ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 25, 1996 TAG: 9605280097
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-10 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: It came from the video store
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO
They're young; they're in love; they're on the run in the desert. That's the rough synopsis of four new videos and one new theatrical release.
"Criminal Hearts" is a terrific road-action romance with lots of surprises and laughs.
Rafe (Kevin Dillon) robs a roadside joint of dubious legitimacy. Kelli (Amy Locane) is driving from Los Angeles to Phoenix to find out if her fianc is two-timing her when Rafe's motorcycle conks out. She gives him a lift, and from that beginning, writer-director Dave Payne spins out a wild story that manages somehow to be simultaneously fast-paced and full of talk. Good, interesting talk. The heroes are likeable, fully dimensional characters, and they're matched by M. Emmett Walsh and James Michael MacDonald as two excellent, scene-stealing villains.
The film has a strong feeling for place - the Arizona desert - and a nasty, none-too-subtle sense of humor. All in all, it is a first-rate directorial debut. Whatever Payne does next, I'll watch.
Lance Henriksen has built an impressive body of work - first in films and now, increasingly, on video - playing off-beat, edgy, intelligent and potentially violent characters. His presence has raised many low-budget pictures from oblivion to cult status and sometimes to outright popularity. But his best efforts aren't enough for "Baja," a plodding, needlessly profane little crime movie.
After a half-baked drug buy goes sour, Alex (Donal Logue) and Bebe (Molly Ringwald) hide out in desolate Baja, Mexico. She contacts her pill-popping dad (Corbin Bernsen) for dough, and he sends her estranged husband Michael (Michael Nickles) to fetch her. Michael arrives in town at the same time that a hit man (Henriksen) shows up. Who's the target?
The film's main problem is the characters. They're so ugly - either physically, psychologically or both - that the sooner they're all run over by a bus, the better. As the film goes along, they do increasingly stupid things to keep the plot moving. It's really funny at all the wrong moments, and the viewer who makes it to the hare-brained ending will be hooting with unrestrained derision.
Despite some flaws, "Beyond Desire" is a solid sleeper.
Ray (William Forsythe) is an Elvisian ex-con who's just been released from a 14-year stretch in the penitentiary. Rita (Kari Wuhrer) is the babe in the slinky little black dress who stops her red Corvette convertible to give Ray a lift on a lonely desert road. It's always been a fantasy of hers, she says, to pick up a guy who's fresh out of jail. Yeah, right.
Las Vegas gangsters and a bag full of money also are involved. Mystery fans won't have much trouble predicting most of the plot turns, and the action scenes aren't all they could be, either. But the leads are everything you could ask for. Forsythe, who's also executive producer, brings his usual intensity, and Wuhrer, always in danger of falling out of her skimpy costumes, is convincingly sexy.
In "A Boy Called Hate," the title character (Scott Caan) plays a juvenile car thief who inadvertently rescues a young woman (Missy Crider) as she's being attacked by Elliott Gould. Shots are fired and the two obnoxious kids are on the run across a gritty, sun-blasted Western landscape. OK, that's a legitimate premise, but these two are such selfish and fundamentally uninteresting characters that the rest of the film really doesn't matter. Again, the script is incessantly profane. Writer-director Mitch Marcus tells the simple story at a leaden pace, and so the protagonists' eventual transformation is a matter of too-little-too-late for anyone who's made it that far without hitting the fast-forward button.
Next week: Ruthless, sword-fighting, lesbian, feminist rodent-worshippers in black leather thong bikinis!
Have a question about home video or film? Contact your favorite video columnist at P.O. Box 2491; Roanoke, Va. 24010, or by e-mail at 75331.2603compuserve.com.
New releases this week:
Casino ***
Starring Robert DeNiro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci. Directed by Martin Scorsese. MCA/Universal. 179 min. Rated R for almost continuous profanity, intense violence, strong sexual content.
The main problem with this sprawling Las Vegas epic is that Martin Scorsese and writer Nicholas Pileggi told essentially the same story in "Goodfellas." This time out, DeNiro is gambler "Ace" Rothstein, who's given control of a mob-owned casino. Pesci is his ultra-violent, out-of-control gangster pal. Sharon Stone is brilliant as the troubled woman who finds herself between them. Using some brilliant visual devices, Scorsese has never been more assured in his control of his craft. But the constant vile language, the grotesque violence and the recycled plot make his best efforts hard to take.
- Mike Mayo
Get Shorty *** 1/2
Starring John Travolta, Rene Russo, Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. MGM/UA. 105 min. Rated R for strong language, violence.
This comic thriller retains the dry humor of its source material - Elmore Leonard's novel about a loan shark's adventures in Tinseltown - while tightening up the plot and cheerfully satirizing Hollywood. Director Sonnenfeld and an inspired ensemble cast manage to laugh at themselves and to take their work seriously at the same time. A must for movie fans.|- MM
Wild Bill *** 1/2
Starring Jeff Bridges, Ellen Barkin, Keith Carradine, John Hurt. Directed by Walter Hill. MGM/UA. 98 min. Rated R for violence, strong language, drug use, sexual content, brief nudity.
Like so many good Westerns, this one is about that dreamlike gray area where myth and reality overlap. As one character says, "He discovered that being Wild Bill was a profession in its own right." But the film isn't navel-gazing revisionism. Director Hill constructs his story on exciting action scenes, and whenever the story is about to take itself too seriously, a streak of strong humor rises to the surface. In the title role, Bridges leads a strong ensemble cast.
- MM
Dunston Checks In **
Starring Paul Rubens, Jason Alexander and Faye Dunaway. FoxVideo. 85 min. Rated PG for toilet jokes and one sexually aggressive situation.
Sam the orangutan, cast as sort of a hairy Robin Williams, is a great reason to watch this children's comedy that's neither as bad - or as good - as it could be. Rubens turns in a riveting performance as a crazed animal-control officer determined to neutralize Dunston, who throws a swanky hotel into chaos, upsetting the overworked hotel manager (Alexander) and his boss (Dunaway). As a harmless time-waster, it's more than adequate.|- Katherine Reed
THE ESSENTIALS
(Each of these is rated R for violence, strong language, brief nudity, sexual content.)
Criminal Hearts *** 1/2 WarnerVision 92 min.
Baja * Republic. 92 min.
Beyond Desire *** LIVE Entertainment. 87 min.
A Boy Called Hate * Paramount. 98 min.
LENGTH: Long : 131 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Sharon Stone and Robert DeNiro star in ``Casino.''by CNB