ARTS I The Michigan Daily Sunday, January 20, 1985 Page 5 ......... - - - - ---------- ............ 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 r d TheTAT7ONS . EVEY MONDAY t LH' kl. I 1 aIi I E FOUR TOPS Q LE.CLUB SPtJTNI JIWTH WLBS DJ EXTRAORDINAIRE MIKE HALLORAN - OSPECIAL SURPRISE PERFORMANilS 027 BRANDS OF BEER *OFOQD SERVICE UNTtl1,:0 MCOVER CHAI GE ONLY'%. :4 . ~- 0 i I vmm