ARTS
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The Michigan Daily
Sunday, January 20, 1985
Page 5
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The River runs
By Richard Ca,
THE RIVER (Fa
T those still count
melodrama: prettyI
ordinary, and pretty c
Not that any of thes
Many of cinema'sr
silly films at heart. Bu
best movies is an inco
on the part of the p
camera. Director M
tempt to paint a st(
noble American farn
the kind of staged act
only the most sent
0d
straight d
plan is to build a dam across the river,
mpbell flood the valley, and use the water for
some never explained reason. And just
for the sake of a subplot, this local
arm Film #3 for business type used to have a thing for
ting) is a pretty Tom's wife.
simplistic, pretty It is a very convenient story.
-ontrived. Eventually, Tom decides that he
se things are bad. must go to work at an iron foundry in
masterpieces are order to support his family while the
ut what makes the crop comes in. But poor Tom doesn't
rruptable honesty know that he is being hired as a scab
people behind the and will be paid to cross a picket line to
lark Rydell's at- take away the job of an honest factory
oic picture of the worker. Has Tom lost his basic decen-
mer is filled with cy? Can Tom rediscover his basic
ion and emotion of morality? Was that some rain I heard
imental grade B in the distance?
back of the harvester with golden corn
spilling around them. That might have
worked, but Rydell can't leave it alone,
he's got to turn on the slow motion. It's
all a little too pretty.
The similarities between The River
and Country are striking. Both start
with a scene of natural disaster (floods
and tornadoes), show the farmers
talking to local bankers, trying
desperately to pay back the enormous
loans they've taken out on their land,
and even have similar scenes in which a
near-riot by the farmers almost closes
down a homestead auction. Yet where
Country was basic and honest, The
River is convoluted and self-righteous.
The most interesting thing in the film
is Mel Gibson's mid-southern accent.
As farmer Tom, Gibson has relatively
little to say, which is unfortunate
because his accent is marvelously un-
derplayed and disarmingly unlike his
natural Australian twang. Other than
that, however, Gibson's role is one of
simple stoicism.
Sissy Spacek as his wife and fellow
farm-person manages her role with
quiet determination. Even her scene
with a dying cow, a sentimental cheap-
shot if there ever was one, works for
some reason. Her one time lover and
now enemy, business tycoon Scott
Glenn does so little with so little that
it's hard to believe he's even in the
films.
The hero of the film is Tom Garvey, a
farmer courageously battling both
nature and big business. It seems that
the Garvey homestead is situated right
next to a river; when the heavy rains
come, the Garvey's are periodically
flooded out. As the picture opens and
the credits roll, we see Tom struggling
to rebuild the earth dyke that holds
back the river.
The Garvey's are barely making a
living on their farm; crop prices are
low, the work is back-breaking, and
Tom won't accept even the smallest
charity. But wait, there's more. The
local big business type wants to force
out all of the farmers in the valley; the
Lownstream
The River takes itself pretty sin-
cerely even amidst all of these con-
trivances. When Tom finally calls his
wife from the factory, she is out in the
fields with his son, valiantly carrying
on the hard life. When the two hear that
Dad's on the line, we get to watch them
race through the corn. It is supposed to
be a jubilant and emotional little shot.
But you quickly realize that the only
reason they were out in the fields at all
was so that we could watch them run-
ning through the corn stalks.
At the end of the film, as the crop is
finally coming in, the two children
(Does every farm couple have two kids,
a boy and a girl?) are playing in the
Australian heartthrob Mel Gibson
Garvey in Universal's 'The River'.
portrays the tough and tenacious Tom
same film. What Glenn does well is not
lapsing into the stereotype of the
business-person. Although we never
like the man much, he doesn't come off
as pure evil, just bad.
Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond's
beautiful, painterly compositions are
wasted in this psuedo-realist drama.
And John Williams returns to writing
simple scores and fails, not so much
because the music isn't good, but
because there is so little emotion and
story from which he can draw his
themes.
Rydell's The River isn't quite the dud
that this list of failings implies. For your
average evening's entertainment,
there's nothing particularly wrong with
this superficial and episodic farm-flick.
Maybe we've just seen too many better
films with the same background and
plot this year so that this one suffers by
comparison.
SAT. & SUN. FIRST MATINEEONLY $2.00
with this entire ad $1.00 off
1.UU adult evening admission. Coupon
OFF good for purchase of one or two
tickets. Good all features~ til 1124
EXCEPT TUESDAYS
JOHN SAYLES BEST FILM YET!
