ARTS
Saturday, July 31, 1982

The Michiaan Daily.

Page 7

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Ron Howard (right) directs Henry Winkler in 'Night Shift.'
Things- are a little
quiet in 'Night Shift'
By Richard Campbell laughs but little else. The biggest
problem with this change is that he's a
T OO FEW JOKES chasing too much nice milquetoast; so what if he doesn't
movie. That's my one-line review send back the ham on white when he
of Night Shift. But like any long-winded ordered ham on rye, he's such a decent
critic, I've got some other things to say guy you don't feel that he's less than a
about the film. man.
Remember Opie on "The Andy Grif- After eons portraying The Fonz you
fith Show" and Richie Cunningham in might think that Winkler's acting
"Happy Days?" Well, Ron Howard's all abilities would have atrophied. But I
grown up and directing television want to put him on the same team as
specials and major motion pictures. Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, and
And for the most part that's good. Chevy Chase; actors who have yet to
Howard has a good feeling for the: find a project that will fully demon-
material he works on. He doesn't have strate their talents. (Okay, on the same
enough talent to be a very stylistic team, but second string.)
director, but his work comes out As Winkler's partner in procurement,
looking the way it should look, be it a Keaton is the fast-talking "idea man."
warm, sappy story about a parapelegic Whenever he's on-camera, Keaton is
who wants to learn how to fly airplanes, expected to maintain a fantastic
or a cheap little car chase flick, his first stream of inane talk, silly ideas, and
two projects. cliched sentences. While his mouth does
NIGHT SHIFT is the story of two fine, Keaton doesn't really project that
morgue workers, Henry Winkler and frenetic energy through his body, his is
Michael Keaton, who decide to help out a Californian idea of frenzy.
some hookers and operate as pimps But, to give credit where credit is
from their always quiet building due, in Keaton's obligatory dramatic
Naturally one of the boys, Winkler, falls scene he does manage to make one
in love with one of the hookers, Shelly pause.
Long, and we're well on our way to a lot If I were the kind of reviewer looking
of meaningless fun. for one person to lay the blame on I
At least we should be on our way. would pick the writers, Lowell Ganz
Howard keeps things flying by at a and Babaloo Mandel (I didn't make
fairly good clip, especially due to that up, those names are in the credits).
Keaton (more on that later), but there's Night Shift might be a superfluous little
too much time wasted on pointless comedy if there were only more jokes
character development, plotting, and per frame, more slapstick per scene,
all that stuff that makes a really good and better characteris.
movie. Howard gets points for trying, Of course, Howard gets to share that
but he should have cut those scenes blame. Even though it pains me to pick
before the release. on Opie, he should have managed to
Winkler provides for most of the pick up the pieces of this film and struc-
film's focus. Not only does he manage ture something a little tighter, a little
the business of hooking but his charac- darker.
ter also gets to mature from And for god's sake, let's get some
milquetoast to man. Effective for a few laughs in the next one.

Records
David Reilly -'Life On Earth'
(MCA)
The Innocents -'The Inno-
cents' (Boardwalk)
No, you haven't heard of either of
these records, and neither have I. MCA
and Boardwalk are banking that they
can pick up a few middle-range
listeners from New Wave imitations.
The trouble is, to appeal to these
listeners, they inevitably have to take
the "new" out.
Reilly must be the adolescent of-
fering (after hearing "Space Music" a
friend called him a 30-year-old Leif
Garrett), trading on a much filtered
neo-natal stylE. His mentions of LAX
and girls on Mars ("smoked Rigel Five
Cigars") are just enough to keep most
high schoolers in vogue.
The Innocents come off a little better.
Their bar band sound would be fine, if it
wasn't spoiled by inane lyrics about
being "wild at fifteen." With a little ex-
perience, perhaps, these would-be
college men will find some more ex-
pression than "I love you madly/I got it
badly."
Until then, just pretend you still
haven't heard of them.
-Ben Ticho
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