The Michigan Daily - Friday, May 16, 1986 - Page 9
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B Kurt Serbus than about 80 percent of the the film mainly through her talent The lion's share of the applause, fun, which is more than you'll
current round of movies. or her earthy, pre-adolescent however, should go to director en route to the equally predicta
It's hard to decide where to par- beauty is hardly relevant - she James Ivory, who manages to climaxes of mainstream fod
A Room With A View is cel out credit for the success of A blends into her character take all this histrionic greatness like Legend and Band of the Ha
cinematic adaptation of one of Room With A View, but the cast is seamlessly and weave it into a rather simple,
those stuffy Victorian novels that a good place to start. Helena old-sounding story-line, making
you probably had to read in high Bonham Carter is mesmerising as The rest of the cast - including the film come out crisp, fun, and, So s yourself a favor this
school; the kind wherein the Lucy, the young English girl torn such veteran greats as Maggie above all, accessible, without so -Pass poffs ate bat-pach
author (in this case E.M. Forster) between her proper engagement Smith and Denholmm Elliot - is much as an Alister Cook for tran- Rambo rioffs and brat-pack s
intersperses a tale of lurking to a rigid, snobbish dead battery so flawless that it is virtually im- slation. Ivory never drops a stitch offs and catch A Room With
passion and unrequited love with a (Daniel Day Lewis) and her own possible to single out any one per- as he proples his characters at an View at the Ann Arbor Theate
few well-aimed barbs at the feelings newly stirred by the som- formance, although Simon Callow admirable pace towards the You'll see a lot more class, he
British uppperclass. Strangely ber yet impulsively exciting man manages to steal quite a few ultimate triumph of heart over and humor in this one film t
enough, it's also fresher, funnier, (Julian Sands) she meets in scenes with the inspired looniness head. Sure, the ending's predic- Hollywood is likely to churn out
and more genuinely entertaining Venice. Whether Carter carries of his Reverend Beebe. table, but getting there is a lot of summer.
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Pryor,
By Stephen Gregory
I t seems as if fast-paced Holly-
wood is moving a bit faster
these days. In the past an auteur
(one who is an integral part of a
film's production throughout) was
a title achieved through much
hands-on work and dedication.
What happens, then, when
someone dons the robes of
"auteur" without having un-
dergone the ripening process? A
bad fruit, perhaps? Well, not
always. Richard Pryor's direc-
ting, writing, and producing
debut, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is
Calling, is not a wholly tasty fruit,
but it is not a bad one, either.
One of the songs of the film's
sound track, "Mannish Boy" by
Muddy Waters, carries a dual
meaning in its title. As Pryor is a
mannish boy to "auteurship", so
too is Jo Jo Dancer, the main
character played by Pryor, a
neophite to life.
Jo Jo Dancer is looking for
something different in his life.
New experiences lead, on to
others, leaving Jo Jo feeling
awkward. But you see, Jo Jo is a
comedian and knows how to han-
dle his awkwardness by masking
as 'Dancer,' oversteps himself
it with humor. He soon, however,
replaces humor with drugs, and
becomes increasingly dependent
on them to deal with his life.
This, in fact, is where the movie
begins: Jo Jo, now thoroughly
hooked on cocaine, burns himself
severely while free basing. What
happened? Why did this promising
young comedian literally let his
life go up in smoke? The rest of the
film attempts to answer this
question in a manner reminiscent
of a cross between A Christmas
Carol and All That Jazz.
From boyhood to adulthood and
through four marriages, the
audience witnesses the successes
and failures of Jo Jo's life, looking
for the moment he made the
wrong turn and headed down a
path of self destruction. Unfor-
tunately, the audience is never
made aware of when it occured. In
this way, the film fails in what it
sets out to accomplish: detering
others from taking a similar cour-
se.
The audience also has a hard
time distinguishing between Pryor
and Jo Jo. The viewer feels as if he
is watching Pryor simply relive
his own life. Jo Jo asa character is
never fleshed out, and this is the
one main weakness of the film.
The funniest scenes of the movie
are shots of Pryor as Jo Jo per-
forming his comedy act and using
the same jokes Pryor himself is
famous for. In fact, the movie is a
series of comedy performances
connected with a story line.
Within this story line, however,
Pryor has employed an im-
pressive supporting cast that ac-
tually makes the film enjoyable.
Debbie Allen, who plays Jo Jo's
third wife, Michelle; Carmen
McRae, who plays Jo Jo's spirited
grandmother; and Paula Kelly,
who plays Satin Doll, Jo Jo's early
mentor, give performances that
compensate, but unfortunately not
fully off-set the weakness of the
film.
Richard Pryor is no auteur. The
crudeness of the film verifies this.
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling
has all the right ingredients of a
good film, but Pryor, like a fruit
too young to eat, lacks ripening.
Windbreakers
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HOW TO
GET THERE
FROM HERE
SEE HOW AT THE
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Job Search Workshop
Michigan Union
Pac: Anderson D
Date: May 20,1986
Time: 3'PM
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Division of Chrysler Corporation
(Continued from Page8)
straightforward.
The main reason, beyond the
obvious business aspect, that in-
dependent records don't get
played on commercial radio is
that many don't sound very good,
production-wise. I'd hope our next
record (which Everett will
produce) will sound as good as
anybody's."
On the band's influences and the
genesis of the WB's sound:
"We're all people who grew up
listening to music nonstop, all kin-
ds. I was, as a teenager, into all
kinds of hard rock, Southern rock,
but was also into the New York
Dolls, the Stooges. Velvet Un-
derground records changed my
life, but I still listened to Thin Liz-
zy and Black Sabbath. We're pret-
ty '70s influenced, because it's
when we grew up. We probably
have more in common with Mott
the Hoople than with the Byrds."
On performing live:
"We're supposed to play a long
set in Ann Arbor. We like playing
long set - we like playing, period!
With this band (touring) is fan-
tastic. Touring itself is a drag, you
get in the van and drive... but for
that hour and a half in the evening
it's worth it. I like the Blind Pig.
Last time we were there we played
our asses off and people would sit
and stare at us - we thought they
hated us! - and then go into mad
applause. We loved it, it was just
weird. This time I'd hope we'd get
people throwing their bodies
around."
Not a bad aspiration. Help Tim
and the WB's out. Stop by the Pig
Tuesday and throw down with one
of current pop's most promising
acts.