m You'll like this, folks Folk artist John McCutcheon appears at the Ark on Wednesday, July 7. With fans { like Johnny Cash, he's got to be good. Tickets are $11, doors open at 8 p.m. Call 761-1451 for more information. Th i gun Huh ARTS Wednesday July 5,1995 - Apollo 13' gets off ground y Scott Plagenhoof aily Arts Editor Eight months after the first lunar rface landing - the Apollo 11 mis- n - the public and the media were Iready bored with the prospect of men n the moon. Apollo 13 was looked pon as another flawless NASA exer- ise. It wasn't. An explosion caused by mechani- al defect threatened the oxygen and ower supply of the capsule and the ives of the crew. For the three astro- sauts - including space veteran Jim Lovell who had hovered just above the on's surface on a previous Apollo mission - there would be no moon shot. They now instead must struggle for their lives. Re-telling the events of the near- fatal space flight, "Apollo 13" treats the space program and the moon shots themselves as epic, Homeric events to compensate for the film's initial obstacle: the audience knows going into the film how it will end. e astronauts - Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jim Swigert (Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon respec- tively) - in a quest for man's great- est accomplishment (albeit also vir- ually inconsequential, unless you like moon rocks) were forced into the most daring rescue in human his- tory. Thankfully director Ron Howard stays in check rather than displaying k6 trademark elib. Rather than im- ploding a less than insignificant story such as "Far and Away" or "The Pa- per" into a mush of feel-good listless- ness he allows this extraordinary true- life tale to carry its own weight. What results is classic storytelling with a few visual affects that dazzle (both the Apollo 13 Directed by Ron Howard; with Tom Hanks, Kathleen Quinlan and Ed Harris At Briarwood and Showcase launch and the re-entry into orbit) and a few that don't (virtually every shot of the space module from the outside is comical at best). Yet this is storytelling in its most skeletal form; a simple re- telling of extraordinary events with little depth and less charisma. Ironically in its setbacks it is his- torical accuracy that somewhat sinks "Apollo 13." The three astronauts, trained to be critical thinking, flag waving engineers, are just that. As a result they are entirely flat - void of any passion. When faced with peril they respond with near passive confidence, unallowed to assess their situation with any moment of tangible emotion. Even in the accel- eration of their dilemma, the inten- sity of the danger is only registered through a series of technical and mathematical mishaps. When Hanks' Lovell screams, "I know about the God-damned globular," that's fine and good, but who in the audience does? Thus what could have been amongst the film's most dramatic sequences is its dullest. Yet the film presses on, leaning on its more dynamic qualities, spe- cifically the characters back on this planet. Whereas inside the capsule the men are overshadowed by ma- chine, particularly due to Howard's quick cuts that make truly seeing a bit difficult, the homefront is char- acter-based. The whole of the hu- man drama is presented, and done very well, back on Earth. Ed Harris (who ironically portrayed John Glenn in the far superior astronaut film, "The Right Stuff") as the flight director, Gary Sinise as a pi- lot aborted from the mission, and Kathleen Quinlan as Mrs. Jim Lovell, are the real stars of the film - a series of strong-willed indi- viduals. Hanks as Lovell will bring no ac- ceptance speeches. He barely shows up. He is again simply the all-Ameri- can boy, the lovable, amiable Tom Hanks, this time without a gimmick. Lovell himself shows no qualities ex- cept stubborn pride and a love for his family. Swigert's sole characteriza- tion is that he is a ladies man. Haise's is that he breathes. Like Jim Lovell's Apollo experi- ences themselves, "Apollo 13" dangles just above its visible target, What results is a slick crowd-pleaser great scores... and a great story. It looks good and at ous choices and point-and-shoot direc- times it feels good, yet Howard's obvi- tion leave the film a bit soulless. Free Microwave : o I Oven For New Tenants I r We will provide a brand new microwave oven FREE * to the First 15 Two-Bedroom leases signed.* 3 o t Tower g 536 S.Forest Ave. e 761 -2680 e r Full Apt. Your Own ®Term 2 Bedroom Bedroom 8 month lease $945.00 per mo. $475.00 per mo. 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