Wednesday, July 12, 1995-- The Michigan Daily -9

UNDERNEATH
continued form page 8
rs, a lonely man retuming to his home-
town for his mother's wedding. Through
a series of flashbacks it is revealed just
how dangerous the return home of this
recovering compulsive gambler is, par-
ticularly because the ex-wife he left and
now foolishly pursues is involved with
Tommy Dundee, the town's resident
low-life criminal.
Simultaneously,andunfortunately, we
are also privy to events later in the film that
he present portionsofthenarrativehadal-
ready hinted at. These future events -the
imminentobbery of an armored car driven
by Michael and his new stepfather -
make certain events a bit obvious.
Despite this early setback, once the
three narratives - Michael's successful
relationship with Rachel, the present re-
lationship between Rachel and Tommy,
and the crime - are combined the film
becomes an engaging, slick "noir." De-
spite its early dabbling in the Coen
Brother territory of style sans substance,
once the elements of the film collapse
into one time and collide into a multitude
of clashes, Soderbergh retreats to em-
phasize the strongly written characters
and classic noir.
Soderbergh, who in each of his other
triumphs - "sex, lies, and videotape"
and "King of the Hill" - has used these
well-rounded, well-conceived characters
and their individual quirks and desires to

projectan overall mood forhisfilm, does
much of the same with "The Under-
neath" with nearly the same success.
Gallagher portrays yet another char-
acter who is certainly not innocent, but
far from intelligent in his choices. His
Michael Chambers still has a bit of the
gambling side of his personality left in
him as he skirts danger and shuns com-
mon sense to pursue Rachel.
Rachel herself is not the cold, dark,
Barbara Stanwyck-clone who nor-
mally populates film noirs, a la Linda
Fiorentino in "The Last Seduction" or
Lena Olin in "Romeo is Bleeding."
She is not a sophisticato or mysterious,
she is an attractive, freckled town girl
who measures a man by his pocket-
book. Her flashes of innocence are a
refreshing switch from the typical
hard-boiled exteriors of femme fatales
and this variation on the genre keeps
not only Chambers and Dundee guess-
ing as to her affiliations, but the audi-
ence as well.
Yet the film itself is much closer to
John Dahl's "Last Seduction" than to
"Romeo is Bleeding," both in its setting
and mood - very Middle America, the
film is set in Texas - and in its success.
Rather than the empty bombast of
"Romeo," "The Underneath" is more re-
flective of the cool, detached guesswork
of "The Last Seduction." It may not be
quite as dark as the typical noir, but this
reinvention hints that this once-written
off genre still has a future.

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1

The University of Michigan
School of Music
17TH CHURCH AND ORGAN MUSIC INSTITUTE
Wednesday, July 12
American Organ Music
James Spirup, organist (UM graduate student)
8 p.m., Hill Auditorium, free
Friday, July 14
Music of Bach and Reubke
Todd Sager, organist (UM graduate student)
8 p.m., Hill Auditorium, free
Monday, July 17
Guest Carillon Recital
Phillip Burgess (Christ Church Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills)
7 p.m., outside Burton Memorial Tower, free
All events are free and wheelchair accessible unless
specified otherwise. For weekly events listings, call
the Music Hotline, 763-4726. The School oftMusic
is located at 1100 Baits Drive, North Campus.