IW A
SUN.1:00 3:00 8:30
M N., TUES. 8.30
4 CHANNEL DOLBY STEREO
DIRECTED BY JONATHAN DEMME
THE TALKING HEADS
SUN. 3:10, 5:00, 6:50, 10:30
MON., TUES. 5:00,6:50, 10:30
TOGETHER THEY MAY FIND
THE STRENGTH TO KEEP TH EIR
WAY OF LIFE ALIVE!
MEL GIBISON
SISSY SPACEK
(PG-13)
From the Director of "On Golden Pond'"
DOLBY STEREO
SUN. 12:50, 5:15,-7:30, 9:45
MON., TUES. 5:00, 7:30, 9:45
CFG bounce and bop in ballroom bash
By John Logie
CONCERT promoters tried to move
the event to Crisler Arena at only a
few moments notice, but nobody knew
how to turn the lights on there so the
show stayed at the Union. Of course,
over 13,000 people had to be turned
away at the door as a result. A riot star-
ted but was quickly diffused when
S.W.A.T. teams opened fire on the
crowd. Those who remained alive after
the skirmish took off to Dooley's and
privately resolved to get in line earlier
for the next show.
The Civilian Fun Group kicked off
their "More Goofs" tour Friday night
at the Michigan Union Ballroom. The
show was disguised as a Zeta Psi dance
party and was opened by the frater-
nity's favorite band, The Great Knock-
wurst Trio.
GKT began the evening with a set of
retro-acoustic music from the decades
that begin with "s". They were much
improved over their last performance,
and the lead singer comes on like a
young John Fogerty.
CFG sidled onstage in front of a
crowd of about 450. I don't think
anyone, Zeta Psi, the band, the
Ballroom, or the concertgoers them-
selves had expected this kind of respon-
se. After some minor adjustments, such
as the establishment of a "slam-
dancing zone" by a sensitive, concer-
ned bouncer, the show really got
rolling.
The evening was one of innovation.
First, Lawrence presented the genially
unruly crowd with "The Stage Dive
Machine", an inverted milk crate, duct-
taped to the stage, that served as a
springboard for the many bodies which
subsequently hurtled end-over-end into
the mashing crowd. The next in-
novation, inverted guitar playing, was
a spontaneous scientific advance from
the ever-inventive John Shaw. How
John managed to thrash his legs around
on the wall, while still chugging out riff
after riff is a good topic for a term
paper in physics. "Pleasure Dog"
featured the band's first live use of a
backing tape, and it gave them the full
sound they have been looking for.
CFG debuted a few new songs Friday
night, and "Honduras" stands out as
both a departure and an achievement
for the band. The song provides a
respite from the breakneck tempos,
and features some really terrific har-
monies. "Honduras" is a nifty, ballad-
ish sort of thing, but it manages to
maintain the trademark CFG political
sensibility at the same time.
After some initial skittishness, the
band launched into the better part of its
entire song catalogue with charac-
teristic enthusiasm and verve.
Hopefully the profits from the evening's
efforts will go towards a grade of guitar
string less apt to snap, as the delays
caused by this malady were responsible
for the concert's roller-coaster like
second half. It's obvious to CFG fans
that extra guitars and expert roadies
aren't available, and ferocious strum-
ming is a CFG prerequisite, but a bass
string? I haven't seen a bass string
snap in nineteen years! No more
cheapie off-brands, Nick.
Ah, well...if you weren't there, it's
going to be hard for you to piece it
together. In short, The Civilian Fun
Group delivered a very strong show, a
lot of folks bashed around, jammed the
stage, dove off it, and had a rollicking
good time, and enough noise was made
to disrupt the Madonna (I'm a virgin)
Dance Party in the U-Club. I think this
final achievement is the one the band
will be proudest of, and it is also
probably the reason that the hardy
grinned over their bruises as
management shut the show down.
An hour into Saturday, sweaty people
filed into the wind-chilled Ann Arbor
streets, exhausted, from the best show
they'd seen this year.
200 Million People,
And Only 35,000
Get to Read
3icbigan BMWt
SUBSCRIBE NOW
764-0558
Doily Photo by TIA MALLETTE
CFG delivered thrashing, slashing, elegant clashing, head-bashing rock'n'roll at
the Ballroom Friday night.
Office of Major Events presents:
Two Legends! One Incredible Night!!
HILL AUDITORIUM
NA
COMES TO
IN ARBO
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TheTAT7ONS
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EVEY MONDAY
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FOUR TOPS
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LE.CLUB SPtJTNI JIWTH
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MIKE HALLORAN -
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