Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 3, 1995 TAG: 9506060019
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
But then, why do people make all sorts of comedies? Religious satire, tongue-in-cheek science fiction, even martial arts movies, they're all showing up on the new releases shelf of your favorite video store. But back to "The New Age"...
Many moviegoers might have thought that writer-director Michael Tolkin had gotten all the bile out of his system with "The Player" and "The Rapture." But no; he was just warming up. The protagonists here - Peter Winger (Peter Weller) and his wife, Katherine (Judy Davis) - are deliberately unsympathetic and often unattractive characters. They're a trendy Hollywood couple whose success and materialism are only one paycheck deep.
Finding themselves out of work, they set about to maintain their lifestyle. The first order of business is to throw a party. It's an embarrassing affair, complete with former and current lovers, and banal advice from Jean (Patrick Bauchau), some sort of guru or self-help maven.
The film skates along both sides of a line between satire and serious contemporary drama. And it probably is an accurate portrait of shallow, fatuous people whose self-importance deserves to be skewered. It's also profoundly creepy in a couple of key scenes toward the end, but those aren't nearly enough to recommend the film.
Weller always gives his characters a brittle edge, and Judy Davis is as abrasive here as she was in Woody Allen's "Husbands and Wives." In short, these two are about as engaging as a couple of neurotic Chihuahuas. When scorn is the primary emotion that the central characters and their problems are supposed to evoke, it's difficult to become involved. Or to keep your finger away from the fast-forward button.
All right, any film that has both Adam West (Batman) as Weller's father and Samuel L. Jackson as a high-pressure salesman can't be all bad, but "The New Age" certainly comes close.
"A Fool and His Money" is somewhat more enjoyable. It's a satire on religion and commercialism that could hardly be more timely. When aggressive young adman Morris Codman (Jonathan Penner) loses his job, he is inspired by God (George Plimpton) to found a new religion. Actually the Supreme Being, who appears to Morris via late-night television and immoderate amounts of whiskey, is vague on the details, but Martin charges ahead anyway.
He decides to base this new faith on old-fashioned selfishness, embroidering the "greed is good" cliche into gospel. Following the lead of the Republican party's "Contract with America," Morris conducts polls to find out what people want, then promises it. Toss in some marketing and a glib front man, Ian Clarity (Gerald Orange), and Morris is on his way. His girlfriend Debbie (Sandra Bullock, paying some pre-"Speed" dues) disagrees and leaves. Literary celebs Tama Janowitz and the late Jerzy Kosinski appear in cameos.
It's obvious that writer/director/co-producer Daniel Adams was working on a shoestring budget. The acting ranges from acceptable to poor, and the pace is much too slow. Some of the satire works; more often it comes across as heavyhanded.
Like most sequels, "Circuitry Man II: Plughead Rewired" is about half as good as the original. It shares most of the same strengths and weaknesses, too, but has a stronger emphasis on comedy. Co-directors Steven and Robert Lovy tell essentially the same futuristic story about a romantic robot (Jim Metzler) and the villainous Plughead (Vernon Wells), who lives to share other people's pain and terror directly.
Deborah Shelton and Traci Lords have the female leads in this loose, shaggy-dog story. Most of the humor is broad and hammy, with two supporting characters whose appearance and shtick could have come straight from the mad scientists on "Mystery Science Theater 3000." Recommended for fans of the original only.
"Ring of Fire III" has degenerated considerably from the 1991 original, a popular martial-arts variation on "Romeo and Juliet." This one is formula fare notable for star Don "The Dragon" Wilson's engaging screen presence and a certain humor, but little else. He plays Dr. Johnny Wu, Dirty Harry with a stethoscope, who's constantly running into bad guys - in the emergency room, on the roof, in the mountains, wherever. The fight choreography is about as convincing as most pro wrestling bouts, though some of the action sequences are so poorly staged they become unintentionally funny.
Next week: Family values!
New releases this week:
Low Down Dirty Shame **
Starring Keenan Ivory Wayans, Charles S. Dutton, Salli Richardson, Jada Pinkett. Written and directed by Wayans. Buena Vista/Hollywood. 100 min. Rated R for violence, strong language.
This film is one half parody of the "blaxploitation" films of the early '70s and one half straightforward action picture. If it's hard to tell which half you're watching at any given moment, so what? This disposable fluff is not the kind of movie anyone is going to take seriously.
Interview With the Vampire 1/2 *
Stars Tom Cruise and Bradd Pitt. Warner. Rated R.
The film adaptation of Anne Rice's popular novel rushes through a series of plot points - accompanied by much blood and gore - without taking the trouble to develop characters. Rice, who wrote the screenplay, seems to have assumed that everyone has read the book. Those who have will like the movie; those who haven't may find this movie experience simultaneously mind-numbing and nauseating.
Junior **
Stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito and Emma Thompson. MCA/Universal. Rated PG-13. 113 mins.
How silly can you get? This silly: Arnold Schwarzenegger playing a man who agrees to get pregnant to test a fertility drug for a fellow researcher-physician played by Danny DeVito. Emma Thompson plays another researcher, who is the unwilling egg donor - and the mother of Arnold's child. Thompson's the only decent thing about this movie, which is unimaginative and not very funny at all. 113 minutes.
The Essentials:
The New Age * Warner Home Video. 106 min. Rated R for subject matter, strong language, sexual content, brief nudity.
A Fool and His Money ** Vidmark. 84 min. Rated R for strong language, subject matter.
Circuitry Man II: Plughead Rewired HH Columbia TriStar. 97 min. Rated R for strong language, some violence, sexual content, brief nudity.
Ring of Fire III: Lion Strike * 1/2 PM Home Video. (time not listed, about 90 min.) Rated R for martial arts violence, strong language.
by CNB