Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 13, 1993 TAG: 9301120280
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Mike Mayo
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
BRING HOME OFFBEAT FUN ON VIDEO
This week, the subject is comedy - offbeat and unusual comedy, the kind that's best on home video.\ "Pizza Man" is a perfect example. It's a political satire-parody that was clearly made on a bare-bones budget. Instead of dazzling production values, it's got a savvy, intelligent script and an attitude that's completely irreverent.
Elmo Bunn (comic Bill Maher) is the best pizza man in the business. He always delivers them hot, and he never gets stiffed for the tab. But then one night someone calls from East LA and orders an extra large with sausage and anchovies. The last time the guys at Vince's Pizza got that combination, the pizza man, Elmo's best friend, didn't come back.
Elmo, unafraid, drives off into the night and into the middle of a conspiracy that eventually involves Ronald Reagan, Geraldine Ferraro, Michael Dukakis, Dan and Marilyn Quayle and several other real characters, all played by look-alike actors.
The plot's too silly to describe, but that's not the point. Writer-director-editor J.D. Athens (actually Jonathan Lawton, who made the Steven Seagal flick, "Under Seige") is more interested in poking fun at politics and movies. Maher delivers a fine pseudo-tough voice-over narration. Combined with Daniel May's jazzy score, it's a wicked swipe at "Taxi Driver."
As for the political stuff, any movie that has the guts and imagination to show Ronald Reagan and Geraldine Ferraro in bed together is trying to anger both sides of the spectrum. And when the Quayles show up, Athens gets really nasty.
Does it go too far? Of course it does, and it ought to. If "Pizza Man" didn't offend some viewers, it wouldn't be doing its job.
\ "Trouble in Paradise" is gentler stuff. It's a romantic comedy, reminiscent of the glossy entertainments that Rock Hudson and Doris Day made in the 1950s. It takes a proven comic premise - opposites stranded on a desert island - and handles it with a light touch.
Recently widowed Rachel Baxley (Raquel Welch) is accompanying her husband's coffin from Hong Kong to the States on a freighter. Jake La Fontaine (Jack Thompson) is a crude, drunken sailor who has stashed his Stoli in with the dearly departed. Then, they're caught in a storm, and you can take it from there.
Even if there aren't many surprises in the script, Welch and Thompson are more than adequate, and in her little black dress and assorted carefully tattered outfits, she is very easy on the eyes.
"Trouble in Paradise" is a 1989 Australian television production with first-rate production values and a sharp sexiness that make it much better looking than American made-for-TV movies.
\ "The Silencer" is a fast-paced secret agent spoof with a feminist slant. Writer-director Amy Goldstein was working with an extremely low budget, so at times, this looks more like an electronic game than a real movie. It's as stylized as a music video, and it makes about as much sense.
The main character is a hitwoman named Angel (Lynette Walden) who looks just like the dark-haired Madonna of four or five years ago. She comes out of retirement to bump off a bunch of guys who are involved with prostitution. Imagine James Bond in a bustier, and you've got the idea. Between jobs, Angel treats stud-muffins just like 007 has always treated bimbos.
The action is as silly, hammy and tasteless as it could possibly be. In fact, "The Silencer" actually manages to live up (or down) to the copy on the box; "Caress It . . . Squeeze It . . . Feel The Kick."
\ "Red Wind" is billed as a psychological thriller, but it's actually an unintentional comedy. It's so wonderfully bad that it should be watched by large groups of friends who appreciate alternative classics.
Kris Morrow (Lisa Hartman) is a Miami psychiatrist with quirks of her own. She becomes too involved with a client named Lila who has some very serious problems involving fantasies, sexual and otherwise. Is she really going to do in her hubby and stick him in the wood chipper? It's doubtful that anyone will make it to the end without laughing uncontrollably, loud and often. The key gimmick is so transparent that viewers will get it long before the characters. That's the kind of blunder that makes the movie so much fun.
By the way, this movie has nothing to do with the famous Raymond Chandler story of the same title. New release this week A Stranger Among Us: 1/2
Stars Melanie Griffith, Eric Thal. Directed by Sidney Lumet. Buena Vista. Rated PG-13 for violence, language and sexual references.
A tough and cynical detective goes undercover in a closely knit and devout religious sect to solve a crime and falls in love with one of the community's gentle members. Comparisons with "Witness" are as inevitable as the differences are obvious. The sect is that of the Hasidic Jews instead of the Amish. While there are some problems with the story and dialogue, Lumet's subject matter, characters and high production values make it slick, escapist entertainment that's easy enough to watch.
THE ESSENTIALS:\ Pizza Man: Monarch Home Video. 90 min. Unrated, contains some strong language and violence.\ Trouble in Paradise: 1/2 Cabin Fever. 92 min. Unrated, contains some sexual material.\ The Silencer: 1/2 Academy. 85 min. Rated R for violence, nudity, sexual content, strong language\ Red Wind: 1/2 MCA Universal. 93 min. Rated R for violence, strong language, sexual content.