.0 ARTS 4 The Michigan Daily Friday, March 7, 1986 Page 8 . 3 ; t, Flaws trip up two new film releases ;r1 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.' NOW HIRING MUG EATERIES AND COMMON MICHIGAN UNION FOOD SERVICES 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. 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