No, not David Lee Roth
U David Roth performs. This humorous singer-songwriter will
apear tonight at the Ark. 8 p.m.
be £irit luig
Monday in Daily Arts:
U You've already read what Kevin Spacey has to say. Monday,
check out interviews with other cast members of "American
Beauty,"
8
Friday
October 1, 1999
Stupid Cazy'has too much Hart
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sy Erin Podoisky
waily Arcs Writer
"Drive Me Crazy" crashes head-on into theaters
,his weekend as a distinctly mediocre entry in the
teen flick boom. Piloted by Adrian Grenier
"Sebastian Cole: Boy Who Sit on Rooftops") and
Melissa Joan Hart ("Sabrina: Girl Who Casts
flexes"), the film scores points by crapping square-
ly on the heads of the popular kids - although
such skewing has become de rigeour of late
because to glorify them would just be, well, boring
,-,and spending a goodly amount of time explain-
ing why geeks act the way they do. Unfortunately,
all of those points are lost thanks to the pitiful
emoting attempted by Hart,
the Hollywood yearbook's
"girl most likely to goad view-
ers into homicidal mania."
Drive Me Armed with a drooping win-
Crazy dow shade of a lower lip and
quite possibly the most irritat-
ingly pitched voice of all time,
At Briarwood Hart plays Nicole Maris, a
popular girl who has spent an
entire semester planning the
school dance event of the cen-
tury and about half that time
engineering a surefire hot date
to the suaree with Matt Damon
doppleganger jock Brad
(Gabriel Carpenter). When Brad disregards the
established "rules" about the adolescent mating-
and-dating dance and doesn't ask Nicole, she swal-
lows her pride and invites her ex-best friend, next-
door neighbor Chase Hammond (Grenier) to help
her get back on top of the coolest clique in school
and save her from certain humiliation.
for his part, Chase puts up a fair fight. His infil-
tration of the popular kids thanks to a new
wardrobe personally selected by Nicole ("I wasn't
execting you to fall in love." "I wasn't expecting
k
nerd, the designated driver. Played by Kris Park
and Mark Webber respectively, these are the char-
acters that actually seem cool, the ones you'd want
to know and hang out with, the ones that actually
have fun beyond getting wasted on cheap high
school beer that the one idiot convenience store
clerk in town sells to underage drinkers.
If the film had been about them from the get-go
(although they do get some choice scenes and far
better dialogue and development than our main
daring duo), it might have been a more successful
enterprise. Or it just might have devolved into a
total morality play on cool vs. uncool. Which it did
anyway, so I guess it's a moot point.
As it stands, there are few, if any, surprises to be
had in "Drive Me Crazy." Following precedent to
the letter, Chase and Nicole hate each other, then
almost hook up, then almost break up, then really
fall in love, then live happily ever after. What is the
point of this? Why do these movies keep getting
made? Is it purely for the hideously bad pop-driven
soundtracks featuring implant-laden jailbait that
the industry sells in tandem with movie tickets? Is
it so that more talentless would-be ingenues can
plaster their visage across all media, including this
one? There may not be any explanation, but I can't
help but wonder.
Hart aside, the three boys, Grenier, Park and
Webber push the film above the heaping pile of
suck that their female counterpart embodies. A
clean-shaven Grenier looks suspiciously like a
darker version of Leonardo Di Caprio, and he plays
the role of the not-quite-wannabe with as much
style as he can muster. But even the subjugated
testosterone represented by these three cannot
completely save "Drive Me Crazy." At best it is an
in all ways typical version of "Pygmalion" (done
recently, and better, in "She's All That"). At worst,
it is a glamour video for Melissa Joan Hart and her
mismatched body parts. The law of averages is
kind.
., ..
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P
.
1 :
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I
you to fall into the Gap!" goes one exchange) is
just that: An infiltration. We - and he - never
truly believe that he has become one of them, and
in a nice twist by writer Rob Thomas, he is given
words of encouragement and curiosity by an ex-
geek who, thanks to some weight loss and a total
image reinvention, has become one of "them."
The best thing about "Drive Me Crazy" is the
attention it pays to the supporting geeks. These
aren't your typical losers. They're more like the
kids you knew or were in high school: The A/V
1 '14
Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictu
Russell Crowe watches the Mystery, Alaska hockey team.
Only 'Mystery' i~s
why film was mad
Lerman lecture gives dancer inspiration
By Jennifer Gates
For the Daily
Ignoring the podium, Liz Lerman held
Liz
Lerman
Michigan League
Sept. 28, 1999
a small micro-
phone and
approaches her
audience, begin-
ning her lecture,
"Colliding Truth,
D i v e r s e
Possibilities," with
the surprising
words, "I hope this
will be the last
time we will be in
this relationship-
me talking, you
sitting." While
unusual for a lecture, the beginning was,
nonetheless, perfect - Liz Lerman in a
nutshell.
