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

DATE: FRIDAY, July 14, 1995                   TAG: 9507140048
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`NINE MONTHS' DOESN'T DELIVER

GIVEN HOLLYWOOD'S long and colorful tradition of promotional gimmicks to generate interest in new releases, you've got to wonder. When Hugh Grant was arrested recently for lewd conduct with a prostitute or whatever, was it part of some bizarre hype campaign for the romantic comedy "Nine Months"? Or was he perhaps seeking to solidify his reputation as a man about town, not the allegedly responsible adult he plays in the film?

In both cases, probably not.

Like the executives at Coca-Cola who blundered with "new" Coke, then boosted their business by reintroducing "classic" Coke, the good folk out in Hollywood are neither that stupid nor that smart.

In "Nine Months," they've got a seriously flawed little movie that will certainly benefit from the current notoriety surrounding its star. It's bound to add a few guilty giggles to the uneven humor in ther movie. Neither the arrest nor the film amounts to much because writer-director Chris Columbus doesn't play to his leading man's strengths.

Grant plays Sam, a child psychologist who's happy with his beautiful live-in girlfriend Rebecca (Julianne Moore), his new Porsche convertible and his life in San Francisco.

What's not to be happy with? Rebecca wants a baby. Sam doesn't. With reason.

He sees spoiled brats in his practice, and one day at a beach picnic, he and Rebecca meet Marty (Tom Arnold) and Gail (Joan Cusack), an obnoxious couple with three girls from hell. "Hey," Marty yells at his kids, "what did I tell you about spitting in other people's food!"

But after becoming even more rude and boorish, Marty and Gail are miraculously (and inexplicably) transformed into sympathetic characters. And by then, of course, Rebecca is pregnant. But the focus of the film is on Sam's growth from happy bachelor to happy dad.

Under Columbus' heavy directorial hand, those changes come in the form of contrived conflicts with lots of eye rolling, overacting and sticky sentimentality. The subtle charm, wit and intelligence that made "Four Weddings and a Funeral" so delightful are conspicuous in their absence. And if Grant is too blatant, his co-star Arnold attacks the scenery like a starving man at a buffet line.

Even when Robin Williams mugs it up as a Russian doctor with a poor grasp of English, Arnold upstages him. Then in the last reel, Columbus shifts into comic overdrive. He begins with automotive slapstick in the traditional wild ride to the hospital. In the delivery room, he goes farther still, with characters fighting and rolling on the floor like Larry, Moe and Curly.

It's difficult to predict how well "Nine Months" will do. With films like "Home Alone" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" to his credit, it's obvious that Columbus knows how to reach audiences. This kind of unapologetically emotional material will touch some moviegoers deeply. But other viewers will see those same moments as a powerful argument for birth control, no matter what Hugh Grant has been up to.

Nine Months **

A Twentieth Century Fox release playing at Tanglewood Mall. 98 min. Rated PG-13 for subject matter, a lot of very strong language and some mild violence.

by CNB