Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 14, 1992 TAG: 9202140286
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Chris Gladden
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
THE LIGHTS ARE OUT; WHERE'S ROMANCE?
Ah, love.The movies are full of it. Romance has been a movie staple since "Kiss," a three-minute kinetoscope film of two people smooching, titillated audiences in 1896. Our hearts thump at the mention of the great love stories - "Gone With the Wind," "Casablanca," "Camille," "Lady and the Tramp."
But love ain't all hearts and flowers on screen these days.
If current pictures are any indication, the psychiatrist's couch has replaced the casting couch as a favorite means of seduction in Hollywood.
In "Prince of Tides," Barbra Streisand plays a shrink who has an affair with the brother of one of her patients. In "Final Analysis," Richard Gere plays a shrink who has an affair with the sister of one of his patients. And if they sound coincidentally similar, consider this:
In "Final Analysis," Kim Basinger plays a woman with low alcohol tolerance who goes berserk after a tiny sip of booze. In "Blind Date," Kim Basinger plays a woman with low alcohol who goes berserk after a tiny sip of booze.
The strange and twisted state of romance continues in "Love Crimes." Patrick Bergin plays a sociopath who poses as a photographer to seduce women. He definitely needs a psychiatrist. Sean Young plays the assistant D.A. who wants to put him away, and she needs a shrink worse than he does.
So desperate is Kathy Baker to revive her husband's attentions in "Fried Green Tomatoes," that she considers meeting him at the door wrapped in cellophane.
And "Father of the Bride" is more about money than romance. Steve Martin plays a business man who may survive the recession but not his daughter's wedding.
Perhaps we're being too cynical. Old-fashioned screen romance still survives.
Melanie Griffith and Michael Douglas may not have Paris in "Shining Through," but they at least have New York in this enjoyably corny, World War II spy thriller.
Jungle fever overwhelms Lorraine Bracco and Sean Connery in "Medicine Man," an "African Queen" wannabe. He's a grizzled scientist who discovers the cure for cancer deep in the Brazilian rain forest. She's the research assistant who is put on the face of the Earth to torment him. We've seen too many movies to expect anything but romance out of these.
The best recent screen romance though is in "Beauty and the Beast." She's smart, he learns from his lessons, and love grows slowly out of mutual respect, admiration and affection.