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ichigandaily.com/arts
4 oc MW--mm
R
MONDAY
JUNE 11, 2001 s
JONES-ING FOR
nes evolves into
ollywood fan
Jenny Jeltes any date in any circumstances. Any-"
ity Aits Wrtter ways, she was auditioning for this play;
I figured this was the only way I could
When asked what got him started in you know, 'spit my game."'
entertainment industry, Orlando After Jones did all of the breathing
es (starring in the new sci-fi comedy exercises and other acting "stuff"
lution"), jokingly responded with, before the audition, he said he was
rupidity. I ain't got no sense. I realize thinking: "I don't know what the fuck is
t truth now. going on here, but she is ridiculously
The young entertainer from South fine, and that's all I know." Long story
rolina has starred in several movies, short: Jones got cast, but the girl didn't
ay it Isn't So," "The Replacements," She never spoke to him again, but she
iffice Space") but "Evolution" is his was "literally the reason I ended up
gest film yet. here.
Directed by Ivan Reitman, ("Ghost- In addition to the play, Jones reluc- Daddy," Although Jon
sters"), "Evolution" is about alien life tantly followed a teacher's advice and extremely proper, South
spreads on earth after a meteor joined the debate team. Jones won the disagree with her son's
hes in an Arizona desert. Harry National Championship in Dramatic, ("If it was a movie just
ock, (Jones) a geology professor and Humorous, and Prose Interp, and couldn't go home," Jone
men's volleyball coach at the local received offers from acting schools all likes this script because
mmunity college, and his co-worker over the country, pimp has a heart of gold
Ira Kane (David Duchovony), take Jones began his Hollywood career as pretty much "Pretty W
tters into their own hands, but soon a writer for the NBC sitcom "A Differ- upside down."
lize how serious the incident is - ent World," then wrote for "ROC Live." Jones is no longer
man survival is at stake. His acting debut took place on Fox's guy," and he even joke
Jones's character is extremely funny sketch comedy show "Mad TV" and the interview came to
d his mannerismss keep the audience from there Jones launched his film msore 7-Up stigma front
ling. career. to figure out how they'i
" was really focused on making this Jones is currently working on a script a headline for their artic
eter intelligent and funny at the for his upcoming film "Reverend Pimp the people I run into"
e time," Jones said. This was tough
cause Jones really believed that
ry's fuction was to get the laughs,
ng with his meaningful relationship
thIra.
A lot of the lines in "Evolution" were
iginally adlibs and Jones compli-
nts Reitman on his encouragement
style. "It was really a collaboration
eryone's effort; [Reitman] is not
kind of director who says, 'this is
way to do it."'
Jones said the core is the same and
itman would try a scene one way,
d then come back with something
mpletely different. "His goal was to c
t the lines across in the funniest way Can you believe the size of that thing?
ssible."
With such a variety of actors (Jones,
chovny, Julianne Moore and Sean
illiam Scott), it is interesting to hear
ey all got along on the set. Jones
i they all functioned as a family, on Your next
th Jones, Duchovony and Scott as the MEXICAN CAFE (Regular $1
ee kids. 333E. Huron'AArbor
"David is the oldest, I'm in tihe mid- " . . . . . . Simply bring this c
and Sean is the youngest. David '- ANN ARBOR'S FINEST Supercuts. As us
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ttack Sean. We function just like
kids and Julianne referees the MEXICAN RESTAURANT ut come in soon, this
e thing: " l Dv O 8/11101. Good at partid
So how did Jones get involved in act- Not valid with any o
? "Do you want the short, medium One coupon per c
long version? There was this girl int
liege ... Linda Graves and I was
Iking her. She wouldn't consent to on1 an. l tI Mo S t 1 it . iC
'EVOLUTION'
'Evolution' lacks
human intelligence
es' mother, an
ern lady, would
choices in roles
about a pimp, I
s laughed.) She
"at its core, the
and the story is
oman" flipped
just the "7-Up
d about this as
a close. "I get
the press trying
re going to find
le and less from
By Mandy Taylor
Daily Arts Writer
The first scenes of "Evolution,"
whether intentional or not, offer an
example of evolution gone wrong in
the form of Wayne (Sean Williams
Scott), an aspiring firefighter practic-
ing for his exam. A meteor crashes,
with fictitiously
little damage, into
::. fili his car a few
Evolution yards away from
the house he has
Grade: C- lit on fire, and it
rests in an under-
At Showcase ground cavern.
and Quality 16 Ira Kane
( D a v i d
Duchovny) and
n Harry Block
(Orlando Jones),
science professors
at the local community college, come
to investigate and find a mossy sub-
stance and ooze coming out of the
meteor. This ooze becomes the focus
of the film, as it evolves from quick-
dividing single-celled organisms to
multicellular organisms overnight. The
organisms waste no time in turning
from flatworms, to various carnivorous
beings that crawl and fly, to primates.
The government takes over investi-
gations, and a clumsy Allison (Julianne
Moore) steps into the picture, becom-
ing the only continuing female pres-
ence through the film. The aliens
escape from their "contained" meteor
site, invading homes, country clubs
and shopping malls. Ira, Harry and
Allison must fight against the govern-
ment and the aliens in order to save
humanity.
While watching this movie, it takes
some time to realize what one is sup-
posed to actually laugh at. The comedy
is often oddly timed, with little lead-
up. Sexual puns abound: The meteor
has "penetrated" the earth; the scien-
tists must "get a piece" of that asteroid.
Similarly, race-derived jokes are
tossed in (for instance, one government
official mistakenly refers to Harry as
"Mr. Black"), seemingly just because
the main characters are of a different
race. The film is not without laughs -
it's usually a case of simply laughing at
the dumb guy or bodily functions. One'
of the most awkward moments is actu-
ally when director Ivan Reitman
attempts to bring drama into the film
through Duchovny's character.
Acting is one of the downfalls as
well. It is consistently inconsistent.
Most of the characters have their
moments of humor. Jones brings a cer-
tain charm to Harry at times, though
the character he played in the 7-Up
commercials leaks out.
Duchovny shows that he actually
might have a sense of humor, unlike
his "X-Files" personality. Unfortunate-
ly Julianne Moore has little to work
with, which is reflected in her perform--
ance; lines such as "I would have
rocked your world" seem too unnatu-
ral. Sean Williams Scott seems to play
the same character in every movie.
The aliens themselves are certainly
interesting, especially in the post-flat-
worm stage. There is a great, colorful
variety, from cute to vicious. Some
clever parallels to the dinosaur age -
thematically and visually -pervade.
Overall, "Evolution" fits right in
with the current trend of mediocre
comedies. The visuals prove to have
been the priority for the filmmakers,
as shown with the poor script. Reach-
ing into the sci-fi genre, "Evolution"
has a rather exciting climax, but most
of the film stumbles as much as Alli-
son.
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