4 I ii Affair of Lcovey' A "lin, in Wtrtlrih ,'ne 4?t1: :1nirid8:41 p-nm ilhaw11i r> ARTS mnichigandaily. con/arts BOUNCE WITH ME Paltrow, fleck fall flat in sappy chick flick GywneTh PaLIOW Pirthdate: September 28, 1972 e Leggy height: 5'9" Uploma: Dropped out of UC-Santa Barbara after one year Honors and Awards: Voted "Most Stuck-Up" in Movieline's "100 Most..." poll; also, Best Actress Academy Award Personal mantra: "Beauty, to me, iu about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick-ass red lipstick." By Leslie Boxer Daily Ais writer A hopeless romantic at heart, I eager- ly anticipated the latest celluloid date movie, "Bounce." Visions of Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck falling in love danced around in my little head to the tune of "The Nutcracker Suite." Perhaps I was hoping for too much. The film was a romance but not a true love story. The emotional twists and turns associated with the plot replace the romantic movie that I had envi- sioned. B o u n c e" starts with the Bounce introduction of Buddy Amaral Grade: C+ (Ben Affleck), a hot shot Los At Showcase Angeles advertis- ing executive, on his way home after closing a big deal with Infinity Airlines. His fliuht is delayed at O'Hare where he meets a hot Dallas blonde (Natasha H enstridge) and a struggling play- wright/family man, Greg .lenello (Tony Goldwvn). Buddy gives Greg his airline ticket in exchange for a panty-raid with the blonde only to find out exactly how fate works; the plane Buddy was sched- uled to be on crashes. Unable to release himself from his guilt, Buddy does a lit- tle crashingz of his own. Upon returning to L.A., over the next much fast-for- warded year, Buddy turns into an alco- holic. The sto'rv resumes after Buddy returns from rehab and, as a part of the infamous AA twelve step program, tries to relieve his sense of responsibility for (ireg's death by visiting Abby .lenello (Gwyneth Paltrow), Greg's widow. B ddy finds Abby, an amateur real- estate agent, and maneuvers his way into her life After spending a little time with Abby, never telling her the secret con- nection they share. Buddy falls in love. This part of the story is a bit underdevel- oped: They go on one date and suddenly he wants Abby to be "his last call of the day." While the chemistry is most cer- tainly believable, the timing is hard to stomach. The reason this lack of devel- opment slips by is because the off-screen relationship between Ben and Gwyneth easily translates to the big screen, allow- ing the audience to accept the leap from strangers to lovers. The pairing of the two on-again-off- again lovers as an onscreen duo, while an excellent idea in theory, complicates matters. Even though both actors give good performances, it is hard to escape that they are not playing Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck. It is particular- ly difficult to see Gwyneth Paltrow as an ordinary mother of two. Despite demon- strating the understated intensity and depth of emotion that Abby deserves, Paltrow somehow cannot shed her star persona. The dyed brown hair and frumpy clothes, while in certain respects make her more believable as a widow with kids, seems ill-fitted on Paltrow. Regardless, their chemistry works on screen and perhaps that is all that is needed. Chemistry or no chemistry, the film drags. The problem here is with the tim- ing of the anticipated confrontation of who Buddy is and why he sought to meet Abby. Unfortunately director Don Roos ("The Opposite of Sex") tries to play with the audience a bit too much - we see many a scene in which Affleck wants to deliver the speech yet just can- not. Yet this anticipation works against the film and its pace is off. The film, which has a lot of intelli- gent dialogue, tries to give the audi- ence an emotional bounce: We are happy, we are sad, we want them to get together but we don't know if it'll work out in the end. All of this is' pulled off because of the acting of both Affleck and Paltrow; both deliver and show depth of character. The film is good - it is a date movie without the tingly romantic feelings that often nake guys regret letting the girl pick the movie. Diploma: Dropped out of University of Vermont after one semester; Frid ay night rocks in Ann Arbor: Keb' Mo' struts a By Gautam Baksi " Longtime Ann Arbor bies faxvorite Keb' Mo' (a.k.a. Kevin Moore) hit the stage of the MIich an Theater Keb' Mo' Michigan Theater Nov. 17, 2000 last Ftidav ci ttht wearing his trademark Stetson hat. What fol- lowed for