The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, June 5, 1984 - Page 9
French fluff floats nowhere fast
By Byron Bull
T ES COMPERES is the French equivalent of an
American " feel good" movie. A mild mannered
bit of undisguised sentimentality that tries to pluck
ones heartstrings with its endless cuteness. If this
had been a domestic release, it would undoubtedly
have sunk into obscurity. But since it's in French with
subtitles, many people will likely embrace this film
as readily as they did innocuous fluff as Peppermint
Soda and Cousin Cousine.
The action follows two strangers thrown together in
a search for a runaway boy both think may be his son.
The boy's mother, to enlist the help of these two for-
mer beaus-neither of whom she has seen since her
marriage years before-has concocted the story that
one of them is actually the boy's father. Both men,
swept up by their paternal instincts, take up the task
without thoroughly challenging the story's
credi bility.
Lucas, played by France's leading man Gerard
Depardieu, is a successful, flamboyant journalist.
Still a bachelor, and feeling some nagging emptiness
in his life, he takes up the job with some reluctance,
but quickly grows determined to find his hitherto
unknown son.
His partner in the venture is Francois, played by
comic actor Pierre Richard, a frail, penniless loser
who still lives with his parents. The two men couldn't
be more dissimilar, Lucas has his life firmly in con-
trol while Francois is on the verge of ending it.
The essence of the films humor rests in the
chemistry that arises between two such exact op-
posites. There are endless running jokes contrasting
the two, which are rather trite and quickly grow
tiring. The rest of the jokes rely on pratfalls and bits
of slapstick that only demean the film.
There's also a subplot, involving two hitmen after
Lucas who is investigating their gambling tycoon
boss. The audience is subsequently subjected to
frequent fistfights, chases, and machine gunnings
that aren't exciting to begin with, and only waste
valuable time.
Ultimately, neither Lucas, Francois, nor the boy
they find are ever explored beyond comic strip traits
and idiosyncracies. The bond of mutual love and
respect that ties them together at the end of the film
has a hollow, virtually unaffecting falseness to it. It
ends in an orgy of phony warmth and goodness that
would make The Big Chill look like a Bergman movie.
Les Compares is a trivial, unsophisticated and im-
mediately forgettable film. It's not repulsviely bad,
but tiring in its two hours of unamusing vapidity.
ivaster mbaster
Albert Collins, the master of the telecaster, bends outa bluesy note. Collins will be playing in Ann Arbor on Thursday,
June 7 at Rick's American Cafe.
Contribute
to arts -
F YOU HAVE ever eaten at a
Irestaurant, seena play or movie,
listened to an album or engaged in
any other sort of divertissement and
wanted to share it with others, the,
Daily's Arts section would be pleased
to give you the chance.
We want competent and skilled
critics for the many varied hap
penings that Ann Arbor boasts.
Writing for the Arts section will
provide practice in writing and
analysis, and can be an enjoyable ex-
tra-curricular activity.
Have fun and share it with others,
write for Arts-call 763-0379.
ANN ARBOR
2 INDIVIDUALTHEA TRES
DAILY 1:00 P.M. SHOWS
NOW SHOWING:
The Funniest French Film
since'"La Cage Aux Follesrr.
LES COMPERES
Starring GERARD DEPARDIEU
SUN., 1:20, 3:20, 5:20, 7:30, 9:20
MON.-FRI. 1:00, 7:20, 9:20
DISCOVER A "NEW" 28-
YEAR-OLD HITCHCOCK COMEDY!
JOHN * SHIRLEY
FORSYTHE MacLAINE
ALFRI EHITCHCOCK'S
THE TROUBE
WITH HARRY
DAILY 1:00, 7:00, 9:00
Cray band
By Richard Campbell
W HAT DO A bunch of kids wearing
button-down shirts, white
trousers, and Etonic running shoes
have in common with rhythm and
blues?
Apparently everything.
Robert Cray's Saturday night per-
formance at the Blind Pig proved that
not only is the blues revival alive and
kicking, but that its base of support is
wider than ever.
The show got off to a slow start in the
recently renovated Blind Pig. The
large, empty dance floor and the lack of.
any appreciable audience made Cray's
hard blues sound rather flat.
But the remaining sets removed all
doubts about Cray's abilities and Ann
Arbor's appreciation. Once the evening
crowd had settled in, Cray played loud,
long, and furiously. The student
audience enthusiastically danced to
most of the fast tunes and cheered on
his frenetic rhythm riffs.
But Cray is not an overly emotional
performer. Indeed, at times, his guitar
blasts blistering blues
was more emotionally clear than was
his singing. While he never failed to
please the Blind Pig crowd, there were
moments when he seemed distant.
Cray's band, too, contained an odd
mix of intense bluesmanship interrup-
ted by moments of boredom. On bass,
Richard Cousins danced around so
much that he obviously would have
preferred a larger stage. But when
Cousins slowed down during the
blistering numbers one wondered who
was going to take up the slack.
Peter Boe's keyboards meshed effec-
tively with the guitar lines through
lacked any really imaginative solos.
Dave Olson played the drums with
abandon, never letting the rhythms slip
for a second.
The band played a number of
originals off of their latest album, Bad
Influence. In "Phone Booth," Cray
sings a song about love via Ma Bell
complete with stage props.
While most of the originals and
covers were of the relentlessly fast-
paced variety, a few slower songs stood
out simply by contrast. "Where do I go
from Here" was especially noteworthy
because of its intensely personal point
of view and achingly slow melody.
Whatever the band may have lacked
in its stage presence, it certainly made
up for in style and musical energy.
Cray has only two albums to his credit,
but years of club playing behind him. It
is evident that this already very good
blues singer and guitar player can only
get better. With any luck, he'll return to
this city again and again.
RESUMES
Professional Resume Service
based on nine years of per-
sonal consulting. Reasonable
rates and fast personal service.
Call COLLEEN BAILEY
at 1-355-5526
American Resume Consultant
Division of APSI.