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

DATE: SATURDAY, August 6, 1994                   TAG: 9408090030
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`RASCALS' MAKES A NEW GENERATION LAUGH

When I was growing up, parents on the block seemed surprised that so many neighborhood kids were glued to their TV sets for the "Little Rascals" show in the afternoons. What was it about those ragamuffin kids, gluing together fun and trouble with cat spit and imagination, that we found so interesting?

Part of it was the homemade quality of the ``Our Gang'' comedies. Everything - including the acting - looked as improvised as if we'd done it ourselves, in someone's backyard. They were rough-and-tumble, Depression-era kids, and that only added to our curiosity. They made us - young as we were - nostalgic for simplicity.

Something of the original flavor has been preserved with Penelope Spheeris' new film, "The Little Rascals." In an era that offers many sad substitutes for the life of the imagination, the '90s Little Rascals act like there is no Nintendo, no mall, perhaps even no VCRs. They are on the streets, in their "He-man Womun Haters Club" or at the swimming hole.

With the modern-day Los Angeles skyline in the background.

And that's the biggest problem with the film, from the director of "Wayne's World" and "The Beverly Hillbillies." It is hard, if you're an adult, to shake the sense that the Little Rascals have been time-traveling, and that they'd better go back where they belong.

But kids don't notice such things, and the 5-year-old sitting next to me in the theater laughed himself silly and gave it four and a half stars on a scale of four.

They're all here: Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, Buckwheat, Porky, Froggy, the bully Butch and many others. The story centers on Alfalfa (Bug Hall), who has been disloyal to the club by mooning around Darla (Brittany Ashford Holmes). Spanky (Travis Tedford) and the gang sabotage a romantic picnic between the two, the clubhouse is burned down, and their only hope for building a new one is the big go-kart race, which, if they win it, will net them $500.

The casting is uncanny, not just for matching the looks of the old with the new but because most of the child actors have that untutored look about them. A notable exception is too-smooth Blake McIver Ewing, who plays Alfalfa's rival Waldo - son of Donald Trump, playing himself in one of many, bizarre cameos that include Darryl Hannah as Miss Crabtree.

And the new Rascals sound a lot like the old Rascals, except for an occasional slip (Spanky retorts "Bite me" to an insult from Butch) that earns the movie its PG rating. But there are plenty of sight gags, potty humor and name-calling, in short, a movie only a child could love.

The Little Rascals

** 1/2

A Universal Pictures release showing at the Salem Valley 8. Rated PG for a little off-color language. 90 minutes.

by CNB