ARTS The Michigan Daily You're stuck in the Monday, February 18, 1991 Page 5 trite, Ward Gaze through the looking glass King Ralph Dir. David S. Ward by Mike Kuniavsky John Goodman is a damn good actor. Let's hope that Hollywood doesn't swallow him up. Rising fast in the pop-cultural world - surprisingly so, considering his "non-traditional appearance" (read that as "fatter than perfect") - he k: has been in some pretty good stuff -4as well as some pretty lame stuff, :Goodman generally steals the 'show in whatever he's in (he was the guy advertising for a wife in True Stories, Al Pacino's partner in Sea of Love, and, of course, Roseanne's husband on her TV show) but even he's not enough to save everything. In True Stories, for instance, Goodman was a very natural and funny element of a rather dull, over-intellectualized, backhandedly-condescending. film. His latest film, the first one where he's headlining, regrettably falls into the same mold. King Ralph, pathetically written and directed by David S. Ward (the guy who amazingly won an Oscar for his screenplay for The Sting back in the early '70s), is yet another rehashing of the Pyg- malion myth: failed Vegas bar pi- anist Ralph Jones is discovered to be the last remaining heir to the British throne after the whole royal family is electrocuted during a re- union. Crude, vulgar, beer-drink- ing, football-watching Jones (Goodman's unfortunate stereotype after his success on Roseanne) is taken under the wing of Willing- ham (Peter O'Toole) to be taught the ways of being a king. After a while, bored with his sequestered existence, Jones escapes from Buckingham Palace and goes to a strip joint where he meets Miranda (Camille Coduri), a stripper with stage fright. From .here on in the predictability starts: lots of ugly-American/stuffy-British joxes, sight gags as Ralph tries poise, and lame humor galore. Basically, it's a completely formulaic plot which doesn't deserve any more explanation. What is good about the film is, of course, Goodman. He has a great sense of timing and a great way with physical comedy and best of all, he can act. He brings a very natural, casual, underplayed element to a patronizing, self-sat- isfied film (which happen when Hollywood screenwriters decide to write "a comedy;" almost univer- sally these comedies turn out to be unfunny, forced and basically stupid). Regrettably, though, even by Diane Frieden You could be a voyeur. You could be a fetishist. Or, if you didn't necessarily adhere to Freud's construction of the spectator, you could in- stead follow the definition of The Female Gaze, a current University Museum of Art ex- hibit and you could, as a viewer of the female body within art, take on other, more expansive roles. Ambiguity, humor, shock, and delight are a few emotions that one is encouraged to expe- rience by the exhibit, which was produced in conjunction with the Institute for the Hu- manities' look into "Histories of Sexuality." The exhibit wrestles with the question: Is there more than just a female and a male viewpoint in the consideration of artistic images of women? The exhibit attempts to answer its question with a variety of "viewing positions" that are of- See GAZE, Page'7 Happy because he's not the King of Boers, John Goodman as King Ralph I symbolically relaxes knowing Roseanne Barr has nothing to do with his latest project. Goodman's performance can't save what is ultimately a film doomed to failure, massacred by a screen- play as trite as the Jeff Lynne-pro- duced version of Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly," which plays during the closing credits. KING RALPH is being shown at Showcase and Fox Village. IN 1 evie' 'Mats forgot to take out the trash "God, Paul looks so good. Do I look okay? My hair's not too big, is it? No, no, of course not. That song 'Merry Go Round' is just great. God, I hate how those 18- year-old guys come here and think they know everything about the Replacements "How lame. I know every song off All Shook Down and even some of the ones off Don't Tell a Soul and Pleased to Meet Me. I am a diehard fan, I'm telling you, and I would just sleep' with Paul in a second." "Really? I mean Paul's hot but there's just something about Tommy. God, what I wouldn't do to get him in bed. But the thing is, he can really play, too. You know, " I heard he joined the band when he was like 10 or something. I guess they used to be almost punk or something. God, wouldn't that be great to sleep with an ex-punker? "Oh, I just love this song. 'You take the skyway...' These guys are just so cool because they play hard stuff, y'know, but it's still kind of mellow. Nothing too raunchy, y'know. Like, I used to date this guy and he was just always listen- ing to such harsh stuff. Like he had this one album called Stink and it just gave me a headache. I mean, there was no melody. Nothing like this stuff." "Why're Paul and Tommy so pissed off though? I mean Slim and Steve are just kind of hanging out. What'd Paul say? 'Sorry we suck tonight.' No, you don't Paul! I love you Paul! I want you!!" "Well, maybe it's an off night or something. They do sound a lit- tle sloppy, but I'll bet it's nothing compared to their punk days. God, can you imagine? I'm totally get- ting into the lighting too. God, I think I smoked too much on the way over." "Yeah, well, all the better to enjoy the show with. Just make sure you save some to share with Paul and Tommy when we meet them." "Oh, no. Don't you read Rolling Stone? They're sober now. On the wagon, I swear to God." "Wow. That's so cool. I totally respect that. God, this is so great. They're playing so many songs from All Shook Down and 'I'll Be You' sounds just like it does on the CD. This is so cool." "What'd that guy request? Color Me Impressed?' Tommy doesn't look too happy. Must be an old one. God, it must get boring playing the same stuff for years, y'know." "Yeah, but it almost seems like he forgot it. Oh, good, now they're back on track. More stuff off Pleased to Meet Me. Cool." "'Alex Chilton' is a little too loud for me. The 18-year-olds are digging it, though. God, I wonder if that's how they sounded when they were punk?" "I don't know but I sure can't wait for another album and tour. I just don't get these people who say the Replacements wimped out. I mean, haven't they heard 'Talent Show?' I mean, they've got videos on 120 Minutes and everything. No way, man, this