Into my arms: Harry Connick Jr and Sandra Bullock in Hope Floats
Hope Floats (PG) 114 mins
Told on a Ricki-ster teleVision show that husband is hailing (ll‘. affair, Birdee Pruitt {Sandra Btlll()(k‘ tucks her tail between her legs and heads for her mum's it’s not the lzoinecominr) this former Texas prom queen imagined,
and her school churns are only too
happy to bring her down a peg or two. Everyone, that is, except Justin Matisse (Harry Connick Jr), whose candle for her still burns Birdee, however, would rather mope about, drink too much,
i and sour her relationships With both
mother (Gena Rovvlands) and daughter (fv1a(‘\Vhttiiiéltti
Dori-2 for cover, because here comes that ScPIf-tt'i‘ll‘«tlf)llS brand of ’women's
movie' ‘.'.’|111 which HUHV‘f-JOOd insults
female audiences everywhere Clearly the tale of a woman tryinc; to prove she's got more to offer than her looks appealed to Bullock, who's also listed as executive producer Unfortunately, despite some charm from her and a smart performance by young Whitman, the film is too soft around Huéedqes
Too often actor-turned-director Forest Whitaker stops the story for a country- fried musical interlude or allows the characters to impart home-baked Wisdom. It’s all so obVious, you iust know Bryan Adams is going to croon along to the final credits if you don’t get out the door fast enough Hope floats but, fingers crossed, this one wrll sink Without a trace (Alan Morrison) General release from Fri 73 Nov
French connection: Kris Kristofferson and Barbara Hershey in A Soldier's Daughter
A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries
(15) 124 mins
The international triumvrrate of Merchant, Ivory and Jhabvala return to France three years after they made Jefferson In Paris wrth this
; disappointingly episodic drama about an American writer (Kris Kristoffersonl
and his family 1|V:l1(_] in the French capital from the 60s to the 70s
Adapted from a semi- autobiographical novel by Kaylie Jones about her father James, writer of From Here To Eternity, the film tries to cover too much (around and suffers as a result Initially about the adoption of French boy Billy (Jesse Bradford). it
soon abandons him to concentrate on i Charine (Leelee Sobieski) and her
friendship vvith ‘artistic’ schoolmate Francis (a bravura turn by Anthony Roth Costan/o) Worth a feature by
Never Cries
itself, the dynamic of this relationship, and the problems caused by Channe's sexual awakening, give a heart to the fiction sadly missing elsewhere When the family is forced to return to America, the mowe's pulse disappears. lt’s professional but iinadventurous filmmakinc; you keep watchinr; but rarely expect to be surprised There are a few leftfield touches Jane Birkin contributes a wonderfully eccentric cameo as Francis's mother, while Sobieski, who looks like a young Helen Hunt, is definitely a name to watch But the expatriate society that revolves around Kristofferson and Wife Barbara Hershey (both disappOintinq) isn’t that interesting, and the father-daughter relationship, ostensibly the thematic centre of the him, never engages, (Simon Wardell) Edinburgh Fi/thi/s‘e from Fri 6 Nov Glasgow Film Theatre from Fri 73 Nov
new releases FILM
‘ See it
EDINBURGH
Hear it EE/TIVAL Feel it THEATRE
the New Hucliii Huiiii Shuiu
starring Jasun flunuian as Frank 'n‘ tuner and Michael Eastman as the llanatui Mon 2 to Sat 7 Nov Tickets from £6.00 ‘don‘t dream it. be there' IIME our
Jane lltlliihilltl live in cancer l
the star of BBC ili‘s The Cruise‘ Tues 10 Nov Tickets from £11.00
@
1111100 [180120 Cumuanu
Dance ieli llaiiiuis
Wed 11 Nov
Tickets from £8.00 0
Hal [lance mum
and ml in hit iliit
0 11101111” 111119811! Fri 13 Nov Tickets from £8.00
‘ ihe hauicn Sinatra
with Hnuii Prior and his nichesha Britain's finest uuunu musicians in the ultimate Big Band Shuiu Sat 14 Nov Tickets from £11.50
5001115" llllElfl
liistan unil lsulile
Tues 17 8 Sat 21 Nov Tickets from £10.50
the Magic Flute
Wed 18 & Fri 20 Nov Tickets from £9.50
insinuating Hmazmu iechmcnlui [lieamcual
Mon 23 to Sat 28 Nov 1 - _ is .~ . Tickets from £5.50 - ._ ‘13..
C
Bux 0ch 0131 I]- _ fliuuns Bill 529 5005
5-19 Nov 1998 THE UST 31