the next two hours was ('ne of Keb Mo's longest shows, coverin( etmanv grooves oft his recent studio release T1t Door as wcll as slower versions of his classic hits. Other instruments on-stage included an electric and bass guitar, a couple of key- boards (depending on the inten- sity of the songs) and a drum- mer. Strapping on his harmonica holder, Mo' even performed sev- eral solo acoustic numbers to the audience's delight. Michigan Cvct electrified numbers like "She Just Wants to Dance" lacked their rich. studio sound nqluestionably, Mo's voice was in top foim, but th ampl ificat ion ol other instrumetits fhi led to keep upI With his superb vocals. Though the large majority of the set spanned songs offs his fourth release. Mo' was certain to include a number of hits off his Grammv- wtntin CD's, Slow Down and Just Like Kou. Lvrics were filled with images from Mo's childhood in Compton, CA, raised with his three sisters by his mother, the owner of a hair shop. It was obvious Mo' childhood had a dcep impact on his music, as his base was primarily the SoC 'al blues of Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson. Though some may have mistaken his fingerpicking blues style for Robert Johnson. Mo's music clearly displayed a wide variety of influences from Bobby McFarrin to R. Kelly. Eary in the night, Mo' spoke about feelingz "ner- vous" at the Michigan Theater as opposed to his "home in Ann Arbor., the Bling Pig where he has played numCrous times. Mo's so-called nervousness was evident as some songs like "1Dangerous Mood Theater... crawled at times with slowed rhythm and beats. . however, more upbeat songs like "The Action" and "Soon as I Get Paid" found the audience clapping and singing along to the enjoyment of fans and the musi- f cians alike. Though songs spanned folk, rock, blues and even R&B, Mo' admits he tried to stick to the blues. "I don't have a rock-'n-roll soul. I don't have a jazz soul. I have a blues soul -- that's what speaks to me the loudest, so that's why I chose blues. I can go through the motions with jazz and rock, but it's just very mechanical. Blues - I feel it." Classic blues songs ranged from his Robert Johnson covers to extensive slide guitar work featured on a majority of the songs. The highlight of the night included a special request from a little girl in the audi- ence for "Perpetual Blues Machine." Though not planned on the set-list, Mo' stopped the show, picked up his acoustic guitar and ripped open his best perfor- mance of the night. Keb' did warn the young fan, "I don't understand why you like this song, but I'm gonna play it anyway." The overall tone of the concetl was very mellow, as Who's the guitar-slinger in the crazy Stetson hat? Keb' Mo' of course. ...while Shankar family plays Hill. By Ben Oxenburg Daily Arts Writer The music hits you like a powerful, con- suming vacuum. It takes you on a spiritual journey of self-discovery. It absorbs you like a clean hungry sponge. It suspends you Ravi and Anoushka Shankar Hill Auditorium Nov. 17, 2000 in a bubble like state, leaving you floating like a thick, slowly dis- sipating cloud of smoke. On Friday night at Hill Auditorium, sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar and daughter Anoushka connected with the musicians to produce a mood which was specific and uniquely crafted for that night. The first set of the night consisted of five musicians seated on a raised platform in an X formation with Anoushka Shankar posi- tioned in the center. Ravi Shankar didn't collaborate with his daughter until the sec- ond set. The two tabla players, Bikram (hosh and Tanmoy Bose, sat in front of Ravi and Anoushka Shankar, who sat in the middle. This formation not only allowed Anoushka to showcase her talents (at the young age of 19) but it also let the sitar be the instrument that provided the foundation in different forms. These give all of the songs a wonderful hypnotic quality of con- trivance and ever-increasing spontaneity that led the audience to full attention. A visual form of the music would likely resemble a circle that undulates and inflates while still retaining its original shape. A few songs were veritable climaxes, beginning with a single plucking or ta resonation and ending with a multitude.' sounds, all in-sync and colliding together. Although the first set was outstandingn ith an Anoushka solo, the highlight of Fridav's show was the second set, when the musi- cians were joined by Ravi and where it was clear that everyone on stage felt a little L < <7, . i