FILMS BYPASSED SILVER SCREEN ON WAY TO YOUR VCR

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 29, 1992                   TAG: 9201290044
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long
FILMS BYPASSED SILVER SCREEN ON WAY TO YOUR VCR
They show up in the video store just about every week - new movies with familiar casts and unfamiliar titles. You'd think they would have played in theaters, but they show up in these parts as video originals. As often as not they're just as good as most of the big Hollywood releases - even the worst of these four is better than "Hudson Hawk" - and worth your consideration.
The current crop includes a thriller about telepathy, a psychological drama and a timely tale of Japanese-American relations from producer Oliver Stone. The best of the lot is an Australian import.
\ "Sweet Talker" is a good-natured little conman comedy. Harry Reynolds (Bryan Brown) comes up with his scheme the old-fashioned way: He steals it from his prison cellmate.
As soon as he's released from prison, he heads for the sleepy little South Australian resort town of Beachport. He persuades the locals that he knows the location of the legendary Duneship, a Portuguese galleon that ran aground centuries before and is buried beneath the sand.
He's such a silver-tongued rascal that everyone but his landlady (Karen Allen) falls for his line. Her son (Justin Rosniak) is charmed, and before long the locals are begging Harry to take their money. But what about the greedy businessman whose credit cards Harry stole? And his old cellmate?
There aren't many surprises in the story by Brown and writer Tony Morphett, but that's all right. The leads handle the light material deftly; the scenery is gorgeous, even on the small screen; and the soundtrack contains a few minutes of Billie Holliday's "I Cried For You." No, "Sweet Talker" isn't another " `Crocodile' Dundee," but it's a lot of fun, and the kids will like it.
\ "Iron Maze" is a gimmicky tale of Japanese investment in a dying Pennsylvania steel town near Pittsburgh. At the beginning, it appears that Barry (Jeff Fahey) has killed Sugita (Hiroaki Murakami). It might be because the wealthy Japanese had plans to turn the empty steel mill into a theme park, or perhaps Barry's affair with Sugita's wife (Bridget Fonda) was behind it.
Nothing is certain. In a long series of contradictory flashbacks, the sheriff (J.T. Walsh) slowly learns what really happened. It's a device that wears thin before it should, but the characters are intriguing throughout. Fahey is a convincing Springsteenian hero. Murakami is equally sympathetic, and Walsh, a character actor who usually plays heavies, does very good work.
Writer/director Hiroaki Yoshida captures the sense and gritty feel of the place well, too. But "Iron Maze" may have trouble finding an appreciative audience these days. It ends on a strong note of cooperation and understanding, which cuts against the current climate of Japan-bashing.
\ "Black Rainbow" has a solid, strong beginning but ends with less than a whimper. The setting is rural North Carolina, where bogus psychic Martha Travis (Rosanna Arquette) and her father (Jason Robards) travel the small-town circuit. When her predictions come true, a reporter (Tom Hulce) becomes interested.
On the plus side, the characters have some depth. The script by writer/director Mike Hodges ranges from excellent to stilted. The performances are as good as you'd expect from Robards and Hulce. But Rosanna Arquette's limitations are all too obvious in the big emotional scenes. The sets, soundtrack and limited effects show how tight the budget was. The plot gets thinner, weaker and more preposterous as it goes along.
Still, those who don't think the subject is pure hokum to begin with will be intrigued by the premise, if not the resolution.
\ "Inside Out" is much more down to earth. It's about a real psychological problem: agoraphobia.
New Yorker Jimmy Morgan (Elliott Gould) is so afraid of the world outside that he refuses to leave his apartment. It's not that big a problem, though. He's so well-heeled that he can afford to have everything he needs brought to him.
His only connections with the rest of the world are the telephone and cable TV. Not even his daughter or his best friend (Howard Hesseman) can persuade him to take one step outside. But Jimmy has been losing heavily to his bookie, and his business partner has started to keep things from him.
It's an interesting premise, and director Robert Taicher generally keeps the action from being too claustrophobic. At the same time, though, Jimmy is such a self-pitying weenie that it's hard to work up much sympathy for him .
\ New releases this week
\ Mobsters: * Christian Slater, Patrick Dempsey, Richard Grieco and Costas Mandylor. Directed by Michael Karbelnikoff. MCA/Universal Rated R. 110 minutes.Violent, pretentious and never believable, this "Young Guns" in tuxedos glamorizes a gaggle of famous hoodlums. - Chris Gladden
\ Hot Shots: **1/2 1/2 Charlie Sheen, Valeria Golino, Cary Elwes. Directed by Jim Abrahams. Fox. PG-13. 90 minutes.
More sight gags and slapstick in the "Airplane" mold. In fact, this could be retitled "Airplane" since it's a spoof of "Top Gun." - Chris Gladden

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB