www.michigandaily.com R T S
MONDAY
MAY 12, 2003
Ship-shape
By Sarah Zeile
For the Daily
MOVIE REVIEW
Detroit-born writer/director Neil
LaBute's new film "The Shape of
Things" is a treatise on the cruelty of
love, the meaning of art and the nerdi-
ness of virtue. Based upon LaBute's
play of the same name, "The Shape of
Things" retains much of the flavor of
the stage, with lengthy two-person
scenes shot from a single camera
angle. This theatre-house ddja vu is
enhanced by LaBute's use of the same
cast for the film that he used for his
London and New York productions of
the play.
Rachel Weisz makes a sensuous and
intense performance as Evelyn Thomp-
son, a graduate student who seduces
undergraduate English-major Adam
(Paul Rudd) and
transforms him
from chubby The Shape
bespectacled Of Things
dweeb to a thinner, At the Michigan
cuddlier, Hilfiger- Theater
clad cutie. Rudd is USA Films
to be applauded
for the clear-cut array of moods he dis-
plays throughout his transformation.
Adam's taller, hipper ex-roommate
'Shape' shapes up well
Phil (Fred Weller)
and fiancee Jenny
(Gretchen Mol) f
watch in disbelief.
as Evelyn manip-
ulates Adam's
hair, body and
attitude."
Sadly, "The
Shape of Things"
has neither the
depth nor the
cohesion of
LaBute's previous
projects, "In the
Company of Courtesy ofUSA
Men" or the Uh... Got any gum?
darkly comedic
"Nurse Betty." Most of the blame lies Polaroid of what's behind the fig-
in the screenplay. The stage play on a Romanesque statue. Adam'sr
should have and could have been better dom allusions to literary greats1
adapted for film: the arch, ping-pong Dickens and Kafka make for so
repartee that passes for genuine dia- amusing dialogue that doublesa
logue on stage is unreal and awkward snide commentary on the theme
on the screen, and some scenes stag- external transformation and the cru
nate in flat camerawork. of human interaction that run thro
LaBute fans won't be entirely disap- the film. The score, done entirely
pointed. There were some moments of Elvis Costello, rates top marks.
truly inspired comedy, like the scene "The Shape of Things" draws
where Adam and his best friend's strength from LaBute's signaturer
fiancee try to make out while sitting on of cruelty and wit, but it suffers fro
little playground spring-ponies, or the flat starkness that is more awkw
opening shot of Evelyn trying to get a than artsy.
4
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By Joel M. Hoard
Daily Arts Editor
MOVIE REVIEW
With hard rock music, communi-
ty theater and dog shows already
tackled, Christopher Guest and his
loyal improv troupe turn their satir-
ical eye on yet another American
institution: '60s
folk music.
Though not as A Mighty
outright funny Wind
as Guest's previ- At Quality 16,
ous efforts, "A Showcaseand the
State Theater
Mighty Wind" is
some of the WarnerBros.
crew's smartest
work to date. From the eerily
authentic folk tunes to the nuanced
performances, Guest et al. are at
the top of their game.
Much of the film focuses on sep-
arated folk duo Mitch and Mickey
(Eugene Levy and Catherine
O'Hara). Levy turns in perhaps the
best performance of his life as the
drugged-up and spaced-out Mitch
Cohen; he stares out wide-eyed
from under a salt-and-pepper mop,
using every square foot of his
bushy eyebrows.
The original Spinal Tap trio
(Guest, Michael McKean and
Harry Shearer) are also featured
prominently as the squeaky clean
Folksmen, a group that found suc-
pushin'.
cess in the '60s with albums like
Ramblin', Hitchin 'and Wishin'.
Rounding out the ensemble are
the New Main Street Singers. Led
by Terry Bohner (John Michael
Higgins) along with his reformed
porn star wife Laurie (Jane Lynch)
and gutterpunk-turned-clean-cut-
folkie Sissy Knox (Parker Posey),
they are a rebirth of the original
folk "neuftet." But it is Fred
Willard who dominates the group's
scenes as onetime sitcom star and
current Singers' manager Mike
LaFontaine. Willard once again
proves to have the quickest wit of
the cast, delivering his trademark
one-liners with a buoyant laugh
and stupid grin.
Like "Spinal Tap" and "Waiting
for Guffman" before it, "A Migthy
Wind" features cast-written music.
Tunes like the Folksmen's "Old
Joe's Place" and Mitch and Mick-
ey's "A Kiss at the End of the Rain-
bow," the songs capture the sound
and mood of '60s folk perfectly.
Perhaps most admirable about "A
Mighty Wind" - and any other
Guest picture for that matter - is
the attitude the cast takes toward its
characters. Sure, they're funny
send-ups of stereotypes, but it's
clear that they feel a warm affec-
tion for their characters that saves
the film from appearing meanspir-
ited and makes it succeed.
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