Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 7, 1993 TAG: 9308070126
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Mike Mayo
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It's the basic situation of almost every form of popular entertainment. Here are five recent video examples in comedy, drama, action, road picture and horror.
"There Goes the Neighborhood" is a comedy of fits and starts that doesn't get the most out of a high-powered cast but still has its moments. The plot hinges on $8.5 million in cash buried beneath a suburban house. Normally, prison psychiatrist Jeff Daniels would dismiss the tale as a convict's fantasy. But when he learns that it could be true, he heads for the 'burbs.
The loot is supposed to be under Catherine O'Hara's place. She's in the middle of a nasty divorce, and her nosy neighbors Dabney Coleman, Rhea Perlman, Hector Elizando and Judith Ivey are more than a little interested. So are the three ex-cons, led by Harris Yulin, who have already tried to kill Daniels.
As far as production values go, this one is a medium-budget, back-lot exercise. Writer-director Bill Phillips keeps the action moving well enough. He's got a good sense of timing and even if the film isn't a "Home Alone" for adults, it's got enough laughs to earn a recommendation.
Despite a certain made-for-TV quality, "Capone" is an effective little gangster movie with an emphasis on character. When FBI agent Michael Roarke (Keith Carradine) puts a dent in Al Capone's (Ray Sharkey) organization, the gangster goes after his wife (Jayne Atkinson) and kids. But the stronger threat to the family turns out to be Jennie (Debrah Farentino), a seductive speak-easy waitress.
At its best, the script by Tracy Keenan Wynn shows how morally ambiguous those times were, when everyone broke the law. On the street level, the cops and the crooks were less adversaries than guys who called each other by first names and knew that they were playing the same game. Elliot Ness and J. Edgar Hoover are presented as self-promoting publicity seekers.
The late Ray Sharkey turns Capone into a rabid villain straight out of a "Batman" movie, but it's somehow appropriate to the story. Carradine, a severely underrated actor, plays Roarke as an ordinary man trying to do his job. Veteran director Michael Pressman uses the locations to create a strong sense of time and place. This one is not one of the great gangster pictures, but it takes an unusual angle on a familiar story. Anyone interested in the characters or the historical period should give it a try.
"Fist of Honor" is a contemporary gangster movie - sort of - about a Rocky-esque character who works for a loan shark. Fist Sullivan (Sam Jones) is a nice guy who doesn't like his work but is trying to save up enough to buy a home for himelf and his fiancee (Joey House). Charles Kanganis' plot is a complex tangle of gang wars, double crosses and fight scenes; half martial arts flick, half "Godfather"-lite. Director Richard Pepin handles things well enough, though the fight scenes are neither particularly inventive nor convincing.
The acting, on the other hand, is often excellent. Old pros Harry Guardino, Abe Vigoda and Nicholas Worth turn in savvy supporting work. Model Joey House is a real looker, and not a bad actress either. The real surprise though is Sam Jones ("Flash Gordon"). Especially in his scenes with a neighbor girl, he's understated and effective. It's easy to believe that he's a kind- hearted lug who's easily tricked and left holding the bag. This one's a cut above the norm for action flicks.
"Trouble Bound" is about Harry (Michael Madsen), a gambler, and Kit (Patricia Arquette), an heiress-turned-waitress, who find themselves crossing the high desert in a Continental convertible with a body in the trunk. A group of drug dealers is after Harry, and Kit, for unknown reasons, it trying to kill a gangster (Seymour Cassell).
Writers Darrell Fettis and Francis Delia and director Jeffrey Reiner give the story that refreshing anything-can-happen quality you look for in a good road movie. Overall, the film is well-cast and exceptionally well-acted. The two leads are terrific. Unfortunately, the big finish is marred by lots of continuity errors.
In "The Refrigerator," newly-weds Steve (David Simonds) and Eileen (Julia McNeal) move from Ohio to New York City and find that the titular major appliance is possessed by the devil. Yes, they've got an ancient Norge from hell and there's not much that Juan (Angel Caban), the flamenco-dancing Bolivian super, can do about it.
It's difficult to mix horror and comedy; first time writer/director Nicholas Tony Jacobs is successful about half the time. Some moments have an Ira Levin-sort of creepiness while others are just dumb. Overall, the movie has the lived-in look of a local production made on location in a Big Apple neighborhood. In the end, "The Refrigerator" is quirky enough to rate a recommendation to fans of low-budget horror, but only to them.
\ THE ESSENTIALS:
There Goes the Neighborhood: ** Paramount. 88 min. Rated PG-13 for language, comic violence.
Capone: ** 1/2 Vidmark. 97 min. Rated R for strong language, violence, brief nudity, sexual content.
Fist of Honor: **1/2 PM. (time not listed; about 90 min.) Rated R for violence, strong language, brief nudity.
Trouble Bound: *** FoxVideo. 90 min. Rated R for strong language, violence, incidental nudity.
The Refrigerator: ** Monarch. 90 min. Unrated, contains violence, strong language, some sexual material.
\ New releases this week:
The Vanishing: *** Stars Jeff Bridges, Nancy Travis and Kiefer Sutherland. Directed by George Sluizer. Foxvideo. Rated R for language and violence; 110 min.
Fairly effective thriller about a man who searches for his girlfriend after she disappears during a vacation. A solid cast gives the story credibility.
Hear No Evil: ** Stars Marlee Matlin, Martin Sheen, D.B. Sweeney. Directed by Robert Greenwald. (FoxVideo). Rated R for sexual content, nudity and violence. 95 minutes.
Matlin is wasted in this thriller derived from the classic "Wait Until Dark." She plays a deaf woman terrorized by a corrupt policeman who wants his stolen goods returned.
by CNB