0 Monday March 29,2004 arts.michigandaily.com artseditor@michigandaily.com ARTS 8A a Smith forgets himself in Jersey' By Ryan Lewis Daily Arts Writer ME At first glance, it would appear hon- orable or even praiseworthy that direc- tor Kevin Smith has decided to graduate from hyper-dialogue-driven Jay and Silent Bob comedies to a more cinemat- ic romantic comedy form. A filmmaker expanding his influence and proving his diverse talents usually separates him from mediocrity. However, "Jersey Girl," Smith's first exploration into the world beyond witty vulgarity, proves only one thing for now: Stick with what you're good at. Smith's lofty intentions to make an 0 effectively emo- tional picture based on his experiences as a father, while entertaining and cute, fails to Jersey Girl At Quality 16 and Showcase Miramax What's the matter, Col. Sanders ... chicken? By Ryan Daily Arts' Any r Guinnes ble to tol the Coe Ladykill years, an erhouse the cult d Set in combine the eccei Where A face ap Eleven," some of Soderbe of their 1 film sups Tom] behind t. robbing upright c who lov ning her to unfold Marva's1 CAPER CONUNDRUM THE COEN BROTHERS REMAKE A CLASSIC Lewis Ms. Munson discovers the plot, a new scheme hatches to Writer make a clean break with the cash. The team is comprised of some of the Coen brothers' most colorful characters, the only fault arising in their over- the-top caricatures. Marlon Wayans is hilarious in the role of emake of a comedy classic starring the likes of Alec Gawain MacSam, the inside man. His quips and constant s and Peter Sellers would be a hard sell. It's impossi- feuding with J.K. Simmons's character, Pancake, provide the p, just on the basis of names - but don't tell that to laugh-out-loud moments. Simmons himself is wonderful, a n brothers. Their remake of the 1955 gem "The demolition man with irritable bowel syndrome, and Irma ers" is as darkly comedic and fun as they've been in Hall fits perfectly into the Coens' style. ad thanks to the oddball, pow- Of course, there would be no film without Hanks. In his performance of Tom Hanks, The return to the comedy days of old, his performance is as good directors have returned to form. as ever in a role unlike any he's ever played. Finely balancing Mississippi, this heist caper Ladykillers the hyperbolic tone with the evil cunningness of Dorr, s the humor of "Fargo" with At Madstone, Hanks again proves that he deserves recognition as one of ntri chaactrs o "OBroter, Showcase and ntric characters of "0 Brother, Quality 16 the greatest actors of all time. krt Thou?" While it has a sur- Touchstone For Joel and Ethan Coen, "The Ladykillers" proves what pearance akin to "Ocean's "Intolerable Cruelty" couldn't: They can make a mainstream it's really a character study of the quirkiest sort with Hollywood movie with all the style and signature touches the finest performances yet this year. Like Steven that have made the rest of their catalogue so great. They have rgh's remake, the actors appear to be having the time the menacing foil figure in the portrait of Marva's dead hus- ives, and their joy in rendering their craft makes the band, the snappy dialogue with a penchant for silver-tongued remely entertaining. pontification and the graceful camerawork of cinematogra- Hanks stars as Prof. G.H. Dorr, the mastermind pher Roger Deakins. Additionally, the music comes from T- he criminal enterprise. To begin his ingenious plot of Bone Burnett and Carter Burwell, the masterminds behind a riverboat casino, he moves into the home of the the award-winning "O Brother" soundtrack. old widow Marva Munson (Irma P Hall), a woman Though it might not be the Coens at their absolute best, it es the church and hates the hippity-hop. After win- shows just how good they are even when not quite there. over and assembling his crack team, the plan begins "The Ladykillers" relies completely on the interplay of its d under the guise of a classical ensemble practice in characters, and the experience is as much fun as the Coens basement. But when issues over the booty boil and must have had creating it. evoke the sentiment it tries desperate- ly to achieve. Even more disappoint- ing, though, is the fact that, for the first time in Smith's career, the humor doesn't click. It's almost painful to watch the sight gags and verbose chit- chat fall short of the intelligent hilari- ty that made "Clerks" and "Mallrats" such independent successes. Before the plot or characters ever have a chance to win audience affection, the signature Smith touches place it in a sub-par category, somewhere in the mediocrity he had hoped to avoid. Invariably hindered yet buzz-worthy due to the rocky relationship of its stars, it becomes all too apparent in the first 10 minutes that this is not a Ben and J-Lo "Gigli" experience. While birthing Ollie's (Ben Affleck) child, an aneurism ruptures in Jennifer Lopez's character, Gertie, leaving Ollie alone to raise his baby girl. This forces the young New York City socialite/publi- cist to move in with his father, Bart (George Carlin), and when raising But Affleck was the bomb in "Phantoms!" young Gertie causes Ollie to pull an embarrassing Howard Dean moment, he is left with no choice but to make New Jersey his new home. After a lengthy scene with Ollie explaining to his baby why he's been a bad father and how he'll change, cut to seven years later when the father- daughter dynamic is squeaky clean. The main conflict of the story arises when Ollie, yearning to return to the city, tries to force his unwilling, cute- as-a-button daughter (newcomer Raquel Castro) to want to as well. He also schedules a job interview during a play that they, along with free-spirited Maya (Liv Tyler), have been arduously prepping for. The title character of the film, Cas- tro is the true pleasure on screen. Her face is fresh and her acting often shows up the overplayed Affleck. Nei- ther Tyler nor Carlin, nor for that mat- ter even Lopez, receive enough screen time. Watching Affleck struggle through the range of emotions is at once impressive and also sad. He tries so hard, often successfully, to perform at the level he knows he can reach, but it's so easy to find the faults and almost painful to realize the extent to which bad publicity can hinder his on- screen image. Smith deserves