The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 1, 1996 - 11 'Intense plot resuscitates weak 'Extreme' By Kristin Long diagnosis. -Daily Arts Writer Until this point in the film, the audience is virtually A sure sign of a fantastic film is the intensity of its "plot. With every gasp the audience makes, you know the suspense is high, and the thought of taking a nap never crosses your mind. At the end of such a film, you notice you've bitten your nails so short that a manicure .s no longer necessary. In "Extreme Measures," each moment is as perilous as the RE next. Hugh Grant and Gene -Hackman star as two doctors Extrem who struggle to survive in a cut- throat profession. They want to At Bri be successful, yet one happens to find success in a more deceit- ful way than the other. fGrant plays the .ambitious Dr. Guy Luthan, who finds that some questions in life are answered at one's own risk. As a physician in the emergency room of .New York's Gramacy Hospital, he deals with all sorts EZZf stress. Guy is one of the most highly respected doc- tors in the ward; having just received a fellowship Atom New York University, he seems invincible. Then, the patient of doom is brought into the hospi- tal. On what might look like a normal evening of trau- - mas and gunshot wounds, an unusual case enters. The symptoms are abnormal, and no one knows the cause f the problem. After many attempts to bring him back tb life, the unfortunate victim dies without a final a unaware of the details of the story. We don't understand who this random guy was, and how the pieces all fit together. The suspense is enormous, and as Guy tries to understand the mess, we realize that the edge of our seats is not the most comfortable sitting position. Amazing doctor that he is, Guy takes it upon himself to do V I E W a follow-up on the unknown sit- uation. He has only the victim's e Measures medical record and a name the *** victim disclosed before he col- rwood and showcase lapsed on the operating table. As one of the most highly admired physicians in the coun- try, Dr. Lawrence Myrick (Hackman) should be able to help Guy find some answers. His intentions, how- ever, don't involve revealing too many secrets. The lat- est medical study, that has stimulated much question, is his project. Myrick has the dual role of being a social role model who leads a corrupt life behind closed doors. After a while, every move is revolting, and Hackman has worked his magic again. For Guy, nothing works in his favor. His determina- tion is what gets him in the most trouble and puts him in the unfortunate predicament of protecting his own life, or risking it in order to unravel the truth. The only people he can trust are the homeless folks he befriend- ed at work. As a result of his investigations, Guy finds his life practically destroyed. He turns to his colleagues for help, but no one wants to associate with a success who threw his life away. Sarah Jessica Parker plays head nurse Jodie Trammel, Guy's friend and colleague. Her mediocre performance does not add much to the film, and her role is rather trivial. The serious side of Grant as the ambitious doctor is a pleasant change from his usual light hearted roles. Each time he is punished the audience cannot help but feel badly for him. Grant is convincing as the poor nice guy who gets the worst part of the deal. Hackman delivers yet another stellar performance as the revered Dr. Myrick. His ability to play the most sinister roles is to be admired. In "Extreme Measures," he does not fall below expectations; he makes the human race look completely gullible while keeping his reputation intact. The plot is one which thrives on the unexpected, and this makes the flick entertaining. While at times the question "Where is this film going?" enters our minds, the final result puts it all into one worthwhile feature. Although parts of the movie fail to maintain the thrill, it is a rather enjoyable film. The excitement of each fight and the conspiracy of the medical world keep the audience in anticipation of some tremendous resolution. "Extreme Measures" proves that Grant really can act, and Hackman is always dependable. Gene Hackman; Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant (clockwise from top left) star in the mediocre "Extreme Measures." Prince cheats fans with latest unremarkable release READ Prince Chaos And Disorder Warner Bros. Prince has released a brand spankin' new album, and absolutely no one seems to have noticed. Surely not that many people are still engrossed in the O.J. Simpson trial. But save yourself the headache of becoming thrilled now. Prince's newest work is terrible. By now, everyone should be familiar with Prince's desire to leave Warner Bros., a label he feels stifles his cre- ative juices. The only thing that kept him from packing up and moving out was that pesky little contract. Prince owed WB one more record, and they wouldn't take any "Prince's Greatest Hits" as payment. Thus we had Prince with the word "slave" painted on his face in every concert he performed and bad-mouthing WB with every chance he got. And now, he has released one of the worst albums in the history of the nation just so he can be free of WB's control. I bet he's already cleaned out the stu- dios. Prince must have really hated WB by the time "Chaos and Disorder" was released. I mean, we're talking about a man who would fire his entire entourage if he didn't feel they vibed with him anymore. He was the stereo- typical temperamental artist, the ulti- mate embodiment of one unwilling to compromise his musical perfection. So for him to just roll out of bed and pack- age whatever noise he could come up with as an album just so he could get away, Prince must have really hated the WB family. I'm not mad at Prince for what he did. I feel his pain, and therefore I am more than willing to forgive him this trans- gression. I'll gladly wait for him to find a new record label more in tune with his cre- ative juices and eventually release his next album, which he's already promised will be titled "Emancipation." (I'll bet ya anything he's gonna fire the New Power Generation, too. Maybe he'll replace 'em with the Harriet Tubman Players.) And when "Emancipation" comes out, it'll be the bomb. But as for "Chaos and Disorder," wherever you happen to see this LP lay- ing around, leave it there. - Eugene Bowen M A G A Z I N E THURSDAYS IN THE DAILY Will she or won't she? ABC-TV toys with plans to out 'Ellen' If you're into computer science, data processing, accounting, auditing, math or law... Los Angeles Times Lesbian, shmesbian. Should 4ve really give a hoot whether Ellen Morgan, the single neurotic played by Ellen DeGeneres in her ABC sit- ,com, "Ellen," discloses that she's a lesbian? Well ... yes. It's a long season, and we need something besides O.J. Simpson and Clinton vs. Dole to push our but- tons. I'm for Ellen Morgan bursting from the closet if only because Donald Wildmon, big-talking founder of the impo- -tent American Family Association, says he's against it and may boycott the show's advertisers. That alone puts me on the right side of the issue. If there really is an issue. ABC's advance PR blurb on Ellen Morgan this season had her taking a "radical" new path to "self-discovery and fulfillment." Hmm. But the real buzz began with a TV rGuide report that she might be coming out as gay this season and that the series might start dropping hints 4o that effect. Ho-hum. As if a sophisticate like yours truly would care or be tit- illated. Thus, believe *me on this, it was strictly for profes- sional reasons that I tuned in the season premiere to see if Ellen would be, um, getting it on with her curvy best friend, Paige. Not quite, it turned out. But there were some of those hints, including a joke about Ellen . wearing boxer shorts (reportedly the under- wear of choice for all lesbians) and a gag that seemed to imply that she would never have a conventional family. Yes, prime-time perversi- "-ty on Wednesday nights. So naturally I also caught last week's Episode Two. Downer. No hints. By this time, though, DeGeneres herself was in New York, hitting the TV interview circuit with David Letterman, Rosie .,«. KAA X4EI _ 4+,-0 4 big fan of Casey Kasem." "I think that's great," O'Donnell said with a straight face, "because a lot of different networks wouldn't take the risk." Then DeGeneres delivered an unexpected stunner that probably had Peoria gasping: "Half of Hollywood is Lebanese." She was just as vague about Ellen Morgan's sexual orien- tation with McEwen: "The answer does lie in the CD ... if you play it backward." Is the answer that she's ... left-handed? TV Guide says a future "Ellen" episode takes that self-mocking tack when the character makes a big revelation to her divorcing parents. Open to question is what "Ellen" and DeGeneres are going for here, whether the intent is to test public response and the extent of the risk in advance of Morgan's actually coming out as gay, or merely to raise expectations and cause a stir that will draw more viewers to "Ellen, a fairly successful series facing tough competition on Wednesday nights. If the latter is the main goal, I know one viewer who has bitten: me. I had watched the series only rarely since its inception as "These Friends of Mine" in 1994, and tuned in this season only to check out the lesbian angle. My loss, for the first two episodes - with Ellen Morgan selling her bookstore to finance buying a home and then saving the job of a surly employee about to be fired by a new manager whose mounted deer head out- raged her - were extremely funny, affirming the quality of the show's writ- ing and DeGeneres as one of television's most gifted sitcom actresses. Although the show is publicly mum about it, TV Guide reports that a "coming out" script is already in the works for Ellen Morgan. p- k f. . :' -ty '