Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 11, 1990 TAG: 9004110098
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Mike Mayo
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Before he turned to directing, Tony Bill was an actor and a producer. Working with Julia and Michael Phillips, he produced two of the most influential and important films of the 1970s, Martin Scorcese's\ "Taxi Driver" and George Roy Hill's\ "The Sting." And though it's not so well known, the Bill-produced\ "Going in Style" (Warner) is a terrific comedy-drama from 1979. Martin Brest directed this offbeat story of three retirees - played by Art Carney, George Burns and Lee Strasberg - who turn to a life of crime late in life.
As a director, Bill had a hit his first time out in 1980 with \ "My Bodyguard" (CBS/Fox). It's a coming-of-age comedy featuring a young cast that has done well since. Chris Makepeace and Adam Baldwin starred; Joan Cusack and Matt Dillon provided supporting work. Bill's\ "Five Corners" (Cannon) was made in 1988. Though its cast and crew include some of the hottest names in the business today, it had only a limited theatrical release. Tim Robbins, Jody Foster and John Turturro star in this indescribable and sometimes unnerving story of love, violence and forgiveness, set in the Bronx in 1964. John Patrick Shanley, of "Moonstruck" and "Joe Vs. the Volcano" wrote the script.
"Crazy People" star Dudley Moore got his start in the business back in the early 1960s with fellow comedian Peter Cooke in a satiric review called "Beyond the Fringe." They took their brand of literate comedy to the screen in 1966 with\ "The Wrong Box" (RCA Columbia), where they played supporting roles to Michael Caine, John Mills and Sir Ralph Richardson. A year later, they starred in Stanley Donen's sharp fantasy\ "Bedazzled" (CBS/Fox). Cook is the devil who grants Moore's wishes, but those wishes never quite work out the way they are supposed to. Raquel Welch has a brilliant cameo as Lust.
Moore continued to do good supporting work in films that didn't quite catch on. Then in 1978, he landed a terrific role in a so-so comic mystery, and his career took off.\ "Foul Play" (Paramount) is supposed to be a vehicle for stars Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn, but Moore upstages both of them as a libidinous symphony conductor. When I reviewed the film then, I said, "In a minor role that's really the funniest thing in the whole film, Dudley Moore steals all of his scenes. His John Travolta imitation is a thing of beauty."
Before Daryl Hannah was a crazy person, she shared the female lead with Rachel Ward in a 1981 dead-teen-ager flick called\ "The Final Terror" (Vestron). Again, if memory serves, neither of them lasts very long and the film itself doesn't even qualify as a guilty pleasure.
But Hannah fared much better a year later when she landed the small but memorable role of the replicant Pris in Ridley Scott's\ "Bladerunner" (Embassy). The moment when she sprays a strip of black paint across her eyes with an airbrush is one of the most striking moments in a film that's filled with striking moments.
The film that made Hannah a star was Ron Howard's\ "Splash" (Touchstone). Her combination of innocence and lanky blonde sexiness was perfect in that contemporary fairy tale. But, for my money, her best work may have been in the Fred Schepisi-Steve Martin romantic comedy\ "Roxanne" (RCA/Columbia). Her unusual attractiveness gives the romance just the right focus.
New releases this week
Look Who's Talking 1/2 Starring John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, the voice of Bruce Willis. Directed by Amy Heckerling. RCA/Columbia. 82 min. Rated PG-13 for subject matter and sexual humor.
This fitful romantic comedy was one of last year's surprise hits. Some good acting from John Travolta and funny voice-over bits from Bruce Willis (and uncredited writer Joan Rivers) are balanced against awkward scenes and an inconsistent plot courtesty of writer/director Amy Heckerling. Fans of baby jokes will be more forgiving than other viewers, but even doting parents may have problems with the strange opening sequence.
Johnny Handsome 1/2 Starring Mickey Rourke, Morgan Freeman, Ellen Barkin and Forest Whitaker. Directed by Walter Hill. IVE. Rated R for violence, nudity and rough language. "Johnny Handsome" doesn't rank with the best of Hill's movies - "The Long Riders," "48 hrs." - but it still manages to be an entertaining crime melodrama despite its plot shortcomings. Rourke plays Johnny Sedley, a two-bit crook whose face was horribly deformed at birth. After Johnny is sent to prison, a well-meaning doctor (Forest Whitaker) believes he can rehabilitate him through surgery.
Rourke brings that outsider's quality he's so good at imparting; Freeman plays a tenacious lawman, who doesn't believe Johnny will ever go straight; and Barkin and Lance Henriksen play the movie's villains, comic book bad folks with a Dixie spin who're as low-down as they ever get.
by CNB