VIDEO FILM
[Eflflllllllll I [ME A MAN m UNIFORM
Remember that territying tilt thriller Paper Mask? It’s the one in which Paul McGann’s hospital porter assumes the identity of a doctor he delivers to the mortuary, then has trouble not killing his unsuspecting patients. What Paper Mask is to Eli, I Love A Man In Uniform is to NYPD Blue.
Henry Adler is a part-time actor and mild mannered bank employee in the Clark Kent mould, who begins to take his role as tough cop Flanagan in a cheap TV drama too seriously. ‘Want me to cult his ass?’ says Alder, in Flanagan mode, to a fellow actor on set. Amusingly, this gorgeously clichéd dialogue works equally well on the beat with real cops.
As Adler becomes more Flanagan than Adler, spouting disease and filth- ridden street metaphors in Travis Bickle fashion, he dons his creaky leather costume and hits the pavement. At lirst his cautions to noisy neighbours and illegally parked motorists are tentative at best. Eventually, Adler/Flanagan’s posturing and attitude with a captial ‘A’ - a cross between The Terminator and a leather tetishist — becomes dangerously sell-assured, leading to predictable violence but an unexpectedly sudden and downbeat ending.
VIDEO
| Love A Man In Uniform: ‘well constructed thriller’
Canadian writer-director David‘ Wellington covers familiar territory, which looks uncomfortably — though perhaps appropriately — like a TV movie at times. In spite ot its awlul title, [Love A Man In Uniform is an enioyable, well constructed thriller thanks mainly to Tom McCamus’s intense and utterly convincing Flanagan and Adler: ‘I capped the puppy, but I got the job done.’ (Miles Fielder)
[Love A Man In Uniform (18) (David Wellington, US, 1993) Tom McCamus, Brigitte Balm, Kevin Tighe. 99mins. Available on the Tartan Video label, priced £15.99. Also screening at the Filmhouse, Edinburgh, on Mon 12 and Tue 13 Feb.
I A Simple Twist Of Fate (PG) Steve Martin popped over to last year‘s Drambuie iidinburgh Film Festival to promote this movie but. alas. it wasn't enough to ensure a cinema release. It's a gentle enough family movie that updates George iiliot's novel .Sl/(H' .l/urm'r to the present day. with Martin starring as a recluse whose life is transformed by an orphan abandoned on his doorstep. The actor wrote the script and was executive producer. and not even the skills of Scottish director (iillies Mackinnon can dampen that much sentimentality. (Buena Vista)
I The Bait ( is) An engrossing slice of life from Betrand 'l‘avernier. T/lt’ Bur! paints a more effective portrait of disillusioned youth than a bucket-load of US indie slacker movies. One girl and two guys. with no realistically achievable goals. dream of opening a fashion chain in America. and decide to use the contacts she's made as an escort as targets for robbery. As the human bait in a plan that goes from bad to worse. Marie Gillain is a whirlwind of
515.9%
youthful energy. (Artificial liye U599)
I Ladybird, Ladybird l is) A woman with a past history as a victim of domestic violence. and with a brood of kids all fathered by different men. meets a gentle South American refugee and begins an affair. When her children are taken away by social workers. she barely copes; w hen her new baby is also snatched from her. she goes over the edge. Ken l.oach's attack on the social services system is raw and emotionally manipulatiy e: this is one work in which he allow s hysterical ranting to replace balanced debate. (l’oly(Grain/Electric
I Brit Awards 96 (ii) liven if the Britpop backlash does kick in any day now. this is likely to be seen as the definitive collection of videos from
lied Firecracker. Green Firecracker: melodramatic
the bands who made it socially acceptable to listen to the charts again. ()asis. Blur and Pulp; Supergrass. iilastica and Ash; Bjork. Tricky and Leftfield: Garbage. Black Grape and Paul Weller. In all. 35 videos and over ()0 minutes of top tunes to tie in with the Brit Awards Show on Tue 30. with emphasis on the young 'llltl unruly. i\\'ieiiei'world £13.99)
I Red Firecracker, Green , Firecracker ( l5) ()ne of the least iiiipressi\e works to come otit of the new wa\e of ('hiiiese cinema. this melodramatic tale of the t'oltittllcc between Li strong-minded. itinerant artist and a young female family head has interesting elements concerning emotional repression and class discrimination but. for all its pretty visuals. it's really rather empty. il’oly('iram/iilectric “5.99)
I Prisoners lit The Sun (U l 'l‘iniin's latest adventure to be released on video finds him in Peru on the trail of the kidnappers of Professor Calculus. The sequel to The Seven (‘rvrtu/ Bulls. it features all the regulars and the animation style that millions of fans have come to know and love. (Lumiere £9.99)
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The List 9-22 Feb I996 29