Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 20, 1991 TAG: 9104200362
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
His newest, "Mortal Thoughts," is more conventional and realistic - and perhaps not as personal - but still a surprising approach to a familiar theme.
The subject is an abusive husband and the relationship between the two women who do him in and then try to hide the crime. The story is told in flashback through the frame of a police interrogation.
Cynthia Kellogg (Demi Moore) tells detectives Woods (Harvey Keitel) and Nealon (Billie Neal) how James Urbanski (Bruce Willis) was killed. There's little question that James deserved to die; he was an abusive, lazy, pill-popping bully. He was married to Cynthia's best friend Joyce (Glenne Headly). What happened that night that the three of them went to the carnival?
Cynthia's husband Arthur (John Pankow) had warned her that the Urbanskis meant trouble. But the women have been friends since childhood, and they're partners in Joyce's Clip 'N' Dye salon in Bayonne, N.J. Their complex relationship is at the center of the story.
In terms of style, setting and its loopy combination of suspense and comedy, "Mortal Thoughts" is reminiscent of Lawrence Kasdan's "I Love You To Death."
In the murder and cover-up, Joyce and Cynthia are inept amateurs who become trapped in their own lies. That's where the film makes several fascinating turns. Perhaps the simple story isn't as simple as it seems.
Rudolph overuses a few simple tricks. There are far too many tilted camera angles and slow motion shots. Those are gimmicks, though, and they mean little in comparison to the unpredictable plot and the ending, with its large unanswered questions. `Mortal Thoughts': A Columbia release playing at the Salem Valley 8 theaters (389-0444). 104 min. Rated R for foul language, subject matter, some violence.
by CNB