some credit, howev- er, as the emotion teeters on effective- ness. But when it should hit, it doesn't. The budding romance between Ollie and Maya is nothing more than forget- table, and the conflict is so forced and arbitrary that it's difficult to take seri- ously. Unfortunately, Smith's long- winded dialogue here serves only to explain characters' feelings and choic- es in unnecessary exposition. He is perhaps also hindered by trying too hard to move on and not trying hard enough to remember what made him so popular in the first place. "Jersey Girl" is certainly a far cry from the disaster that was "Gigli," but it's also nowhere near what anybody involved is capable of making. There are some bright spots and notable moments when Smith proves he can venture beyond simple, snappy dia- logue, and if he keeps at it, someday there will be a "Jersey Girl" that shows just how good he really is. 4 West-Coaster starts out th right Way By Evan McGarvey Daily Arts Writer Sdwo DMX delivers with performance in 'Alone' By Hussain Rahim Daily Arts Writer DMX brings his music persona to film again as he plays himself in his newest vanity project, "Never Die Alone." Although he manages to refrain from using his patented growl, he couldn't resist using the film's soundtrack to dump out two new tracks. Despite all of this, the film Never Die Alone At Quality 16 and Showcase Bloodline the source material. His focus on the seedy underbelly of urban living trans- lates well to the screen, and director Ernest Dickerson ("Juice"), a longtime cinematographer for Spike Lee, comes into his own with a visually gritty and well-focused directorial effort. DMX plays King David, a vile drug- runner who has just been released from prison and has hazy intentions of find- ing redemption. He obviously fails, as he is shown in his coffin in the first shot. However, the movie is able to maintain the suspense lacking in many films that open with a lead character's death. An intriguing narrative device recounts David's past through cassettes left to an aspiring journalist, Paul, (David Arquette) while the repercus- sions of David's death reverberate throughout the criminal underworld. So much of the gangster genre wor- ships at the alter of "Scarface," and "Alone's" inability to stay away is where it falters. Actual references to "Scarface" and Tony Montana, along with the proclamation that "this is not a Quentin Tarantino movie" add a degree of refer- entialism that isn't needed. The acting of Arquette and DMX isn't impressive, but it's realistic. Arquette is the trust-fund white boy who just can't stay out of Harlem and DMX is the type of guy that would switch heroin with coke to keep a girlfriend as dependent on him as the drugs. Goines himself was an addict who wrote to support his addiction and understood the trappings of the lifestyle. So often these stories come off as glam- orizations of the drugs-and-guns lifestyle and miss the harsh reality that is present. Goines was murdered at the age of 36, and the film's ending is able to give a bit of redemption that he him- self wasn't able to find. Whether it was the onslaught of squeaking synth- lines and endless sewer-funk of the Deep South or the haughty, opera-like sounds of the East, the West Coast, long a bastion of commercial rap, has seen a slight dip in popularity recently. G-Funk, the booming Los Ange- les fusion of George Clinton and Dr. Dre, has taken a backseat to the astral mash-up sounds of producers like Timbaland and The Neptunes. It's getting tougher and tougher to identify notable West Coast MCs not named Snoop Dogg. With the burden of a sinking culture placed on his shoulders, Knoc-Turn'al attempts to _____________ restore the left coast to some of its Knoc-Turn'al early '90s splendor. At first glance, Knoc-Turn'al The WaylI Am bears an eerie physical resemblance LA Confidential to his predecessor, Snoop Dogg. Both men have lean frames and an off-kilter, slighting herky-jerky rhyming style. However, where Snoop rounds out his vowels in a sly, debonair manner, Knoc- Turn'al ejects each line with sandpaper grit. He's the coyote to Snoop's jackal. The disc is littered with booming, methodical West Coast funk, provided by West Coast luminaries like Scott Storch and Dre. Nate Dogg adds cobra silk charm to the hooks of both "What We Do" and the bonus track, "Him or Me." West Coast comrades Xzibit and Warren G also help Knoc with some of the heavy lifting on the album. Knoc's rap style, though deliberate and often lazy, does sustain itself. He won't win any Huk'd on Fonix werked fur meel freestyle battles but he knows how to usher a listener through a track. His constant talk of California pride and jumping Impalas over disciplined bass explosions is a disarming throwback to early '90s Los Angeles. "The Way I Am," the lead single, could have been lifted right off any early Warren G or Eazy E set. The infrequent missteps are obvious. The droning noisemakers of "Love Slave" fail, as do the pontifications of "Until the Day (A Soul- jah Story)." Luckily, the usually strong melodies are both refreshing and soothing. On the album, Knoc states that this, his first full- length effort, is the equivalent to the third Chronic album. While this claim is a bit precocious, he's on the right track. This is a fine debut, a slice of Cali gangster sunshine that feels like the first step in a return to West Coast power. somehow manages to be tense and sur- prisingly entertaining. The film's redemption from DMX comes from the story by Donald Goines, a popular black pulp-fiction writer of the '70s whose novel serves as the michigan daily ^'\ CAMP COUNSELOR JOBS - Top ranked children's camp located in Pocono Mts. of Penn. seeking cabin and specialist counselors to teach team sports, tennis, gymnastics, wa- terfront, outdoor adventure, art and more. Ap- ply online at www pinefoiestcamp.com SUMMER CAMP JOBS across the USA www.campchannel.com/campjobs SEEKING ENERGETIC AND fun-loving babysitter to take care of our active 3 year old twins. 12-15 hours per week, late after- noon/evening. Please call Dr. Jack Edelstein at 734-355-3764. SEEKING FULL TIME responsible nanny for our two children, ages 4 & 2. Exp. req. Please call 622-3596. SUMMER CHILD CARE WANTED! 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