootsie so excellent? To start with, the acting is excellent, not one performance is a dud. Dustin Hof- fman deserves a nomination for Best Actor. Jessica Lange deserves a nomination for her role as Julie. But the real strength of the film lies in its supporting cast. Bill Murray is mar- velous as Hoffman's roommate delivering deadpan remarks with per- fect timing. Sydney Pollack plays the agent well. One could say that it did not take much acting for him to call Hof- fman difficult and a trouble-maker judging by all the stories of friction between the two on the set, but he does well nonetheless. But my favorite was George Gaynes as the soap's untalented lead. His face said it all when Dorothy keeps him from looking at his cue cards while filming a scene from the soap. She says "Look at me when you talk,'' as he tries desperately to twist his head toward the cards. Dabney Coleman plays a role similar to his bad boss in 9 to 5 and-what was en- joyable then is enjoyable now. Teri Garr and Charles Durning also give decent performances, if not award- winning ones. A good deal of the credit must go to director Pollack. Uniformly good per- formances by everyone do not just turn up accidentally. The screenplay by Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal is quite good, suiting the talents of Dustin Hoffman perfectly without slighting everyone else. r 4" e " ,i ' h "t I: i . .,, l Dustin Hoffman, right, in full drag gets a look over from his agent, played by 'Tootsie' director Sydney Pollack. David Grusin's musical score could very well pick him up a fourth Oscar nominationand some of the sorgsnhe which are snug by Stephen Bishop, are also likely to get a nomination. With Tootsie, it is a choice between seein the film now or seeing it on the ths. Come on over to our Pad ,Records -L The Brains-'Dancing Under Streetlights' (Landslide) Instead of a third album (or maybe in anticipation of one), we get this EP from the Brains, one of the bands to break out of Atlanta's burgeoning music scene. Well, fine with me-anything these four guys do hits just the right nerves: this is rock and roll with a solid punch, and the four songs on Dancing Under Streetlights hit hard. The Brains are the brainstorm of vocalist/ keyboardist/ songwri ter Tom Gray. heir first two albums, produced by Steve Lillywhite, painited'vivid men- tal portraits of an incurable romantic bemused-but 'not yet overcome-by the modern world. Songs such as "Money Changes Everything" from The Brains, and "Asphalt Wonderland" from Electronic Eden found Gray waxing his frustrations in a highly in- telligent and commercial manner, yet both those albums failed to make much of a splash with the record-buying public (check out your local cut-out bin for verification). Thusly, Mercury Records promptly dumped I them. Dancing Under Streetlights is on Landslide Records, an seems well: the pressing is nice, the pakaging professional, the production. aid). But what about the music? If this EP is any indication, the Brains are one group that are determined to keep up their level of quality, despite set-backs. In fact, they're getting better. Bassist Bryan Smithwick has been replaced by Keith Christopher, who is a much more 1adept bass player than his predecessor. Charles Wolff's "John Bonham School of Drumming" diploma is not as readily visible as before-the discer- ning listener might not even recognize him as a graduate any more; his work , . of 1 c ency - ,,. here is tight and complementary to the music, although, like many contem- porary percussionists, he is rather faceless. - iGuitarist Rick Price continues to prove himself as one of the great un- sung musicians currently recording, as his choppy rhythm playing and meaty leads attest, helping to fatten up the Brains sound; listen to the subtle un- derstatement in the title track, or his mock-emulation of a Japanese Koto in "Tanya" for further reference. On the vocal front, Gray's singing is heartfelt, as in "Pon't Give Yourself Away," assured in "Dancing Under Streetlights," strong in "Read My Mind," forlornly nostalgic in "Tanya"; his keyboard playing is greatly under- played throughout, yet tasteful. The Brains are one_ of the best American bands lingering un- necessarily in record and radioland ob- scurity, with more chutzpah than R.E.M. and Pylon combined, and as much potential