Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 20, 1991 TAG: 9102200174
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Mike Mayo
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
\ "Identity Crisis" has the loose-jointed, spontaneous quality of producer/director Melvin Van Peebles' late '60s work, "Watermelon Man" and "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song." Missing from his son Mario's script are the violence and racial anger that made those films cult hits. This movie is a screwball comedy about two souls inhabiting the same body.
When gay French designer Yves Malmaison (Richard Fancy) is murdered by his crooked partner, a bag lady/witch transfers his spirit into the body of Chilly D (Mario Van Peebles), an aspiring young New York rapper. But only one consciousness can control the body at a time. After a blow to the head, they trade places.
Of course, for the rest of the movie Chilly/Yves gets conked on the noggin about every 10 minutes or so. That's the source of the comedy, and Mario Van Peebles has a grand time with the dual role. Imagine a combination of "La Cage Aux Folles" and "Trading Places."
There aren't many surprises in the plot, but Van Peebles tells the story with a machine-gun pace, using lots of flashy quick cuts, unusual camera angles, and a combination of various tints of color and black and white footage. The low budget shows through in the locations, occasional harsh lighting and rough sound.
For comparative purposes, "Identity Crisis" is similar in tone and style to other recent independent comedies: "Slaves of New York," "House Party" and "Powwow Highway." It's not as consistently funny as those films, but its raucous high spirits make up for its flaws.
Also, look for the elder Van Peebles as the police detective, TV producer Stephen Cannell as the coroner, and don't miss Shelly Burch, behind the welder's mask, as Roxy, the virgin mudwrestler. After writing this film and directing several episodes of television series, Mario Van Peebles has directed his first feature, a fine gangster film, "New Jack City," scheduled to open early next month.
Wings Hauser has acted in dozens of movies that range from the very good - "The Siege of Firebase Gloria" - to the indefinable - Norman Mailer's "Tough Guys Don't Dance" - and most points in between. With "Living To Die" he turns to directing and he has made a fine little noir mystery.
Hauser plays Nick Carpenter, a burned-out retired police detective. When a gangster named Minton (Asher Brauner) becomes involved with a blackmail scam, he asks Carpenter for help. Against his better judgment, Nick agrees and then compounds his mistake by falling for a mysterious woman, Maggie (Darcy DeMoss), who was part of the con job.
Stephen Smoke's script is well-written with unexpected humor and nonstereotyped characters. The plot is inventive, if a bit outlandish at times. As director Hauser keeps the action moving well; the fights are visceral without being overly graphic, and the love scenes are restrained. The supporting performances are good, with Minton's unhinged mobster just about stealing the show.
Just as importantly, the film has a fine sense of place, showing both the garish neon night and the sun-faded low-rent side of Las Vegas.
Hauser's second feature,\ "Cold Fire," isn't as good, but for action movie fans, it's still worth a look. It's an urban cop story about a new, highly addictive and lethal drug. The mechanics of the plot are overly familiar, but again, some talented character actors, particularly Addison Randall as the villain, keep the movie interesting.
The Essentials:
`Identity Crisis': Academy 98 min. Rated R for profanity, bawdy humor.
`Living To Die': PM Entertainment. Time not listed, about 90 min. Rated R for profanity, violence, nudity.
`Cold Fire': PM Entertainment. 100 min. Rated R for profanity, violence, nudity.
by CNB