Reviews
KIDS ADVl- N H JHt LASSIE (PG) 99min u
Offering a wee bit of bark but a distinct lack of bite. the implausibly resilient Collie bounds back onto the big screen. I assie returns to her roots lll this latest incarnation. a faithiul adaptation of Fric Knight's 1938 novel. lassre Come Home. and a veritable remake of the 19-16 movie starring little Fli/aheth laylor. those tariiiliar with the story ihard up family sells; dog to aristocrat. dog's; haying none of it etci wrll find little to yap about in Charles; Sturridge's film. The RN l/\ ‘.'.’:ltltlll() wuterdrrectoi of TV's Brides/read Rey/sited and S/iack/eton seems; uneasy with the source material. turning what should be a straiglitfoi'\‘/ai'rl children's; yarn into a lecture on class and morality that
wallows; in its ‘grim oop north' backdrop But after a truly miserable preamble. some delight can be taken in the mutt's plight from the wilds; of Scotland (excruciatingly depicted with bagpipes. N Z'SSlf‘: et ah to the family home in Yorkshire. The / eague of Gentle/hens; Steve Peiiibm'ton hair‘s: th-ngs up as the pantoriiime villain while .John | ynch and Samantha Morton bring a touch of heart to proceedings as; l assie's; owners. but the misery they seamlessly convey might well be. genuine. (Nicol Nicolsoni I General re/ease from [n to Dec
Pinion DRAMA
MERRY CHRISTMAS (JOYEUX NOEL) (12A) 116min 0000
From primary school history lessons to Paul McCartney's 'Pipes of Peace. Christian Canon's Merry C/l/ISU’NIF; touches; on a story from World War I that has become almost table like. On Christmas; Fve 191.1 opposing troops; in the trenches; made a truce and found some common ground. literally, as; they played football on the muddy soil of no man's; land. Canon's; fictionalised ensemble film builds up to this; momentous; event. orchestrated here by a French lieutenant (Guillaume Canetl. an Anglican priest lGary l ewisi and a German lieutenant (Daniei Briihli. Along the way. we View events from a variety of perspectives, be it the young Scot (Steven Robertson) shell shocked at the loss of his brother or the Danish soprano singer ll)iane Kriigeri broi ight ii‘ fr) serving/tr; tlir. (Er-Inmr‘. )lfif‘ll‘e
before the inrv'.'tal>|\,' thig'r tina: im-
.akes. place
the result is a guietly moving film that suggests; just how helpless; the German, British and French troops actually were. With Romania
58 THE LIST 1") Dec .700") ’i .lan Witiri
(X )Mt [)V iARi’ )t
THE PRODUCERS (12A) 13mm on
The film of the hit Broadway play based upon the film about a hit Broadway play. It was inevitable when Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick wowed modern New York audiences with the Broadway version of the 1968 Mel Brooks classic that a big screen remake was well overdue. It’s a tough act to follow Gene Wilder on top form and the hilarious Zero Mostel as producers who discover they can make more money with a flop than a hit musical. but Broderick and Lane show why their thespian run was a sell-
out.
The biggest difference between the two versions is that this one is over two hours long whereas Mel Brooks packed his fun into 85 minutes. The additional minutes have mainly been filled with several songs rather than just one hilarious ‘Springtime for Hitler’ sequence. Although none of the new songs hits the hilarious heights of this sequence (but then again not much does), several of them are of an exceptional standard, especially the number stating that ‘any musical can be improved by making it more gay’ — a philosophy that this film‘s makers take as gospel. There are also some minor tweaks to the plot as well. Several parts are beefed up, making them more attractive for name actors: Swedish secretary Ulla (Uma Thurman), Kraut writer Franz Liebkand (Will Ferrell) and drag queen director Roger De Bris (Gary Beach) all get parts in Max and Leo's stage musical. Remarkably, right up to the opening night of their show. debut feature director Susan Stroman’s reinterpretation is a match for Brooks’ original. but an overlong epilogue and a few lacklustre numbers undermine some of the good work. Not quite such a big hit. (Kaleem Aftab)
I (inner/it 'r.>’e.'isr,‘- from Mon at; Nov.
