SUMMER OF 1996 MOVIES

The Frighteners   

That loud crashing you hear is the spooky summer extravaganza The Frighteners plowing into theaters. This movie is a unimpeded exercise in spirited excess and rolls non-stop until the final frame. It’s forgettable but goofy fun, and will probably not do well until it hits cable TV, where short attention span channel flickers will sit up and take notice. Michael J. Fox is a ghostbuster who is trying to figure out why members of his local town are dying one by one. It has to do with an undead demented killer, a bizarre cult-investigating FBI officer, an adult child from a mental institution, two ghostly sidekicks from the seventies, and several other way over the top characters. Fox and company are screaming at each other and running from scene to scene while battling the deadly grim reaper. There are a few pauses as flashbacks reveal dual plotlines, one involving what really happened at a mental institution killing spree and another referencing the demise of Fox’s girlfriend, who’s sudden death ties into the plot and fuels his fire. The pace is fast and furious and if anything the movie succeeds as brain candy: it moves so fast and has so many ghostly effects, you may not stop to think how nonsensical the situations are. While the filmmakers special effects are intense, they ultimately try way too hard. Instead of being used sporadically for scare or comic effect, like Ghostbusters, the film is drenched in effects, and they start to loose their punch around the midway point. The computer animated grim reaper is a standout however. This ghost is perhaps the simplest of all, just a darting, flowing, bony robe; but it sends chills because it is so fast and ruthless. The visions of producer Robert Zemeckis and director Peter Jackson (who directed the excellently eerie Heavenly Creatures) seem to be a stark contrast. Zemeckis’ magical, mystical touch seen in his other movies such as Back to the Future doesn’t gel well with the dark, overcast spin the director puts on the production. The two styles blend like oil and water. However this movie proves that if you shake things up hard enough, really hard enough, you can force anything to mix.

Kingpin   

Peter and Bobby Farrelly who nailed it on the head with the hilarious Dumb and Dumber, seem to have missed the target in their latest directorial effort. While there are a few genuine laughs strung out through the total running time, there is not enough to keep audiences giggling. There are a couple of formula paths the directors could have taken. Either have real fully developed characters amusing within their own their own situations or predicaments (like Tootsie) or have two-dimensional characters who are so completely outrageous they are just entertaining to watch (Dumb and Dumber). Kingpin tries to do both and comes up short on both ends. Woody Harrelson is a bowling champion who incurs a debilitating handicap that essentially ends his career. One scene has his character trying to come to grips with the hard knocks of life and the next has him barfing endlessly after just bedding his raggy old landlady to "pay" his rent off. Randy Quaid, an Amish bowler, has a passion for the game and comes off quite likable in a reflective performance. Until he ends up in drag, bumping and grinding at a strip club. This method to the screenplay fragments the characterizations. Ironically the best performance may be Bill Murray as the adversary, he’s a guiltless jerk from start to finish. If the other characters were as well drawn, the movie may have succeeded better as a narrative. Vanessa Angel, star of TV’s "Weird Science" looks delicious in outfits you don’t dare bend over in, but pushes past her range in scenes where she is required to frantically become emotionally upset. Subdued she’s great, out of control she’s flat. Aside from pondering what the movie could have been, what bothered me most was the film is just plain unpleasant to look at. Bathroom humor is great until you see it splattering across the room. Woody in particular, along with his surroundings, are made to look greasy and unkempt. The screening I attended had people squirming at things like rotting teeth, rather than laughing. Even the prepubescents rustling around in the audience, who should have been the first to guffaw, were not amused. And in the end, unfortunately, neither was I.

