Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 6, 1993 TAG: 9301050230
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
PAIR FROM BIG EASY ARE NOT BAD
Moviemakers can't fake New Orleans. Many cities, including Roanoke in "Crazy People," have been made to look like New York. But New Orleans, like San Francisco, has such a distinctive look and feel to it that only a fully equipped studio backlot can take the place of the real thing.Two new video releases are set in the Big Easy, and they're not bad.
\ "Storyville" had a limited theatrical release last summer and even made some big city reviewers' 10-best lists. That's a bit of a stretch, but this tale of politics, murder and sex is worth a look.
The youngest member of a Louisiana political family, Cray Fowler (James Spader) is engaged in a long-shot campaign for a house seat. His uncle (Jason Robards Jr.) is running the show, but that doesn't stop Cray from traipsing off with a fetching young woman (Charlotte Lewis) who sets him up to star in a career-killing videotape.
While that side of the plot is being hashed out, Cray is also learning that his father's death by suicide some years before may be much more complicated than it seems. District Attorney Natalie Tate (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer), an old flame, helps Cray dig out the hidden details of his father's secrets.
From that knotty beginning, the story gets even stranger. By the end, it's completely preposterous, but that's not too serious in this case. Writer-director Mark Frost has had a long association with David Lynch - he produced the recent "Twin Peaks" film and was a moving force behind the TV series.
He brings a certain Peaksian quality to this film. It's long on steamy, humid atmosphere and heavy breathing; deliberately short on substance. It's not imitative, though. Frost's approach to his material is more serious, in some ways more conventional and satisfying than Lynch's. He made fair use of the city's locations and got fine performances from his leads.
But perhaps the best things about this one are the terrific supporting roles. Piper Laurie turns in a memorable cameo as Cray's disengaged mother. Two veterans from "Hill St. Blues," Michael Warren and Charles Haid show up as, respectively, a canny black politician and a plump pornographer. B-movie stalwart Michael Parks, as a cop who may or may not be corrupt, steals all of his scenes, and turns the ending into a real surprise.
By the way, despite the title, "Storyville" has nothing to do with the city's famous red-light district.
\ "Delta Heat" is your basic cop-buddy picture with lots of action, a quick pace and a good sense of humor.
Mike Bishop (Anthony Edwards) is a Los Angeles narcotics detective whose partner is killed in the French Quarter. The only person who'll give him any help is Rivers (Lance Hendriksen), a one-handed ex-cop. They hate each other at first sight - that's what the formula demands - but before long, they're busting up bad guys and bonding and all that.
Betsy Russell appears briefly for a hilarious seduction scene, but overall, the script is funnier than the film itself. Some really good lines are delivered with bad comic timing. Throughout, Edwards and Hendriksen handle the light material with tongues firmly in cheeks. Edwards is sporting two of the ugliest sideburns you'll ever see, and they're no better than his hideous suits in orange, green and olive.
If you don't figure out who the bad guy is the second he shows up, you haven't been watching many cop movies. But again, who cares? Director Michael Fischa is having fun with this stuff. In the city, he captured a good sense of the Quarter and the Garden District, and when the action moves out to the bayous and swamps, it's not as cliched as it could have been. Also, the soundtrack features music by Rockin Dopsie and the Zydeco Twisters.
"Delta Heat" is an enjoyable little time-waster, and that's all it means to be.
Also, now that 1993 is upon us, it's time for videophiles to get out their new Psychotronic Movie Calendar. For the uninitiated, Michael Weldon, editor of Psychotronic magazine, defines his subject as "Anything with psycho killers, rock and roll (the earlier the better), out of control teenagers, alien (or Commie) invaders, bikers (even on Hondas), drugs (especially psychedelic), mad scientists, international spies, women in bikinis or men in gorilla suits."
The calendar is filled with cheesy movie ads and publicity stills, and such key psychotronic dates as Feb. 15, 1883, Sax Roehmer's birthday (he created Fu Manchu); July 1, 1969, the date "Easy Rider" opened in New York; and August 26, 1930, the day Lon Chaney died. The calendar is available in book stores, through Pharos Books, for $9.95, or from The Psychotronic Store (151 First Ave.; New York NY 10003).
New releases
Honey, I Blew Up the Kid: 1/2
Stars Rick Moranis, Marcia Strassman. Directed by Randal Kleiser. Disney. 91 min. Rated PG for special effects.
Here's the generic sequel that's to be expected of any hit movie. Adults who probably weren't too impressed with the original won't find anything to like here, but kids will be entertained. The title tells the whole story.
Stay Tuned: 1/2
Stars John Ritter and Pam Dawber. Warner. 86 min. Rated PG for mild violence.
The devil lures couch potatoes into a world of video in this fast-moving, sloppy parody of TV and movies that's never quite as sharp or satiric as it could be. It's still entertaining, though, and some moments - particularly a cartoon from famed Warner Bros. animator Chuck Jones - are terrific.
Christopher Columbus - The Discovery: 1/2
Stars George Carraface, Tom Selleck, Rachel Ward, Marlon Brando. Directed by John Glen. Warner. 121 min. Rated PG-13 for violence, some sexual material, nudity.
This is one of those epic cinematic blunders that pass through every decade or so. Questions of historical accuracy aside, this one doesn't deliver on the basic level of entertainment. The scope of the story and the expense of the sets and props indicate that the movie is meant to be a big-budget blockbuster in the 1950s' Cecil DeMille style. But the script and the acting would be more suited to a cheap gladiator flick.\ What the ratings mean:
Memorable. One of the best of its kind; maybe worth owning.
Outstanding. An excellent video, worth searching out.
Average. You've seen better, you've seen worse, but if it sounds interesting . . .
Poor. This is why your VCR has a fast-forward button.
A waste of time and an insult to your intelligence. More a warning than a rating.
Note: Star ratings are not available for reviews from wire services.
THE ESSENTIALS:\ Storyville:\ Columbia Tristar. 112 min. Rated R for sexual content, graphic violence, strong language, brief nudity.\ \ Delta Heat: 1/2 Academy. 91 min. Rated R for violence, strong language, brief nudity.