Section A · Page 8
The University Daily Kansan
Friday, September 18, 1998
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Reviews
One True Thing a smart drama
By Jeremy M. Doherty
Kansan movie critic
From Terms of Endearment to Philadelphia, Hollywood has loved to trot out the disease drama as a means of exploring a larger social interest.
To their ranks, we can add One True Thing, a remarkably intelligent character piece.
A bulk of the credit goes to director Carl Franklin, whose previous credits include the brooding thrillers One False Move and Devil in a Blue Dress.
Based on Anna Quindlen's best seller, One True Thing concerns itself with an upper-middle class New England family. Dad's a professor of literature. Mom's a happy homemaker and their kids have struck out on their own.
But daughter Ellen (Renee Zellweger) regrets returning home even to attend a birthday party for her father, George (William Hurt). Her mother, Kate (Meryl Streep), smothers her with the expected kisses and pampering, but George is unable to offer any praise to Ellen's accomplishments as a journalist. The son in the family, Brian (Tom Everett Scott), is terrified of
ONE TRUE THING
nansan rating: ★★ out of ★★★
Running time: 2 hours
Rated: "R" for a smidgen of profanity
telling his harsh father he is flunking out of Harvard.
Ellen Gulden (Renee Zellweger,right) moves back in with her mother and farther (William Hurt, left) and soon discovers that they are not the people she thought they were. Contributed photo
During the visit, Kate is diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer and given very little time to live. Unwilling to take a sabbatical from his teaching, George insists that Ellen abandon her job and play nursemaid to her ailing mother.
Must films would take the sentimental route at this point, but Franklin aims higher. Working from a smart screenplay by Karen Croner, the director eschews overdrawn melodrama in favor of the characters at the movie's center.
center.
Zellweger runs with Ellen and adds some rough edges to her character. The audience sees Ellen as a lonely woman desperate for fatherly affection.
Despite her top billing, Streep takes a backseat as Kate, a super mom who plans elaborate holiday functions for the fun of it. But the gifted actress
allows us to glimpse the woman underneath, who lives for others but not for herself.
Hurt likely has the most challenging duty here, which is to make the audience care about an unsympathetic
character, and the Oscar-winner succeeds.
The film's narrative shifts gears in the final reel, resulting in a somewhat abrupt ending, and Franklin himself indulges in a tad of viewer manipulation. But thanks to the fine script, he's earned that privilege.
Tired plot causes jam in Rush Hour
By Jeremy M. Doherty
By Jeremy M. Doherty Kansan movie critic
Rush Hour plays out like a live-action example from a screenwriter's textbook.
Let's follow the signposts: Picture a movie in which Two Mismatched Cops join forces to kick criminal butt and trade wisecracks.
One of the pair (Chris Tucker) is the LAPD's Cop Who Plays By His Own Rules. His hard-nosed captain doesn't appreciate his Screwball Antics, Disregard for Proper Procedure or his Smart Mouth.
The other (Jackie Chan) is the Cop Who Operates By the Book. He also is
a Martial Arts Master, but his emotional investment in the current investigation leaves him Morally Compromised.
Enter the plot: Chan's buddy just happens to be a Powerful Foreign Emissary, whose daughter has just been kidnapped by a Maniacal Crime Lord, and the task falls to the Two Mismatched Cops to save the day.
Did we forget anything? Ah, explosions. I counted about three in *Rush Hour*. Of course, it goes without saying that the Mismatched Cops possess the ability to outrun said explosions.
And we mustn't leave out the Smooth-talking Englishman (The
RUSH
Kansan rating: **1/2 out of
*****
Running time: 95 minutes
Rated: "PG-13" for profanity and a few neato explosions
Full Monty's Tom Wilkinson) or the interracial romance between Tucker and a female cop (Elizabeth Pena).
Ladies and gentlemen, start renting those Oscar tuxedos.
Fans of Jackie Chan's brand of cartoonish Bruce Lee moves probably should skip this offering. Some well-paced fight scenes do pop up, but only
sporadically.
Mostly, *Rush Hour* is a showcase for Chris Tucker, a comedian who subscribes to the notion that anything is funny if said loudly enough. His scenes with Chan tend to result in one-liners of the sweet and sour variety, with varying degrees of success. However, most of the humor comes at Tucker's expense.
Rush Hour would have worked better if director Brett Ratner had forsaken the tired cop-movie routines in favor of some simple interplay between Chan and Tucker. Action fans may get their fix, but the high is short-lived.
'Animals,' 'Idols' both have reason to sing
By T.R. Miller Kansan music critic
Marilyn Manson "Mechanical Animals"
★★★ and 1/2 out of ★★★
Marilyn Manson would like to have a talk with you about a frequently-explored subject in rock 'n' roll called drugs. Whether Manson feels drugs are bad is unclear. But one thing is for sure, everyone is doing it. The CD leaflet even is spotted with drug images such as needles, pills and, of course, pictures of the band members who look as if, well, they are on drugs.
The band's fourth release, "Mechanical Animals," is updated glamour rock with a touch of the extra-terrestrial. I was disappointed. I was expecting nightmares after listening to the CD, but no avail.
Many have seen the video to the first single, The Dope Show. Manson croons in his cackling voice, "The drugs they say/Make us feel so hollow." Is Manson offering a
I munk people are often so distracted by Manson's freakish persona that the music is ignored. This is unfortunate because only in the music does the band show some innovation. Two musical highlights are User Friendly and Fundamentally Loathsome. Both songs have a creepy, alien feel that left me with a strange fascination.
"Just Say No" speech or merely justify his own drug use?
The album has a touching moment in the final track, *Coma White*, where Manson tells the story of a lost girl drowning in a sea of pain and relentless, you guessed it, drug use. Could this ghoulish creature feel compassion? Perhaps, even love?
Ominous Seapods "Matinee Idols"
★★★ out of ★★★
** * out of **
In my opinion, an evil three-eyed creature carrying a helpless woman through space is not the most typical cover for a blues jam band. When I pulled this CD out of
my box, I was sincerely frightened.
But never fear, the melody rising from this album is completely harmless. The album begins with a two-minute building introduction that leads into a long guitar-strumming, bass-pulsing and drum-beating good time.
ing good Blackberry Brandy is a fun ditty with a sweet guitar solo that lasts, pretty much, most of the song. The strains of B.B. King can be heard in Dana Monteith's guitar.
The final track, *Leaving the Monopole* is not bad either, with a leg-slapping beat, backing a guitar and bass play-off.
But this endless jam seems really to be endless. I know this is what jam bands are supposed to do, but in the case of "Matinee Idols," there is no evolution throughout the songs. Take for example John Henry's Hammer, a nine-and-a-half minute song that starts out with a guitar riff that never changes. The thing about good jam bands is that while they are playing, a guitarist may change a chord or the bass
will pick up a different beat, keeping the song fresh and the experience enjoyable. I found myself impatiently clicking to the next track before each song was finished.
Ominous Seapods' unpredictability and spontaneity pretty much end with their album cover. The album is OK to stick in the stereo on a Saturday afternoon, but there is no sparkle in any of the songs, which, unfortunately, makes every track sound like the next.
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