ARTS
Page 10
Tuesday, July 26, 1983
The Michigan Daily
3-D saves 'Jaws' from flat script
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By Joshua Bilmes
J AWS 3-D is a bad film that somehow
manages to work. It is definitely
bad, but it also makes for a nice way to
spend a few minutes in air conditioned
comfort. Do it on one of the bargain
days, because if you see it at full price
Jaws 3-D
Starring Dennis Quaid, Bess Ar-
mstrong, and Louis Gossett
Directed by Joe Alves
Now playing at the State Theater
you'll realize that nothing about this
film is a bargain.
The plot, for instance. Simply, Sea
World captures a great white shark that
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they think is eating people. Then, they*
find out that the mother shark was ac-
tually doing the eating, not junior. And
so, they have to capture mother too.
To get a little more detailed, the
dramatis personae are: one Chief
Engineer at Sea World by the name of
Mike Brody (Dennis Quaid), older son
of Chief of Police Brody, the Roy
Scheider character in Jaws and Jaws
II. He is in love with a chief biologist at
Sea World, Kathryn Morgan (played by
Bess Armstrong). Another main
character is Sea World's owner,
Calvin Bouchard (Louis Gossett Jr.).
These three are visited by Mike's
younger brother, Sean Brody, (John
Putch). To this, add one love interest
for the younger brother, one
photographer with assistant on hand for
the opening of a new attraction at the
park, and a cast of thousands who work
or visit the park.
To get more detailed yet, some of the
above are going to get eaten, some are
going to get trapped in the new attrac-
tion when mother rubs noses with it,
and some will survive. I cannot go into
too much more detail because the en-
ding seemed to leave things hanging,
unless one really paid attention.
The film fails to be all that terrifying.
I think two earlier films about hungry
sharks and a slew of horror exploitation
films jade the audience a little bit. The
shark attacks in this film were almost
funny. They were very predictable. The
shark seemed more friendly than
savage, mostly because they just don't
give sharks malicious grins like they
used to.
But in spite of the flaws, the film suc-
ceeds. The acting is not all that bad,
and everyone seems to bring a kind of
youthful exuberance to their role. It
seems as if the cast and crew were
having fun. The direction, by Joe Alves,
who served as Production Designer on
Jaws, is easygoing. And the script,
while not being particularly great, is
kind of fun too. It seems a little bit like
the Psycho II of Jaws.
But the biggest plus about the film is
the 3-D. This was no afterthought, like it
was in Spacehunter. The film was going
to be in 3-D, and it shows up. Prac-
tically every shot uses the third dimen-
sion in a natural way. The extra dimen-
sion does more than serve as a vehicle
for throwing things at the audience. It
adds an intimacy to the proceedings,
and at the end of the film, it seems to be
two-dimensional. Not because the 3-D
was used poorly but because it was used
well. One feels as if they are actually at
Sea World. For once, a 3-D film puts the
audience in the action - it doesn't
throw the action at the audience.
And that is what makes Jaws 3-D
worth the price of a bargain matinee. If
the third dimension was really terror, it
might be worth full-price. But the third
dimension is not terror. The third
dimension is an easygoing reality. And
there is no doubt that the movie could
use a little bit more. But in its own
unassuming way, the film has more
than enough.
I
I
4
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Trilogy not all there
By Ellen Lindquist
T HE BEST OF THE Ann Arbor Civic
Theatre's musical trilogy, The Ap-
ple Tree Productions, is "The Diary of
Adam and Eve," a foolproof script
taken from the Mark Twain story.
Though blatantly a low-budget enter-
prise, as the plastic window box flowers
of Eden and crayon drawn tree of
knowledge attest, the short play is en-
tertaining asa witty fairy tale.
True to contemporary stereotypes,
the female, Eve, Laurie Atwood, has
the verbal knack, coming up with the
right names for the creatures of Eden.
Meanwhile, Adam, played by Rich
Rozelle, struggles with words, calling
the various species flyers, crawlers,
swimmers, growlers and hoppers. "I
have to go empty the four-pronged
white squirter," he tells Eve as she
remonstrates, "You mean the cow."
Rozelle and Atwood carry out the
play with a certain amount of feeling
and their development of a caring
relationship makes Eve's death at the
See TWO, Page 11
I
MICHIGANUNION-
TETE' SJMEDINER
oTom Stoppard's
TheRa
X
Inspector HoundY
Mms
6:30pm
Michigan Union Ballroom
July 28,29, 30,
August 4, 5, 6
Dinner Theatre Tckets are$15.
Available at the
Michigan Union Ticket Office
And All CTC Outlets
Group Seats Are Available
Call 763-2071