The List: 19 Nov 1993 (16/96)

FILM REVIEW BACARDI BLACK

BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT Starring Donald Sutherland and Amy Irving as estranged father and daughter, Benefith The Doubt is yet another foray into the From Hell principle that has dominated Hollywood’s thought on domestic drama since the success of Fatal Attraction. It’s Sutherland who gets the plum role as the ultimate incarnation of paternal evil: he’s the

Avoid the Christmas rush, Shop wife-murderer who comes back to

. i , - - terrify the life out of his offspring at The List ‘8 blg threeimge guide whose evidence put him behind bars in

LIKE WATER FOB CHOCOLATE

The way to a lover's heart may well be via his or her stomach. but as this Mexican delicacy shows. there is no limit to the number of people who can be bewitched by the simple food on their plates. At the tum of the century. Tita is born on

Benefit Of The Doubt: “10"” “3 89""31 “'9' the kitchen table.

to all the films opening in the first place. Despite thehhard \Jioriti thatt’: c‘liiarly iizilfiiggrtisg . ' The film is not quite the issue-based gone intot e pro uc on, e im ; , ‘ SCOUde over the He)“ fortmght' Til-movie fodder that the god-awful explores a premise that’s gone Wm" h” ram“ ‘1'“

suddenly. meaning that

I The Hawk (15 ) A Vaughan in The title might suggest it to be. Sutherland completely beyond its sell-bi daie- she, as the youngest of Yorkshire housewife and i Mugiiijit'em Seven. Sec is a seasoned enough horror actor to The odd sub-plots that are chucked three daugmcrs‘ must by mother-of-iwo begins ‘0 l Prev'cw- iniect some credibility into his role, into the mix 4'19 Slailntl 0' ﬁance tradition look after her §USPCCI that hf“ hUSband I Bullet In The llead (l8) and me Arizona backdrop gives a Can, karen and her kid Peter - only mother and never marry. '5 9;: Si?“ :‘lgrtknﬁn’n 3mm? "1112????ng 13;“ routine narrative an atmospheric serve to highlight the film’s confusion; Rather than view the 3th firetinwistaniiais em Wagcosieg atl last to the “"8" 3'" counte'ba'ancmg ""8 's the iamng between the two smo's 0' I militia: pigairivotid evidence, blown out of big screen in Scotland. A perfunctory scripting and o . . convincing psychological horrior and ofcnchammengt' where proportion by her history relentlessly tough ' denouemems 0‘ 303” Pled'cmml'ty- 'easonab'e emouonal menus "9' Tim's meals can cause an of mental illness? Solid depiction of lost Father Frank settles down, then goes (Andrew Pulver) entire spectrum of direction by DaVid innocence. it draws from a ape, You’d think The Stepfather had Benet" m The Doubt (18) “mama” passion-s in the eater, Hayman and a strong , far richer socral and never been made, H us depending on her

central performance by political background than my ﬂying (‘yenui’ ‘cwssing 339’ ’ 1993) Donald sutm'land’ emotional state when

Amy Irving, Graham Greene. 91 mins. From Fri 26. All llCls.

Helen Mirrcn make this his tight action thrillers an interesting extension of § while examining similar And so she is able to take a tired genre. which. . i themes of honour and out her frustrations and focuses on neither Victim betrayal.

thwarted desires when her "or PCrPetmlorv bl" the Hong Kong 1967‘ and _ own true love Pedro

innocents caught in the three lifelong friends - , I marries her Sism Rosaum ﬂak- Although it misses Beth Frank and Pm” ‘ I in order to remain close to out on some of the rely on each other as they . . her. despite her mother’s inherent tension. it is the find themselves on the r‘ . ban.

perfect excuse for Prime fringes of racketeering Like Water For

Suspect fans to get out of and in the middle of Chmon takes a pinch of

Delancy’) tries hard in the co-starring blending the ingredients.

j role, but it’s an unequal struggle. I

their armchairs and into ; bruising inter-gang street ' domestic melodrama, the cinema. See feature. 2 fights. Set against a sax f adds a touch of magic I Mr Wonderful (12) Gus i rock 'n’ roll soundtrack, i realism and throws in (Matt Dillon) wants to these hand-to-hand battles some surreal comedy for wed his new girlfriend. have more of the youthful good measure, A but the alimony he is. energy of a West Side genuinely refreshing dish forced ‘0 Pay 0‘" ‘0 his 5100' fumble than [he that continuallv surprises ex-wife is killing him. typical Woo shoot-out. its audience as'it conjures The solution is easy: find until one night things go ! up narrative tricks with its her a new husband. a Mr too far and a rival gang ' - own indefinable logic. it Wonderful. But in the member is killed. The i is a wonderful fairy tale. process. old jealousies are boys are sent to Saigon. complete with spells. a revived and Gus finds it’s 3 but with their aspirations . ' ‘ . i terrifyineg selﬁsh wicked tnot so Easy Itettingdgo. A - of making it big still So I Married An Axe Murderer; ‘cmharrasstngiy accurate stabs at tacky Scottish patriotistit' queen. a resilient

