Monday September 15, 2003 www.michigandaily.com artseditor@michigandaily.com ARTS 5A - .f .4 OBITUARIES JOHNNY CASH 1932-2003 One of the greatest voices in Ameri- can music, singer/songwriter Johnny Cash, died in Nashville at 2 a.m. last Friday, at the age of 71. Battling pneu- monia and stomach problems late in life, he ultimately died of complications from diabetes just four months after wife June Carter Cash passed away. He will be remembered for the gritty bari- tone, which created a modern white man's interpretation of gospel singing styles, transforming country and rock music over more than five decades. The Man in Black, as he was known, often called his voice "The Gift." By its pres- ence, his work was suffused with hon- esty and world-weariness, telling both of everyman struggles and his own person- al demons, including a long fought amphetamine addiction. He wrote more than 1,500 songs, enjoyed great success in the '50s and '60s, when he had over 100 country hits, resurging in popularity more than once in later years. His most famous album, Folsom Prison Blues, documented his appeal as the quintessential outlaw poet in a live performance at the prison. Hits included "I Walk the Line," "Boy Named Sue" and "Ring of Fire." In the early 1960s he met a 19-year- old Bob Dylan who told Cash, "Man, you are truly beautiful," and thus began an important relationship. In later life he collaborated with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings as The Highwaymen. Recently, Cash released four acclaimed albums for American Recordings, including his last, The Man Comes Around. He will survive in memory as a legendary artist in American history. As Kristofferson once wrote of him, "a walking contra- diction, partly truth and partly fiction." - Steve Cotner JOHN RITTER 1948-2003 Thursday evening, on the set of his ABC comedy "8 Simple Rules ... for Dating My Teenage Daughter," pratfall sitcom icon John Ritter fell ill due to a previously undetected heart condition. Ritter died later that evening at Bur- bank, Calif.'s Providence St. Joseph Hospital. Ritter would have turned 55 this Thursday. The son of legendary country musi- cian Tex Ritter, Ritter became a swing- ing TV superstar on "Three's Company." With a natural talent for physical comedy, Ritter's Jack Tripper was the '70s link between likable lead- ing men Rob Petrie and Joey Tribbiani. Ritter enjoyed periodic stage, screen and TV success in between his stints on hit ABC comedies, including turns in Billy Bob Thornton's "Sling Blade," Stephen King mini-series "It," the first two "Problem Child" installments and as the voice of the cartoon "Clifford the Big Red Dog." With the loss of their star, ABC has yet to make a decision on the future of its sole comedic success "8 Simple Rules." - Todd Weiser Cot0tsy of WarnerBro s. It's like a battle between motorcycles and horses. Like technology versus horse. By Vanessa Miller For the Daily "Matchstick Men" can be simply referred to as a smooth, stylistic film full of surprises and one twitch- ing Nicholas Cage. Directed by the great Ridley Scott ("Alien"), this film is crafted flawlessly, meshing together a CAGEA great number o f genres into one slick film. MATCHSTICK MEN In its two-hour running time, the viewer is able to experience a family drama, sleek crime thriller, comedy and a psychological drama. Though not thought provok- ing, it's fun and smart like other Matchstick recent con-artist films such as "Catch Men Me If You Can" and Steven Soder- bergh's re-make of "Ocean's 11" At Madstone, "Matchstick Men" is the tale of Showcased Ray Walker (Nicholas Cage), a sin- Warner Bros. gle man with quite a few psycho- logical defects that surprisingly don't get in the way of his charming con-artist ways. Ray experiences Tourrette Syndrome, a phobia of germs and the outdoors, as well as obsessive-compulsive disorder. Frank (Sam Rockwell, "Heist") is Ray's partner in crime; he's your average smart-ass thief constantly sport- ing a wife beater. Frank faithfully supports Ray through his mental breakdowns, his main purpose being to balance out the genius in their illegal endeavors. As they start a money-laundering scheme to rip off a -wealthy