Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 23, 1994 TAG: 9412230112
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
For the past two years, the column before Christmas has been devoted to films that are worth watching again - good stories that create and sustain a reality you can visit for a couple of hours. Most of them aren't conventional Christmas films. Instead, they're good company, and this year the list begins with a new film.
"Eyes of an Angel" is a video original that overcomes some fairly serious flaws with strong characters and a compelling story about a little girl and her pet dog.
Bobby Allen (John Travolta) is a Rocky-esque loser who's hanging on by his fingernails in Chicago. To support his 10-year-old daughter (Ellie Raab), he's forced to ask his gangster brother-in-law for work as a bagman. At the same time, she has befriended a wounded doberman (Tripoli). When things go wrong on the job, Bobby and his daughter head for Los Angeles, but he doesn't want to take the dog.
The rest of the story could be described as Quentin Tarantino's "Lassie." Director Robert Harmon is particularly effective in scenes that take the dog's point of view on Chicago streets. He also got completely believable performances from his three protagonists. Travolta has as much to work with here as he had in "Pulp Fiction," and the role is much more realistic. He makes a deeply flawed character sympathetic.
Unfortunately, the conclusion of the story is lame and forced. That might be due to the fact that while the opening credits claim that the film is based on true story, the closing credits state that all the characters are fictional. Go figure. In any case, most of "Eyes of an Angel" is terrific. It's a "video original" that's a lot better than many theatrical releases.
For the rest of this year's suggestions for holiday viewing, go to the shelves in the back of the store where the older films are kept.
"Donovan's Reef" (Paramount) is not the finest film John Wayne and John Ford made together, but it's certainly one of their most enjoyable. South Pacific setting; a fine cast with Lee Marvin, Jack Warden, Dorothy Lamour and Mike Mazurski; lots of raucous comic action including a grand barroom brawl handled with a light touch.
If you're in the mood for something darker and with more substance, give "Network" (MGM/UA) another look. So much of Paddy Chayefsky's satire on television and American society has come to pass that it's as astonishing now as it was in 1977. It remains one of the most intelligent and withering films ever made.
Though "The Babe" (MCA) did not fare too well with critics or audiences in its theatrical release, it's a nice biopic. John Goodman plays Babe Ruth with all the joy and childishness of the man himself.
"A Bridge Too Far" (MGM/UA) has a reputation as an expensive box office flop, but I remember it as a well-told World War II story. It's has your basic all-star cast - Robert Redford, Sean Connery, Michael Caine, etc. - to go with a William Goldman script directed by Richard Attenborough.
E.L. Doctorow's novel "Ragtime" (Paramount) is an unlikely source for conventional Hollywood entertainment but director Milos Foreman did a bang-up job with it in 1981. The ensemble cast led by James Cagney and Howard Rollins seems completely comfortable in the historical setting. Ambitious and, if memory serves, absorbing.
Before Jonathan Demme turned serious with "Silence of the Lambs" and "Philadelphia," he made one of the funniest and brightest romantic comedies of recent years, "Married to the Mob" (Orion). If nothing else, it proves that Michelle Pfeiffer is an accomplished comic actress, though Mercedes Ruehl almost steals the film from her.
"Benny and Joon" (MGM/UA) is another romantic comedy, but with a difference. The protagonists, played by Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson, are mentally disabled. Though their conditions are not spelled out, she's manic depressive and he's seriously dyslexic. They're still excellent characters. Recommended.
Finally, "Witness for the Prosecution" (MGM/UA) may be the best courtroom drama ever put on film. And why not? Look at the credits: script by director Billy Wilder and Harry Kunitz based on an Agatha Christie play; a true all-star cast led by Charles Laughton, Elsa Lancaster, Tyrone Power and Marlene Deitrich. The plot is tricky and perfectly paced. Four star entertainment.
Next week: Video 1994 - the good, the bad and the guilty!
\ THE ESSENTIALS
Eyes of An Angel HHH LIVE. 91 min. Rated PG-13 for rough language, some violence.
Of the older films, "Ragtime" has fleeting nudity. Beyond a little rough language, the rest contain no objectionable material. Because it's Christmas, give each of them three stars or more.
Previous years' Christmas video recommendations (still worth another look):
"Adventures in Babysitting" (Touchstone)
"The Best Years of Our Lives" (HBO)
"Big" (CBS/Fox)
"The Court Jester" (Paramount)
"Cousin, Cousine" (Axon)
"Day of the Jackal" (Paramount)
"Desk Set" (CBS/Fox)
"Desperately Seeking Susan" (HBO)
"Every Which Way But Loose" (Warner)
"The Godfather 1902-1959: The Complete Epic" (Paramount)
"The Great Race" (Warner)
"The Lavender Hill Mob" (HBO)
"Mr. Skeffington" (MGM/UA)
"Once Upon a Time in the West" (Paramount)
"Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (Paramount)
"Rain Man" (MGM/UA)
"Ryan's Daughter" (MGM/UA)
"Singin' in the Rain" (MGM/UA)
"Soapdish" (Paramount)
"Some Like It Hot" (MGM/UA)
"Truly, Madly, Deeply" (Touchstone)
by CNB