me. o - as ione intact. . . ‘ ~ » romantic comedy from More 1W5 mOYC- the)’ arc ‘K'ss you, mum 0' I," kick your teeth 1 the pm nocmrs’ suede and The Anthony (Truly Madly dragged down by the in; yells a garrulous old Scotsman to Darling Buds instead of the metal stuff Chanmng. Laura Deeply) Minghella, in surrounding political and his visiting son. Hope, it’s not an old _ that would have been so easy to fall Esquivays screenplay. which Dillon proves moral anarchy unli! 11“ Billy Connolly stage routine or even a back on. adapted from her himself the only Credible _ "0“0‘“ 0f (“end-“mp 1"? 1 Peter Mcllougall television play, but a i Where the film really comes into its internationally successful Working'Flass leading 3"“:th beyond Weak”; serial killer spoof from the heart of own, however, are the over-the-top novel, revels in the sheer ma" 0f “‘5 gei‘m‘ml‘ and p‘fmm‘ [7,03 [he frymg pa" Hollywood. Charlie Mackenzie (Mike but embarrassingly accurate stabs at joy 01" imaginative hgnaauiiig:ciilohiirmsthe issiiigii’ialgons they go ‘ Myers, the Wayne half of Wayne’s 186k! Scottish Patriot's“)- T'“! "M9 S‘O-ry‘c"‘"g.““d “‘p‘ ""0

. . ' ~ » . . 5 . , an irrepressible sense of

woman trying nm to be . mm the ﬁre or a vwlwng World) is a young American of Scottish 5 of Charlie s parents (played by Brenda magic that “cg beneath the : pigeonmoied by her prison camp where, in a descent who relates the 0' his ‘ FEleef and Myers lh make-up surface of cvéryday life. h t upbringing. See preview long. uncompromising past loves in a hip underground poetry , and split screen) echoes to the sound also celebrates the female I Posse (15) Much more 1 scene they are forced at ‘ club. But these aren’t elegies to i of the Bay City Rollers, while the walls spirit. as its wider theme than a black-v-white gang . sun 99"" to shoot romantic longings, more an expression i eschew traditional hangings for shows women freeing mom dressed UP With 1 5mm?" POW“ ‘ . of Charlie’s paranoia and inability to ‘ portraits of Sean Connery and Jackie themselves from domestic go’s? 3:? masons» Mario . make commitments. Because he’s iStewart. ‘All Scottish cuisine is based and Social rtiPWSSiO"

an ee es’s revisionist ‘ C 5 C ’ i ' Western rmscses the role ‘ central passage of The (I convinced that his former girlfriends I on a dare,’ suggests Charlie as be , down “‘6 genuauom-

There may ultimately be a bitter under-taste to much

or the mack cowboy in .hc : Deer Hunter, Throughout. ; were a succession of kleptomaniacs, idates his new love Harriet in her very

Wild west and makes 3 W00 arrows the violence 3 Mafia members and emotional town butcher shop; and, while courting of the ﬁlms sweet some hot political points i to escalate from the terrorists, none of his friends take him over a haggis may not become the coming. but ma, only on the way. Stylistically, relative innocence of the seriously when he says that his Ilatest trend, Mackenzie Senior’s raises it well above its

genre fans will hate it: it‘s ‘ Opening Scenes ‘0 the current inamorata is Miss X, an axe limpromptu bagplpe karaoke version of counterparts. (Alan like Sergio Leone shotfor O almost lumfvalChab'c , murderer who has done away with i‘oo Ya Think I’m Sexy’ may yet become Morrison) MTV. but a Cinema-gomg PSYC 0 Oglcal “mu” 0f 1 three husbands to date. (a staple mm at “ﬂanked weddings. Like Water For Chocolate

‘ the film‘s second half. ‘ -

instilgcaiiiodneggisiglllieuviﬂh ‘ This is a far grittier the central mists 0' suspicion and (Alan "omsoni (IN-91mm“) Arm"-

. ' . ‘ g i , d i ,. fv- l, ., h ; romance may be a bit like llltchcock , W"““' [992) L“"“ .

its loud. tncksy style. The 8P C '0" 0 ‘0 W“ l a“ ‘ Camror Marco Leonard: ,hc mew] set ice .5 f i put through the MTV cultural blender, So I Married An Axe Murderer (15) . ‘ " . '

performances by the 8 P ‘— 0 . i . Regina Tome. 110 mins.

rappers on board men», the woo trademark, and as but they are silly and amusing (Thomas Schlamme, US, 1993) Mike Fm," Fr,- ,9.. 6,0580“.

bad. either. with Big such. it is perhaps his throughout. The soundtrack also has Myers, llancy Travis, Brenda Fricker. ppm new”, Fm”, pr,- 3

Daddy Kane pretty good most meaningful work. more credibility than most, slotting in I 110 mins. From Fri 19. Glasgow: Dec,- Edinburgh

as visual echo of Robert Devastating (AM) the likes of The Boo lladleys, The La’s, Grosvenor. . Cameo

The List: 19 Nov 1993 (Issue 215)