businessman, Ray experiences a breakdown after. ' losing his medication. This forces him to seek therapy for more medication, resulting in him probing for answers about his ex-wife and the child she wad pregnant with when he left her. He discovers that he has a 14 year-old daughter, Angela (Alison Lohman, "White Oleander"). Angela bursts into Ray's life both setting off his neurosis and medicating them with her dirtiness, sweetness and desire to learn from Tier new-found crimi- nal father. This father-daugh- teC team does a fabu- loes jod of giving the TWITCHINGLY FUN film its;candy coating andchan. Eventual- ly Ray does blur his two jobs, family and wdrk, leading to chaos, heartbreak and corruption. Cage is able to perfectly portray Ray both in his sub- dued moments and at times where his psychosis flares up, making him twitch, sputter and lose mental balance. How- ever, Cage's acting seems simply to recall his:prior role as the neurotic protagonist brothers in "Acapation." Even though Cage is a brilliant performer, this pattern in his films simply make you want to see him in a simple come- dy where he isn't always sweating and running around in search of something or someone. Lohman helps carry "Matchstick Men" ii her quite- lovely depiction of a double-grossing 1 year-old. Espe- cially since in reality she is sh kingly 23 years old and still captures the essence of that age and character. For fans of the glossy, overly-commercialized film, "Matchstick Men" offers the requisitethills, warms your heart and makes you laugh. Ridley Scott entertains his audience as usual with a soundtrack that is prinarily filled with Frank Sinatra and Cage fathering a 23-year-old woman, all #d neat*Aogether'witu:s entimentalt eme- Odd 'Splendor' turns cynicism into hope By Joel Hoard Daily Arts Writer MOVIE REVIEW **** Working-class hero Harvey Pekar (Paul Giamatti) found success in the '70s and '80s as the author of the underground comic book "American Splendor," which chronicled his often- pathetic life as a file clerk in Cleve- land, Ohio. Years of frustration and tediousness leave Pekar depressed, bitter and cynical - "a reliable dis- American Splendor At the Michigan Theater Fine Line honesty and tells his stories without fear or favor. To call him a straight shooter would be an understatement; when he first meets Joyce Brabner (Hope Davis), a loyal fan and his future wife, he tells her point blank "You might as well know right off the bat - I had a vasec- tomy." Pekar is unique without being at all colorful. Think of him as one dismal shade of gray. Paul Giamatti emerges as a gifted leading man after a decade of support- ing roles. He captures Harvey Pekar's bitterness perfectly, and the aura of mis- ery he exudes is palpable. Hope Davis has a similar coming out as Pekar's bookish wife, Joyce. Davis plays the eternally patient wife with quiet confi- dence and provides a peculiar emotional center for the film. In one of the film's juicier roles, Judah Friedlander plays Pekar's hopelessly nerdy friend, Toby Radloff. While at first it may seem that Friedlander is over the top in his por- trayal, an appearance by the real Toby Radloff proves that Friedlander's per- formance is spot-on. Effectively telling the story of some- one as unique and quirky as Harvey Pekar requires a film that is equally unconventional. Directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini break all the rules, casually mixing doc- umentary and narrative in an innovative style. Informal interviews with the real- life Harvey Pekar mix with more tradi- tional sections featuring Giamatti, whom Pekar introduces in voiceover as "the guy who plays me." In the end, "American Splendor" is oddly life affirming. If a man as bitter and cynical as Harvey Pekar can make it in this world, anyone can. n - 1 appointment" as he puts it. Nothing goes right for Pekar. Vocal chord dam- age leaves his voice weak and raspy; his first wife dumps him soon after; and he gets stuck in a dead-end job. Finally, after befriending comic book artist Robert Crumb (see 1994's "Crumb"), Pekar got the idea to channel his misery .into his own comic book. Pekar approaches life with brutal - ------ ~~_.3 "J:Wi