But wait. Do not limit her to a nutshell
just yet. After all, as she said, "we pay a
terrible price for distinctions." Moving
across the floor, the Liz Lerman Dance
Exchange founder demonstrates with
arms close together as if compressed, the
"cement boxes" that different dance
types - modern, Russian ballet, etc. --
seem confined into a hierarchical type
system.
A dancer since she was five-years-old,
Lerman describes how she quit dancing
when her social concerns "did not con-
nect" with what she was actually doing. It
was not until 1975, when she began to
teach dance to the elderly of the Roosevelt
Hotel for Senior Citizens in Washington
D.C., that she understood that what
caused change, what leveled hierarchies,
what broke down the "cement boxes"
enough so that they had "permeable
membranes,"was participation.
After this realization, Lerman choreo-
graphed and worked on projects such as
the Shipyard Project in Portsmouth,
N.H., in which, through dance, the
community was able to relive their
unique history, politics, environment,
and culture. It's hoped that Liz Lerman
will be able to do a similar community
project here while she and her dance
company are in residence for the next
two years at the University of Michigan.
Lecture attendee Chris Qjibway said,
"I love how she (Lerman) has 'dancers'
and 'non-dancers' working together
because the truth is all people move, so
therefore all people dance." LSA senior
Carolyn Coquillette expressed the wish
that "more of the University knew about
this because a lot of people would bene-
fit from it:"
The rewards of this lecture was also
what Arts of Citizenship Program direc-
tor David Scobey had in mind when his
University program co-sponsored the
event with the University Music Society.
From the loud sound of extended
applause, the audience already seemed
committed and interested enough to be
asking, "what's next?"
By Matthew Barrett
Daily Arts Writer
The New York Rangers are coming
to Mystery. It starts with a story in
"Sports Illustrated". about. the boys
from "Mystery, Alaska" and the
rough and tough game of pond-hock-
ey that they play every Saturday in
town. Then the NHL gets the idea
that having the Rangers fly into
Mystery to play the locals would be
a great publicity move and maybe a
competitive game for the world to
watch. And so the players begin to
train in an attempt to prove what
Mystery's made of in a David and
Goliath match-up for the ages.
It's too bad though, that by the
time that the big
day rolls around,
we're unattached
to those from the
Mystery,
Alaska
At Briarwood
and Showcase
town and could
care less about
the game's out-
come. The main
reason for this is
the plodding and
often pathetic
story developed
by writers David
E. Kelley ("The
Practice" and
"Ally McBeal")
surprise of few in town, it's not to
before the fierce warrior inside hi
returns to lead the team up again
the pros. Once again, Crowe does'
astonishing job at covering 'h
accent in bringing all that he can
the uninspired character.
Also in the mix are C
Danner (Hank Azaria), a local
who bolted for the big city ap
returns "bearing the New Yo
Rangers," Skank (Ron Eldard
someone who's slept with just abot
every woman in town, and Bail
Pruitt (Maury Chaykin), the town
jolly attorney. In fact, about the onl
interesting guy in town is Walt
Burns (Burt Reynolds), a jud
who's still bitter about his he
playing days and a little uncertai
about this whole Rangers thing.
Jay Roach, who directed the fil
in between the two "Austin Power
movies, forces the story and as
result, "Mystery, Alaska" nev
develops much of a flow. Thin
simply go from the Rangers are co,
ing to the Rangers aren't coming. t
wait they're still coming in an unri
spired attempt to kill some
before getting to the game. I
also includes two horrendous cour
room sequences, one of which is.,s
heavy handed that it turns wh
could be a touching moment intosa
absolute joke.
Throughout the story, "Myster
Alaska" feels like little more tha
rehashing of "Hoosiers" set o
skates. The town meetings are, s
reminiscent of the basketball .1 1
that it's a bit of a letdown e
Jimmy Chitwood doesn't make .a
appearance.
Those behind the film failedt
take advantage of a story ripe wit
potential, and as a result the movi
and its finale lack punch and powe
In fact, the only mysterious thin
about "Mystery, Alaska" is why
was ever made.
and Sean O'Byrne. The two appar-
ently felt that by including as much
low-brow humor as possible (funny
stuff like a woman hitting a man on
the head with a shovel) along with a
few touching moments that they
would create a town full of endearing
characters. Nope.
The biggest point of conflict in
Mystery is who's allowed to take part
in the Saturday game, so it comes as
a big blow to Sheriff John Biebe
(Russell Crowe) when he's forced
out after 13 years of playing. So John
sulks around for. awhile, before
relenting and agreeing to help train
the team for the Rangers. And to the
a
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