Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 1, 1991 TAG: 9102010188
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Chris Gladden
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
They take their enormous clout and use it as a lever to open the doors to projects they passionately believe in. They take chances.
Despite their riches, they still believe in art for art's sake.
Danny Glover rises to stardom through such vehicles as "Lethal Weapon" and "Predator 2" and then gives one of the best performances of his career in "To Sleep With Anger," Charles Burnett's low-budget exploration of the generation gap in a black family.
Mel Gibson, another "Lethal Weapon" star, makes himself a huge target by playing Hamlet - the riskiest and most revered role in the theater.
Similarly, Glenn Close strays from the security of such star vehicles as "Fatal Attraction" to play Hamlet's mother in the new screen version of Shakespeare's tragedy.
In "Dances With Wolves," Kevin Costner tackles the western, a moribund genre these days, and further increases the odds against its success by making it three hours long.
Veteran stars such as Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward have been using this kind of leverage for a long time. Eastwood can be forgiven such dismal action movies as "The Rookie" because he puts his convictions on the line with movies like "White Hunter, Black Heart."
During their long movie careers, Newman and Woodward have maintained their connection with the theater, turning such classics as "The Glass Menagerie" into movies. Their most recent project is "Mr. and Mrs. Bridge," a movie with an esteemed literary source that doesn't bear the earmarks of a box-office hit.
Sometimes noble intentions misfire. Bill Murray fell in love with Somerset Maugham's book about a veteran's search for the meaning of life. But Murray wasn't suited to the role of the soul-searching pilgrim in "The Razor's Edge."
Other times, the risks, the convictions and the noble intentions pay off.
Before its release, "Dances With Wolves" was being called "Kevin's Gate" by movie industry observers - a reference to Michael Cimino's disastrous western "Heaven's Gate." Nobody would see a three-hour western from a first-time director, they said. But "Dances With Wolves" has clicked with audiences and critics, showing up on several year's-best lists and bringing in more than $92 million in 12 weeks. And it's still packing movie theaters after three months.
"Hamlet" has brought in more than $7 million in six weeks, but it has been in wide release for only two weeks. And reviews are generally favorable, citing Gibson as a respectable melancholy Dane.
For actors like these, the paychecks may be huge, but sometimes the play's still the thing.
by CNB