Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 15, 1995 TAG: 9504170035
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EXTRA EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's quite different when Shore's fans react the same way. That's essentially what happened at a recent matinee of ``Jury Duty.'' The teen-aged crowd was boistrous and lively before the lights went down. Then for the next 86 minutes they sat in tepid silence with barely a giggle.
Their most obvious reaction was uncomfortable tittering at a misfired comic bit implying homosexual activity between Shore and an accused serial murderer. They weren't too taken with his opening routine, either. In that one, he does a striptease number, pouring milk over his pale bony chest and rubbing cottage cheese on his naked rear.
Are we having fun yet?
What plot there is has to do with Tommy Collins (Shore), unemployed layabout who thinks that jury sequestration sounds pretty good - $5 a day, plus room, board and little bottles of shampoo. Since his mother (Shelley Winters) has taken their trailer to Las Vegas, he and his dog Peanut (Gizmo, who might have had some rodents swimming in his gene pool) head for the courthouse.
Once he's chosen for a jury, Tommy does everything he can to prolong the proceedings. As a fellow juror, Tia Carrere is the obligatory and thankless love interest.
First-time director John Fortenberry shows no affinity for Shore's unique brand of comedy, and Shore himself doesn't seem that enthusiastic about this creaky vehicle. His fans certainly weren't.
Jury Duty
*
A TriStar release playing at the Salem Valley 8 and the Valley View Mall 6. 86 min. Rated PG-13 for sexual humor, strong language, lame O.J. jokes.
by CNB