Multiplicity   

Michael Keaton is a construction worker who doesn’t have enough time for himself and his family so he meets up with a scientist who clones him. The clone lives over the garage and replaces Keaton at work, freeing him up to be with his family more. As the story progress’, two more clones are created for various reasons. What follows are several hilarious scenes of the clones developing separate, but similar lives. One clone decides to go on a date, to the same restaurant that Keaton and his wife, played by Andie McDowell, are attending. Of course she’s not supposed to know about any of this, and the resulting scenes of the two Keatons trying to dodge each other provides one of the funniest restaurant scenes since Mrs. Doubtfire. Unfortunately the movie on a whole does not have the momentum that director Harold Ramis’ similar film, Groundhog Day, had. In that movie, Bill Murray, after coming to grips with the fact he is stuck in the same day forever, uses his situation to his advantage to get the girl. Here Michael Keaton is just trying to keep the rest of the cast from finding out that clones are running his life. He has less and less control the more the clones begin to develop their own personalities. What is interesting is the way the film touches on the enormous complications of having a clone (or three) of yourself. There is a lot of material here for some real insight, but most of the film is just throwaway gags. Michael Keaton who’s emotion range usually consists of cocking his head to the side and exhaling, is appealing but dry; and ultimately not that involving of a character. We don’t care much for him, since he creates a clone to get out of work and then creates another clone to get out of being a husband. In the final act he scratches his head and comes to the realization that maybe he needs to spend more time with his wife amd family. Well we knew that from scene one, and it didn’t take three out of control clones for us to figure it out.

Courage Under Fire   

As the film begins, Denzel Washington is commanding a troupe in Desert Storm and inadvertently gives a command to shoot at one of his own team’s tanks, ending in the death of a soldier. Obviously this has affected him and he distances himself from his wife and family after the war. Months later he is given the assignment to investigate a Desert Storm helicopter pilot who died during duty, played by Meg Ryan, to see if she is worthy of the medal of honor. Most of the movie is spent with Denzel interviewing her copilots, who give conflicting stories about her bravery. The end result was probably that in finding out about the pilot, he ultimately finds out about himself, but unfortunately it doesn’t really turn out that way. We know little about Ryan’s character, only seen through different versions of her copilots flashbacks. Washington’s coming to grips with his own mistake pops up sporadically during the film, but the parallel to the thrust of the story, he has final say as to if the medal is awarded, never really ties in. We can pretty much guess that he finds her worthy, despite a derailing subplot interjected by the overacting of Lou Diamond Philips, so this creates little suspense. We care more about Washington coming to grips with himself, however not enough of the film spends time with this. Director Edward Zwick knows how to pour on the emotions as he did in his ‘Legends of the Fall’, but that film’s characters where more fully realized (we spanned generations with them!). Here the story turns into a courtroom-like investigation and ultimately leaves the emotional complexities of it’s players in the background. Any resolutions at the film’s end, Washington in full uniform placing one of his medals at Ryan’s gravesite, seem a little too predestined. The two main characters never meet and never really know about each other. That distance divides the synergy of Washington and Ryan’s characters, and the investigation filling up the void is certainly less than satisfying.

Phenomenon   

John Travolta plays a regular Joe who works at a garage, when one night, he sees a flash of light and suddenly becomes quite gifted, being able to learn entire languages in minutes as well as levitate objects. The potential cinematic drama of a guy who has to come to grips with his new found power gets diluted into a Friday night disease of the week movie. Travolta gets his powers, seemingly a bolt shot down from the heavens, during the first reel, before his character is even fully developed. Next he gets so smart that his drinking buddies start to think he’s weird. He tries to warm up to Kyra Sedgwick, a local artist, but she’s as cold as ice (maybe he should have taken her out dancing, that always seems to work for John). Eventually the powers take their toll and for a brief few scenes, an unshaven, edgy Travolta starts to really lose it. The conflict is quickly dissipated by the screen writers who trot in Kyra to give him a haircut, shave and a reason to live. But he may not. The movie then spends time explaining the ‘real reason’ for the powers and suddenly the effects become life threatening, as well as more clinical and less mystical. This leads to the overwrought, Kleenex inducing final act usually reserved for soap operas. It’s no surprise that Travolta is charming and gives a swell performance, but too much of Phenomenon gets bogged down in subplots and heavy handed messages. The producers obviously put a lot of love into the project but ultimately played it too safe, playing to concept and emotions over conflict and character depth.

