REVIEW FILM
l
_ couseurmo ADULTS
How many more of these yuppie- i households-in-peril movies can we take? It’s the same old story here: nice couple threatened by psychotic stranger are forced to re-evaluate everything they hold dear, while the audience catches up on some kip. Jingle writer Richard Parker (Kevin Kline) and his supportive spouse (Mary; Elizabeth Mastrantonio) seem to have i it all, for their beautiful family home comes complete with a musically gifted young daughter, but when ‘flnancial’ adviser Eddy Otis (Kevin Spacey) and his unfeasibly babetitious. spouse Kay (Rebecca Miller) move in next door, you just know that Mr Ed’s naffo peroxide )ob bodes no good. Turns out, of course, that he specialises in defrauding insurance companies and as the Parkers become further and further seduced by the Otises’ swish lifestyle, Eddy even goesi so far as to suggest that dear old Dick 3 and he should fulfil their simmering ‘ desires and sleep with each other’s wives.
This is where the fun really starts — Kline does the dirty deed and the next day finds himself on a murder charge when Ms Miller’s body is found beaten to a pulp. But it’s also the point where screenwriter Matthew Chapman and director Alan J. Pakula lose their way, a contrived set-up sliding into absurd convolutions that work against the film’s glossy, llteralist style. Thrillers like this rely on hooking us in and pulling us along, but in this case miscast (Kline is truly wooden) or uncontrolled performers (Spacey overdoes the grinning villainy) can’t prevent the viewer from buying out in a major way. By the time the two Kevs have beat the shit out of each other in the inevitable final showdown, you won’t know whether to laugh or sigh. In short, not good. (TJ)
Consenting Adults (15) (Alan J. Pakula, US, 1992) Kevin Kline, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Kevin Spacey. 99 mins. From Fri 5: Odeons: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Ayr. All UCls. Glasgow: MGM Parkhead. Central: Cannon. Strathclyde:
Cannon.
2 33-25 April and will
" s industries. The organisers
' entries —- everything from dramas to documentaries to mUsic videos —- from
twelve institutions and
work. The last date for ' registering is 15 March and the closing date for
Consenting Adults: “the same old story’
_ SHADOWS AHD FOG
Held back in favour of the scandal
value in the vastly inferior Husbands
~ and Wives, Woody Allen’s let film as
writer and director at last gets an
none of the particularly vapld late-lite angst that blighted Husbands, Shadows and Fog contains all those
‘ t * Allen hallmarks you either love or dread.
Allen is Kleinman, a hardworking innocent in an anonymous mittel- European town during the 20s. When a serial strangler terrorises the good
,, burghers, they force the hapless
Kleinman to join their vigilante group.
€ Meanwhile, Mia Farrow runs away
from the circus and finds shelter, and a lot else, in the local brothel.
From the Kurt Weill soundtrack to the crepuscular black and white photography this is part homage to, part pastiche of, early Fritz Lang. But
airing in this country. Although there’s ’3' "0'" falling between the "'0' it
brings Allen’s talents for dark tragedy and one-line slapstick to bear on a hugely talented cast. Entertaining and thoughtful, if slightly uneven, this is Allen doing what he does best: making small films exceedingly well. (Thom Dibdin)
Shadows and Fog (15) (Woody Allen, US, 91) Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, John Malkovich, John Cusack.
From Sun 7. Glasgow: GFT.
MEAN STREETS
In the light of all the brouhaha
; surrounding Quentin Tarantino’s
I
Reservoir Dogs, this reissue could hardly be more welcome, introducing a whole new generation of filmgoers to the seminal 70s offering that put the careers of Messrs Scorsese, De Hiro and Keitel firmly on the map. A young Harvey is Charlie, trying to do good by looking after his slightly unhinged wee brother Johnny Boy (De Hiro at his most wigged out) and getting into trouble with the local Mob in the process. Catholic guilt, Little Italy, gangsters, great rock music on the soundtrack and a camera style to die for — all the great Scorsese stuff is there already formed in this first personal picture. See it and wish that movies could be this good again. Miss it and you’re a monk. (TJ)
Mean Streets (18) (Martin Scorsese, US, 1973) Harvey Keitel, Robert lie Hiro, Richard Romanus. 110 mins. From Sun 7: Edinburgh Filmhouse. From Sun 14: Glasgow Film Theatre.
3" .iii‘ {9 "5; . . .‘ ’33:}..\
festivals. the first ever v multi-media International Festival of Documentary
deserves credit for
of documentary all in one
J Festival will span radio.
students from across
Iiurope and North
1 America contributing to a debate on the future of the art. Many events will be
7 ‘Documentary Day‘.
I Scottish Student Video Festival: Given the success of the Fringe Film and Video Festival in recent years. it should be no surprise that a new festival to showcase student talent from all over Scotland has sprung up in its wake. The first Scottish Student Video Festival. organised by Edinburgh Student Video Productions. runs from
provide a forum to view new and rarely screened works as well as discuss the opportunities available in the media and film
have already received
hope to encourage other student groups to submit
competition entries is 29 March. Further information is available from iidinburgh Student Video Productions. (ZFl) 22 [)alkeith Road. lidinburgh liHlb 585.
I Docurama ’93: And on the subject of new
was launched in Scotland last week. Docurama. as it's affectionately known. will be held from 13-26 September in Perth. and
celebrating the diversity
go. Alongside film and television works. the
theatre. archive and photography, with producers, broadcasters. academics. artists and
open to the ptlbliC. including a Scottish
I Euro-video Berlin has come to Edinburgh in the shape of two trainees from the city's ‘Pan Media‘ course who have teamed up with six trainees from the Edinburgh Video
Training Course on a ' comedy drama to be
I
filmed in Wester Hailes.
This follows on from a ‘ documentary co- production made in I Germany in 1990 and an l exchange trip to Edinburgh last summer. ' The current project is one
of many organised by
iiVTC. which was established in l986 to provide video production training for young people
in Edinburgh. Each year
the course recruits six trainees who are then
offered practical experience of all aspects
Mean Streets: ‘all the great Scorsese stuff is there already formed’ M (Ma, pmimu,” . ,(w J
The List lo February-n -l l March I‘M} 19