successfulli, doubling tor thr- fro/en battlefields: of l lair/leis. this; s1 not thr-
stylised take on the conflict seen iii this;
Veai's, A Vivi, long I 'irigirie'iierrt Rather, it is; r (M, bleorh and ugly. with the field
like poppy seeds; Meanx'xhile, (laiioii.
dead bodies scattered across;
who previously made the two hanrlei the (E/I/ / rorn Paris ropes admirably ‘.‘/lltt the dittiriilties: of dealing with a large pan l iii’opean r ast to produce a
iithx, tilm destined to play on BBC? even ()hristiiias t we. lJéttltOS; Mottrami. I (3eneui’ rei'e.'1s;e from In to Oct.
SI. lt’t HNAiiinAi (:oMt bv nriMAth JUST LIKE HEAVEN (PG) 95min .0
With / reakv / I'dziv and Mean (Sr/ls. director Mark V‘s/titers; showed that he could in)er,t enough wit and originality into otliei".‘.'is‘e foi‘iniilaic movies to surprise casual \.'ie‘-.‘.'eis ‘.'.’|lll(tlll aliei‘ating the target audience. Willi his latest. a supernatural and superficial io'iii :r int "i the same vein as Ghost. he Iriiiies; a li'tlr- lllt‘;"l’ k
far, l\-',i‘/ ' .\ i"
H airwgi'pcwwwfil -l\."lrl'r~ HIL‘t 95o,
bachelor pad As he seeks solace in
iiitri .i 'ie‘.'.'
beer and fast food. he becomes ax‘xare that he's; sharing his; living space with
l lifriltr-t'i 43111-80\.A.’llll(*tf;l)f)()ltl, a ghost who lived in the apartment betoie hiiii.
The dull premise is; partially saved by excellent turns; from the leads: Ruffan displays the same gift for comedic timing that made him so much fun in l terna/ Sunshine of the Spot/ess Mind. while Witherspoons performance is. at least. less kooky than her / egal/y Blonde persona. But Napoleon l)\,'naiiiite himself. .Jon lleder. proVides the tunniest moments: the nerdy. over- excitahle psychic was surely written ‘.‘.'li.’t him in mind.
this ail counts: for little when weighed against the film‘s myriad faults: uninspiring dialogue. painfully predictable plotting and some downright untiinny slapstick. ilan \.if.’llll(‘:t'l()lll I Genera/ release from lrr 30 Dec. BilzohEAAND BECOME (12A) 148mm 000.
In the writer director Radii Mihaileanu's; previous; film Train of! lie. the .Jev/ish inhabitants of a Roirianian village disguised theiiis;e|ves in Gerriiar‘ uniforms; and built a bogus; train in order to try and travel all the way to .Jerusaleiii, In his; new 'intimate epic'. / we and Become. the Bucharest born filmmaker again tells; a story of what he calls; positive iiiiposture', in this; case the remarkable tale of a black Christian Fthiopian child. whose mother instructs; him to pass himself off as; a .Jewish orphan. Airlifted out of Africa in the mid 1980s; as part of the Operation Moses' scheme to resettle the Falasha Jews. nine year old Schlomo lands up in Israel. where he's adopted by a liberal French Sephardic couple iYael Abecassis and Roschdy /eml_ But how long can the youngster keep his true identity secret? Spanning some two decades. and with three credibly introverted actors playing the central character at Itit‘eient 'i‘e stages, this undeniably ambitious tilm unfortunately falters; in its; final third, rushing through Schloiiio's; medcal training in Paris. his marriage to an Israeli woman and his military seryice in the Occupied territories. before settling on a sentimental resolution. Yet despite its