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 GIRLS TOWN. A film that tries just a little too hard to
be gritty, Girls Town is the story of a group of teenage
girls coping with loss, high school, and the predatory male. When
Nikki (Aunjanue Ellis), a smart, pretty senior bound for Princeton
unexpectedly kills herself, her friends bond together to fight
their own sense of powerlessness and sexual exploitation with
a mix of vandalism and violence. The dialogue for this movie was
worked out by the actors in rehearsal, rather than scripted; the
result is probably exactly the opposite of what director Jim McKay
wanted--stilted, false and out-of-date. Part of the problem seems
to be that the cast, led by Lili Taylor, is much too old to play
high school-aged children; another problem is the mean-spirited
set of events that deteriorate into plotlessness.
LOOKING FOR RICHARD. Al Pacino's directorial debut is a
surprisingly fresh, witty introduction to the complexities of
one of Shakespeare's more knotty plays--Richard III. Pacino,
along with a cast of famous actors, obscure academics and the
stray passerby, comments on the background and meaning of Richard,
the tale of a ruthless, hunchbacked and totally fascinating evil
guy. The actors perform scenes from the play both in costume and
in informal attire; Pacino cuts them together for a truly original
version of Shakespeare that could only be realized on film. Robert
Leacock--one of the pioneers of the cinema vérité
documentary style--is the director of photography, and at times
Looking For Richard has the feel of a concert film from
the 1960s. There's a sense that anything can happen. What's more,
Pacino is terrific as Richard.
ROMEO AND JULIET. In his second film, director Baz Luhrman
gives the Bard's only teen-movie script an MTV/Miami-Cubano style,
producing the noisiest rendition any Elizabethan play has ever
received. Still, he remains largely faithful to the original,
not only in the language, but also in the youth and aching immediacy
of the protagonists. Claire Danes is especially good as Juliet,
uttering Shakespeare's difficult English without affect, and John
Leguizamo defines the role of the petulant Tybalt, playing the
part with an insightful butch-camp swagger. Kenneth Branagh could
learn a thing or two about bringing the Bard to the big screen
from this effort--it's not only exciting, stylish and witty in
its small details, it's also accessible without being condescending.
The action conveys so much sense that the teen audiences even
laughed at Shakespeare's puns. If you need to see bodkins and
ruffled collars to enjoy your Veronese tragedies, stay home; but
if a boy's choir singing "When Doves Cry" seems the
perfect accompaniment to the wedding of two star-cross'd lovers,
you'll surely enjoy the two hours' traffic of this staging.
SECRETS & LIES. With Secrets and Lies, acclaimed
British director Mike Leigh turns in gentler, more human effort
than his previous film, Naked. An extended family muddles through
issues of love and parenthood, spurred by Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste),
a grown, adopted child searching for her birthmother Cynthia (Brenda
Blethyn). To Hortense's surprise, her mother turns out to be white,
but the friendship that springs up between these two women quickly
cuts through any racial boundaries. Leigh's view of humanity is
characteristically surly, nonetheless, and the relationship between
Cynthia and her daughter Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook), a street
sweeper, is hilariously bleak. Somehow, Leigh has a talent for
making human failings seem viciously funny and absurd, and the
most miserable characters in this film often turn out to be the
most entertaining. Still, there's a spirit of connection and society
reminiscent of Jean Renoir in this film (Timothy Spall as the
rotund Maurice bears a striking resemblance to Renoir as Octave
in Rules of the Game), and everyone emerges a little wiser
for their troubles.
RANSOM. A Ron Howard film is like a Hallmark card: You
know what it's going to say, but who doesn't get excited about
seeing one? This is a by-the-numbers sleazy bad-guy flick about
a corrupt cop (Gary Sinise) who abducts the son of a billionaire
airline mogul (Mel Gibson). The latter's fine-honed business sense
tells him to place a $4-million bounty on the kidnapper's head
rather than pay the $2 million ransom, which leads to two full
hours of screaming cell phone conversations and moralistic banter.
Gibson and Rene Russo turn out impressive performances as the
distraught parents, and Sinise is appropriately evil.
STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT. The crew of the enterprise take
on the Borg, the nearly omnipotent cyberhive, in this latest star-crossing
adventure, spinning off whence many sci-fi flicks have boldly
gone before. The dashing Jonathan Frakes (aka Number One, Wil
Ryker), directs this latest special effects festival of (George
Lucas') Industrial Light and Magic. There's no denying it: The
Borg looks great on the big screen. While First Contact isn't
likely to convert new Trekkies, the effort suggests the Trek franchise
will continue to live long and prosper. Coming in 1997: Star
Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton.
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