Independence Day   

This is one movie that promises what it delivers. Unlike "Twister", which diffused it’s special effects by trying to be a real movie with a heart tugging romance plot, ID4 knows exactly what it wants to be, an all out sci-fi blast. 60 seconds after the opening credits, the aliens are as close as the moon and fast approaching. Us against them, that’s all you really need to know. Bill Pullman is the president and is such a take charge kind of guy he actually jumps into a fighter plane to blast some aliens. Who is in charge of national security? Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith are great as the engineer and Marine pilot that try to save the earth. Smith especially provides much laughs, his cockiness and heroism is refreshing in an age of invincible tough dudes. The best part of the picture is the way it gets you on the edge of your seat. The aliens are really blasting apart the planet and each plan the government comes up with to retaliate is woefully ineffective. This edge gives real suspense to the film and keeps the surprises coming. The special effects are dazzling, topping even the best in the Star Wars series. There are squirmy alien scares, explosions, massive destruction, and plenty of action. What more could you want at the movies?

The Nutty Professor   

Eddie Murphy is back! Yes for the 15th time Eddie tries to make a comeback and this time he just about succeeds. Eddie plays almost every roll in the film, including his whole family, a white exercise guru, and the two main characters. When Eddie is the livin’ large overweight guy with a heart of gold, Sherman Klump, the movie succeeds. But often he turns into the obnoxious alter ego, Buddy Love, and the results can be grating. The best parts of the movie are when the family is sitting around the table, Eddie’s ad-libs are first rate and hilarious. The special effects of the transformations are good, but really kind of bizarre to be enjoyable. On the whole the movie has enough laughs to recommend it and the story is interesting. It may be time Eddie reels himself in and maybe becomes a serious actor (and I don’t mean serious as in slick ladies man of "Boomerang" either). He gives a likable, compassionate performance when he’s hiding behind the make-up. Once the mask is off, Eddie takes off and becomes the jerk from his last several "comedies". Let’s hope he gets into character more often in the future.

Striptease   

What in God’s name is happening to Demi Moore? It’s sad to see a nervous breakdown happening across the span of several motion pictures, but that’s what seems to be transpiring. With "Disclosure", "The Juror" and "The Scarlet Letter", Demi seemingly has started to believe her own press releases, and imagine that whatever she appears in, no matter how big the paycheck, is going to please the movie going audience. So what’s her next move? Playing a stripper with Burt Reynolds? Why the hell not! If it’s Demi’s breasts you’re after, you won’t be disappointed. However the expectation of her removing her top and seeing beams of light rivaling the second coming never really materialize. They’re just off the rack boobs like other Hollywood starlets have purchased. Demi’s body is a little too hard though and her acting is second rate. She obviously spent more time in the gym than in rehearsals. What’s wrong with this movie? Have you got an hour or two? In short, Demi should have been like the trashy girls of "Showgirls", mega-flirts and damn proud of it. Instead she’s a wholesome mom and totally out of place in this sea of seedy characters. She’s just too normal to be an involving character. Naked or not.

Hunchback of Notre Dame   

Once again, Disney comes up with a gorgeously animated first rate production that, like other recent Disney animated movies (you can’t really call it a cartoon), is destined to become a classic. However in a effort to become more mature as an animation studio, Disney may be alienating it’s core audience: the kids. There’s little of the cuddly singing animals that infested "The Lion King", in fact there are no singing or talking animals. There is deep psychological underpinnings and important thought provoking messages. Not that the film is not entertaining, far from it. It’s a rollicking adventure with an excellent cast. Tom Hulce, Kevin Kline, and Demi Moore (who keeps her well defined top on) are all great as the main characters. As for the songs, this Disney outing I didn’t care much for them. A few were memorable, but not many. The plot and characters were far more interesting and I found that when they stopped to sing each heavy handed lyric, the movie’s pace quickly slowed down. But all in all, if you are an adult who likes the Disney animated films, this is one of the best since "Beauty and the Beast". If you are a kid, you may be a little less entertained, but leave the theater with a little more to think about than when you walked in.