as either of those groups, if not more. Dancing Under Streetlights should sufficiently "whet the appetite" until album number three comes out. If it's any better than this, it'll be a hot one. -Larry Dean previous accomplishments. And it seems to be the case with Petty's new disc as the gravel-throated guitarist appears to have lost some of the unfet- tered rawness that characterized such past songs as "A Woman in Love,"' and "Don't Do Me Like That." The. main fault of the album can be explained by Petty's tendency to sup- press his talented band, which includes versatile guitarist Mike Campbell, and drummer Stan Lynch. Petty has a strong cast in the Heartbreakers, yet fails to use their talents as effectively as he could. Instead of letting his songs breath by permitting more instrumental freedom to Campbell, Petty chooses to confine his songs into a' tight, smothering struc- ture which dilutes their potential. Too often does the group depend on unremitting Stratocaster bar chords, and incessant drumming to mask an underdeveloped song. Thus, Petty displays little digression from the sound that made him famous in Hard Promises. Many bars and vocal patter- ns sound hauntingly similar to previous tracked tunes. A small expansion of his musical foundation on his next disc will not only lay the groundwork for future endeavors but also will provide his fans songwriters multilayred talents.th The theme of the album is sexual frustration with Petty expressing feelings of alienation from the female. moanstra"ghere was amomnt whentI really loved her, then the feeling just died." In 'In Between Worlds" Petty places himself into a void with an un- certainty of desires, "I know a woman's body is only flesh and bone, How come I can't let go?" Petty's preoccupation with such uninsightful lamentations is the one characteristic that anchors this album down with unnecessary weight by the use ofusuch a milk-and-water musicalvocabuary. Despite somie obvious structural shortcomings, Long After Dark is not a bad album, it's just not the kind of album that we're used to hearing from the energetic band. Many of the songs are very listenable if not catchy, in- cluding "Finding Out" and "You Got Lucky" which features some proficient synthesizer work by Benmont Tench. Perhaps a change of co-producers can help Petty secure a fresh perspective into future directions. Producer Jim- my Iovine who also logged a studio hours putting Ytogether Stevie Nicks' smash, Bella Donna, which included a duet with Petty, is just too inclined with spewing out singles, and in so doing, may be restricting the musicianship of Petty and band. Long After Dark is a must for Petty fans, but others may want to wait for his next disc. The album should be viewed as part of Petty's musical maturation process, and should be con- sidered only 'a temporary setback from which Petty will surely rebound. -Tom McDonald Liberty off State ..668-9329 E r as U .at South U .6 2 0 5 Maple Village .....761-2733 TH E DA ILY CL ASSIF IEDS ARE A GR EAT WAY TO GET FAST R ESU LTS CA LL 764-0557 : Ampad®' lgalpads from UWrich's. 8:30-9:00 Thursday 8:30.8:00 Friday 9:06:0Satuday Main Store: 549 E. University MDRE THANA BCXOKSt ORf 662-3201 Electronics Showroom: 1110 S. Univeroify a Y ti . ' .. . '.i " Tom Petty and breakers-'Long (Backstreet) the Heart- After Dark' Tom Petty's fifth album, Long After Dark, shows the rock refugee a little bit stagnant after reaching superstardom status with his critically lauded efforts, Da mn the Torpedos and H ard Promises. This type of regression is not un- common in the musical spectrum as an artist frantically searches for new con- cepts of originality yet sinks in the quagmire of homogeneity created by t n 9 The Office of Major Events and WLLZ Welcome: 1"'-.L' S What are you looking for? Computers, Frames, Reference Books, U of M Jackets, Pro- fessional and Amateur Art Materials, Prints, Sunglasses, Calendars, Lamps, Watches, Office Supplies, U of M Jogg- ing Suits, Globes, Cards, Portfolios, Clocks, Fine Papers, Sculpting Tools, Engineering and Architecture Supplies, Briefcases, Technical Pens, Calculators, Typewriters, U of M Ensignia Items, Fine Writing Pens, . . . and more miscellaneous than you'd believe. Have you tried Ulrich's? WIT H HIS BA ND "T HE F ABU LOUS JA CUZZIS, & THE ONE NEAT GUY" MEW- W" V omk 416 im im i