Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 1, 1986
'The Boy Who Could
Fly' takes a nose dive
By Kathy Babits
One of the first film releases of
the Fall season is The Boy Who
Could Fly, starring Lucy
Deakins, Jay Underwood, Bonnie
Bedelia, Fred Savage, and
Colleen Dewhurst in a
combination serious drama-silly
farce.
At the beginning of the film,
Milly, portrayed by Deakins,
moves to a dilapidated neigh-
borhood with her newly-widowed
mother (Bedelia) and obnoxious
little brother Louis (Savage).
When her mother has to go back to
work, Milly practically runs the
whole household herself. This
isn't easy for a young girl, even if
she happens to be a mature 14-
year-old. But her problems
continue. Returning to work after
13 years' absence, her mother
pours her frustrations out on her
daughter. Then Louis comes
home with a string of letters from
his teacher, asking that he leave
his toy guns and go-ahead-make-
my-day attitude at home.
As if Milly doesn't have
enough problems taking care of a
brother who thinks he's Clint
Eastwood, her teacher (Dewhurst)
asks her to befriend the autistic
boy (Underwood) next door. The
neighborhood gossip tells Milly
that the boy hasn't spoken since
his parents died in a plane
crash when he was five.
The film then centers around
the boy's nonverbal com-
munication, particularly his
daily ritual of sitting on a window
ledge, and flapping his arms like
a bird. The boy's uncle--his
guardian--is not concerned about
these actions, and is usually too
drunk to care anyway.
Milly watches the boy from her
bedroom window with curiosity;
a special contact is established
between the pair through eye
contact. Both actors convey their
inner turmoil through their facial
expressions and gestures.
Somewhere in the middle of the
film, however, the plot switches
gears. The strange science
fiction that it originally promised
transforms into a Mary Poppins
fantasy. The actions of the
charac-
ters become inconsistent too
quickly to be believable and the
audience wonders what
happened. The complex questions
raised at the beginning of the film
are answered in a simple
happily-ever-after endng.
Although the characters stray
from their original roles, they
conduct a fine performance.
With the exception of Fred
Savage--who's acting is just
plain irritating-- the cast is
delightfully believable for the
first hour. The movie promises to
take off, but The Boy Who Could
Fly never leaves the ground.
Milly (Lcuy Deakins) discovers the boy next door in The Boy Who Could Fly.
The Center for Japanese Studies Presents
YASUJIRO OZU'S
THE END OF SUMMER
a series of vignettes centering around a patriarch's battle
to keep his mistress in spite of family disapproval.
October 3
Admission:
FREE
7 -9 p.m.
Japanese with
English Subtitles
AUDITORIUM A
of Angell Hall
on S. State St.
CALL
764-6307
for further information.
Record
Various Artists
HANGING OUT AT
MIDNIGHT
Midnight
Hanging Out at Midnightis a
suprisingly listenable disc
compiled by New York's
Midnight Records. One of the
U.S.'s premier indie labels,
Midnight's stable is largely
made up of East Coast acts,
whose sounds tend toward (but
aren't limited to) current
rephrasings of the pop and*
garage genres. The small
sampling of bands on Hanging
Out attests to the label's well-
deserved popularity among
indies and to an intelligence,
energy, and diversity on the part
of the label in selection and
signing of bands.
However, it's really not with
I the label that credit for the
success of Hangin
belongs. It's clearly the
that make the disc enege
contemporary Where
compilations bog dow
toinconsistent quality, th
on Hanging Out consi
have the necessary
Where some compilatio
stylistic coherency, s
schizophrenic, the sou
Hanging Out hang toget
each band has the person
set itself apart.
Among the notable:
Cookies' "Girl Next Door
apt follow-up to their grey
"In the City," continuin
forays into superclean
pop. It's not surprisi
produced by R.E.M.'s
Buck.
The Wind's "Girl Nex
is more likeable pop, in t
of their critically acclaim
Guest of the Staphs. A
N-
.A.
11
ig Out Grey's "No Man's Lana"
bands features a powerful vocal, with
etic and an atmospheric backing track.
some Garage sounds abound, most
n due notable of which are the Tryfles'
e bands (great name) "No" and the
stently Cavemen's "Labor Day." "No"
chops. is virtually indestructible
ns lack garage punk, and the Tryfles
eeming themselves have the mega-cool
nds on configuration of two women (on
her but guitar and drums, yet) and two
zality to guys. Also good are the
Cheepskates' "About You" and
Woofing the Kingsnakes' "So Good,"
r" is an which features Flamin' Groovy
at single Danny Mihm.
g their Three tracks stand out in the
guitar mind of this reviewer to be set
ng it's aside for special commendation.
Peter They are: The Love Pushers'
"Radio Girl," Howard and
t Door" Tim's Paid Vacation's "That
he vein Won't Make You Love Me," and
ned EP, the Fuzztones' "The Witch."
bsolute "Radio Girl" is nothing short of
an 80s "Roadrunner," a paeon to
pop in all its manifestations.
Howard and Tim are Howard-:
Wuelfing and Tim Lee, who've
attained their own degree of'-
celebrity alone ( Lee with the
Windbreakers, Weulfing as a
journalist and veteran of;
_ umpteen bands) but are even
cooler together, especially with
wonderful material like "That
Won't Make You...." Finally,
"The Witch," an early
unreleased track from what l'
may be America's foremost;.
garage-punk outfit, captures the
Fuzztones at their most raw,"
before recent personnel:
changes.
With these three tracks as the
pinnacle of achieve ment,,"
Hanging Out is all-in-all a
great listen- it hangs together
like a family of opossums. Each
side fairly breezes by. It's«
enough to make one wish for a
ACE one-way'ticket to Hoboken, at
least until some Ann Arbor
bands gather some steam.
-Julie Jurrjens
W s got that look,
that look, that leaves me weak..
WU and his super stir-frying technique.
SWU'S got that look,
that look, between the lines.
WU and his healthy oriental stir-frys.
Look
into the
._.
=
And
--
-MJctoiin
.
I should be brave and say, "Let's have no more of it!"
- BUT, OH, what's the use when WU knows, I love it!"
All I do, is all low-cal ...
high in nutrients,
low cholesterol.. .
respectable as can be ...
but here's what they say to me. .
WU'S got that look,
that look, that leaves me weak.
WU and his super stir-frying technique...
Grand Opening Today!
INTERRELIGIOUS ACTION FOR WORLD PEA
Ms. Brenda Svenson
Pilot Program:
Philippines I
40'
Wolverine Rm.
Michigan Union
o -
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? "a _
q
'r
" " y '
,
WED., 101
7-9 p.m.
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1 T%12VEl?1. TAWVVVVEUETT2 IUVUIMPT1
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