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ARTS
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The Michigan Daily Friday, March 7, 1986 Page 8
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Flaws trip up two new film releases
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IN THE HANDS OF A different
The Trip To Bountiful could have
been a beautiful, albeit predictable,
story of human dignity and the-need
for a connection with the past.
However, in the hands of Peter
Masterson, it is a sloppy, forgettable
little film redeemed in part by some
fantastic performances and a
touching, if not original, script.
The themes of independence and
rebirth are wound around the story of
an elderly woman (Geraldine Page)
who attempts to break free from the
suffocating existence she shares with
her malleable., unassuming son (John
Heard) and his shallow, bitchy wife
(Carlin Glyn) who wants to return one
last time to the rural town where she
grew up.
The script contains the ususal
allegorical references which seem
obligatory in works like this, but it
manages to convey a certain amount
of power despite its symbolic cliches.
Said power surfaces when the
characters are taken at face value;
i.e., as real people rather than grand
metaphors. Thankfully, the writing is
personal enough to allow for this sort
of interpretation most of the time.
If there is anything in this movie
worth the price of admission it's the
acting. John Heard and Carlin Glyn
play too muich to stereotypes to really
be effective, but forget about them -
we've got Geraldine Page and Rebec-
ca De Mornay. It is in the scenes bet-
ween them that the movie really
comes to life and rises above any
inadequacies in script and direction.
De Mornay, as a fellow traveller
who befriends Page, manages to con-
vey a well-balanced combination of
strength and vulnerability in a limited
amount of time. Her character is
genuinely endearing, which is saying
quite a bit considering she was
working under the shadow of Oscar
nominee Geraldine Page. Page's per-
formance is outstanding, easily the
best since Meryl Streep's in Sophie's
Choice. She slips into her role
flawlessly, and the resultris
mesmerizing. It would be useless to
try and sum up her performance in a
review; suffice it to say the Oscar is
hers, and it won't do her justice.
It's an even greater tribute to Page
that she managed to achieve so much
in the face of Masterson's incredibly
amatuerish direction. The film looks
O BSESSION. It starts off as
curiosity. Then, without you
knowing it, it grows on you until there
is no turning back. It shackles you
up; encompasses you to the point
where it is almost impossible to get
loose. This is what the two charac-
ters, as well as the audience, go
through in 91%2 Weeks.
91/2 Weeks is a strange and eerie
film. It literally takes you by sur-
prise. You may just go to see the
movie as a whim and you may even
hate it when you leave, but the movie
will stick with you. 91/2 Weeks is
engrossing and will leave you thinking
about it for some time after.
Kim Basinger plays a beautifully
sexy but very vulnerable woman who
meets Mickey Rourke, who portrays a
sleek New York executive. What they
have for each other is not love, but
rather an infatuation. Basinger,
though nervous at first, falls for his
super-composed style. Their sado-
masochist relationship takes them all
over the city. They have sex
everywhere and in every way - in
bars, sidestreets, restaurants ...
The film, in fact, is almost all sex.
These scenes are not only steamy and
sultry, but also very creative and
colorful.It's exciting (and excites
you) when Rourke runs an ice cube,
along Basingers sleek body, or when
they make love in the kitchen using
every food item available.
The film's one major drawback is
that it hardly has a conflict. Of cour-
se, there is the self conflict in
Basinger, but she doesn't do anything
about it until the last five minutes of
the film.
In addition, 9% weeks is boring. It
drags on and on and makes the
audience extremely impatient. There
is only so much sex one can take.
Basinger and Rourke are both per-"
fect for this erotic film, mainly
because of the fact that they are both
sexy and attractive. The actual script, ,
must have been only ten pages long.
Besides having sex, the only interac-
tion they have is running through the
streets in big coats. But, needless totl
say, watching them in action is very
exciting.
91/z Weeks is not for everyone. If
you're going to a movie for a good.t
storyline and plot, do not see this film.;,
But it is hot, sexy and arousing. If
you look at 9%2 Weeks for the sheer
sultriness of it, you love it.
- By Seth Flicker
Rebecca DeM ornay and oscar nominee Geraldine Page enhance a flawed
script and overcome bad direction in the film 'A Trip to Bountiful.'
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like it was edited by a two-year old.
Masterson apparently didn't trust his
script and actors to maintain a high
enough level of emotional intensity, so
he relies on a lot of quick cuts to keep
the audience's attention. This method
works - once. Masterson's use of
montage gets very irritating and ser-
UAC MUSKET presents
C34
March 6,7,8
8:00 pm, Power Center
Tickets available at the
Michigan Union Ticket office
was only to lessen the impact that the
actors might have had if they were
left to carry the scenes by themselves.
Even this would be forgivable if
Masterson could match the shots up to
maintaining a decent amount of ext-
ernal rhythm, but that too, is beyond
him. Masterson had better pray that
mere actors of Page's scope wander
his way in the future. If he's going to
continue directing, he's going to need
all the help he can get. Kurt Serbus
For those who are looking for a less
intellectual diversion, there is another
film which is about as far removed
from "a story of human dignity" as
one can get.
Prizzi
r
S '
Thcmeri 1 6 4
't ;t 61-970
Godfather
NEW YORK (AP) - He may haves
played the crusty, murderous head of"
a New York mob family in Prizzi's}
Honor, but in real life actor William
Hickey is as tough as, well, a marsh-
mallow. Weighing a scant 120 pounds,
the slightly stooped Irishman with
wispy salt and pepper hair is anything,
but the stereotypical Mafia chieftain.
Though he wanted the role that's
earned him an. Academy Award"
nomination for supporting actor, the t
57-year-old Hickey never believed hei,
could make the transformation into
the 84-year-old Don Corrado Prizzi.
The.don was supposed to be a toughL-
dealing Italian from Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn part he could handle.
The Italian part was a little harder. (
"I'm from Flaaat-bush," Hickey
said in his best "Noo Yawk" accent.
"I grew up at a time when everyone't
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