Eraser   

What was Ah-nold thinking? He’s had a good streak for picking interesting projects which typically have pretty involving plots. Even his Christmas movies such as "Junior" have been passable. But I could tell by the opening segment that this was going to be a no-brainer. Arnold is in charge of erasing Vanessa Williams identity, making sure the bad guys can’t locate her. Which is fine, but the two never really set off any sparks. They aren’t even together for that long in the movie. After the first rescue of Vanessa, he brings her to a house and has her throw all her identifying objects into the fire. What the writers meant to be a touching exchange seems wildly out of place considering the mayhem they just escaped from. And is it just me or is Arnold’s accent getting worse? I found him hard to understand in parts of this movie. Actually I found it hard to understand why he was in this movie. It’s too typical and if you’re looking for bigger and badder than "True Lies", this is not the movie. Vanessa Williams has some promising screen presence, but needs to get away from roles that have her running from bad guys who are after her top secret computer disk. James Cann has been dusted off and has a lead role for no apparent reason. Arnold should erase this one from his resume.

Dragonheart   

Dennis Quaid in a medieval fantasy? I just couldn’t get past that fact in this pleasant but uninvolving family picture. The real star of the film is Draco, the animated dragon, who’s voice is Sean Connery. Now here’s the main problem, Connery is just too identifiable as a voice for you to suspend your disbelief. It’s too bad because the animation of the dragon is pretty amazing. Not that it looks that real, it moves a little too smoothly to be completely natural, unlike the lumbering beasts in "Jurassic Park". Halfway through the movie though, you start to grow fond of the huge dragon, which makes the bittersweet ending all the more powerful. But when the dragon is the only interesting character in the film, something is amiss. It’s a typical evil king and renegade hero tale, done much better in "Braveheart" (and with no dragons needed). There is little romance and not much spark to the warmed over script and eventually the only reason to see the movie is the great scenes with Draco. Kids will probably like the special effects, I was underwhelmed.

Mission Impossible   

Brian DePalma, after a lack luster few years is back with a vengeance, directing a tight, involving and suspenseful Tom Cruise vehicle. Cruise is so gun-ho about the mission that you can’t help but hope he completes it. But early in the movie things go very wrong and he ends up being blamed for a botched espionage task. Losing most of his team, the agency suspects he is actually a traitor. What follows is a complex plot and several dynamite scenes, including a break into government headquarters and a dazzling helicopter/train chase. There is no doubt Cruise will accomplish whatever he is doing, so the film is blended with double crossing and multiple identities to make things interesting. Those looking for wall to wall action adventure might want to look elsewhere, this is more subdued (except for the chase at the end) and is comparable to the espionage of the Harrison Ford "Patriot Games" films (although done better in "Mission").

Twister      

Like most people, loved the special effects, didn't really care too much for the story. Actually that's not totally true, I probably liked the story a little better than most. But hey, how 'bout them flyin' cows! The only reason to see "Twister" is to be dazzled by the special effects. And impressive they are. Also, like the movie "Jurassic Park", the audience is spoon fed little by little. We see some fairly tame twisters at first and then they become progressively more dangerous until all hell breaks loose. The cast is likable and the movie speeds along at a nice clip. The ending is a knockout and may have you grabbing on to your movie seat armrests. This ride is ultimately forgettable, but fun while it lasts.

The Rock   

Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage are as dynamic as the action taking place in this cutting edge adventure flick. And cutting is a good word for it. The editing of the movie is cut in such a way that I don’t think any scene remains on screen for more that a few seconds. If you want fast paced, kinda like MTV on steroids, then purchase your ticket now. The audience is constantly kept on their toes because you never really can figure out what is coming next. Ed Harris is cool as a cucumber, and plays an edgy officer who takes command of Alcatraz. He’s gonna nuke the coast and there is real suspense because you never can tell if he’s bluffing or not. The only thing I didn’t like about "The Rock" is a ridiculous over the top car chase. It’s too much, even in this cinematic action overkill. I wished the pace slowed down more and developed the already interesting characters. But who cares? Harris just launched a missile!!

Copyright 1996 Momentum Publishing