band is going places." "Yeah, straight to hell. Hey, got another cigarette? God, don't you just love living on the edge?" - Kristin Palm Rose smelled nice In the problematic tradition of John Stuart Mill's utilitarian phi- losophy, the University Players presented Lillian Garret's The White Rose. The play addresses timeless fundamental questions concerning ethics, weighing indi- vidual versus societal responsibil- ity. Based on the true story of five idealistic college students in World War II Munich who dis- tributed leaflets expressing con- tempt for Hitler and Nazism, the play chronicles the five-day inter- rogation period following the stu- dents' arrest. Garret's plot was gripping in its psychological insight. She created characters who upheld the tenu- ousness surrounding the question of whether humankind shapes society or society shapes humankind. So- phie Scholl (Erica Heilman), the only female group member, chal- lenged the ethical consciousness of Inspector Robert Mohr (Jonathan Hammond). Heilman was excellent in her delivery of. incisive questions that cut Mohr to the moral quick, yet she main- tained an innocence that made Mohr's heart go out to her. In turn, Hammond completely adopted the physical demeanor of a middle-aged pragmatist. The scenes between the two proved the most volatile and exciting to watch, as the idealism of youth was pitted against the hard-boiled, turn-the-other-cheek-to-survive mind-set. As the two stuck to their guns for the most part, the repoire that Heilman and Hammond developed was moving, as it allowed each to penetrate the shell of the other, if only slightly, leaving the audience to ponder which lifestyle was correct. Other exceptional characters were Hans Scholl (Matthew Letscher), Sophie's older brother, the student who instigated the White Rose movement. Letscher had all the vivacity of a young man absorbing the tenets of the world's greatest philosophical minds in an attempt to order his own world. Letscher's energy was inspiring and the audience sensed the visceral rush that Hans got from rallying for his cause. Alex Irvine offered a fine por- trayal of Alexander Schmorell, the student who maintained his posi- tion through sarcasm. Irvine's mat- ter-of-fact attitude toward the inter- rogator and his mocking answers provided comic relief. Moreover, Irvine instilled a sense of verisimilitude in Schmorell by providing a tranquility of character that eased his transition from wary to flippant. These outstanding performances were enhanced by Robert J. Far- ley's direction, as well as by Allan Billings' scenic design. The set was minimal, yet functional. With the Inspector's desk on one edge of the stage and the students' quarters on the other, there was ample open space in which the accused re- mained onstage and offered their testimonies separately beneath a spotlight. This structure empha-. sized the significance of each in- dividual without allowing the au- dience to ignore the group dy- namic. It was also crucial to Mohr's character and to the play's moral tension for the audience to Chris Hillman and the Desert Rose Band A Dozen Roses: Greatest Hits MCA Chris Hillman is best-known as the bassist who often played with his back to the audience as a member of the Byrds, the '60s 12-string-jan- gle and later country-rock pioneers who developed the sound so admired by '80s groups like R.E.M. But after following his days in the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers by spending low-profile years as a jour- neyman instrumentalist in marginal '70s acoustic-rock combos, it is Hillman - not fellow principal members Roger McGuinn or David Crosby - who in recent years has emerged artistically as the most au- thoritative former Byrd. And he's done it not by recapitulating old glo- ries, but rather by returning to the sounds he played before he became a rock-and-roll star - no-nonsense country music. Although, to be exact, it was bluegrass that Hillman cut his teeth on, his Desert Rose Band has in the last five years virtually defined the country-pop sound currently in favor on Nashville radio. Of the nine pre- viously-released tracks on A Dozen Roses: Greatest Hits, all but one were top-10 country hits, and the other made it to number 11. But the Desert Roses' chart sound still has little in common with slick schlockmeisters like Lee Greenwood. The instrumentation is light and traditional, backing lilting pedal steel and air-tight harmonies with easy, mid-tempo beats. Things pick up with a version of John Hiatt's rompish "She Don't Love Nobody," as well as with "Hello Trouble," a Buck Owens toe-tapper. And with the songs from 1990's Pages ,of Life, DRB start developing harder edges: a minor-key guitar figure gives "Start All Over Again" a moody twist. If the playing sounds flawless, it's no wonder; four of Hillman's five backing men (on bass, steel, guitar, and drums) have been honored or at least nominated by the Country Music Academy as best player on his instrument in the last handful of years. These guys have played on just about everyone else's records - guitarist Herb Pedersen can in fact lay claim to having played on every episode of The Rockford Files, The A-Team, and Dukes of Hazzard! But as the gritty jams of the sig- nature concert tune "Price I Pay" prove, they're not letting profession- alism get the best of them. Listen closely to the new cut, "Will This Be the Day," and you'll even hear a familiar Rickenbacker jangle. This is one rose that's got plenty of life still left in it. -Michael Paul Fischer see him frozen in his chair in a hunched position while the stu- dents spoke. Farley and the players also achieved a strong aesthetic grace. In the beginning, the students ex- pressed their moral indignation by literally forming a stiff, affirmative front, their eyes focusing on some- thing above and beyond the audi- ence. Farley also paid homage to the grace associated with martyr- dom and defeat. As Sophie sat dfreaming of the future in her prison cell, the sudden collapse of her head and shoulders upon her knees complemented Mohr's primal at- tempt to shield himself with his arms in a solitary moment of an- guish. Both gestures were reminispent See WEEKEND, Page 7 ANN ROR Aibl&21 5TH AVE AT LIBERTY 761-9700 j 1I] ! fL. !1a DAILY $2.75 SHOWS BEFORE 6 PM & ALL DAY TUESDAY* (*EXCEPTIONS) 0 . . 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