ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 6, 1996 TAG: 9607080146
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: It Came from the Video Store
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO
Any viewer who pays attention to movies has to wonder why one opens at the local multiplex while another shows up first on home video. Usually, it's a simple question of star power, that indefinable name-brand popularity that certain actors and actresses develop.
But that's not always the case. Note these three new releases, each featuring a well-known star, that went straight to the video store.
"Theodore Rex" is probably the most expensive studio production to go directly to video, and it really doesn't deserve that dubious distinction. Not that it's so great - it isn't - but many movies that are even worse show up in theaters every week. As a fantasy for kids, this one's every bit as good as "Super Mario Bros.," "Lawnmower Man2'' or any number of recent releases.
It's set in a near future when cute dinosaurs have been re-created by a scientist (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and partially integrated into human society. The parallels between racism and "speciesism" are heavy-handed at best, but that won't bother the target audience. They'll enjoy seeing Whoopi Goldberg as a wisecracking cop whose new partner is Theodore "Teddy" Rex, a cookie-craving, vegetarian, touchy-feely dinosaur. At his most fearsome, he's about as scary as Big Bird.
Writer/director Jonathan Betuel tones down the shoot-'em-up violence and tones up the potty humor. The make-up effects have the overstated, simplified emotions that kids like.
"The Haunted" is a handsomely produced thriller from Francis Coppola's American Zoetrope company, reminiscent in look and atmosphere of "Brideshead Revisited." It's also a ghost story. Maybe.
The setting is 1928, at the Edbrook estate. That's where university professor, author and spiritualist-debunker David Ash (Aidan Quinn) goes in answer to an old woman's cry for help. Something terrible is going on there, she says. But when he arrives, Ash becomes much more interested in Christina (Kate Beckinsdale), an uninhibited young woman who admires his book. Ash isn't so sure about her brother (Anthony Andrews), who claims, "We're all mad, you know."
Based on James Herbert's novel, the script by Tim Prager, Robert Kellett and director Lewis Gilbert combines a nostalgic evocation of the period with various sexy undercurrents and a teasing attitude toward the supernatural. The veteran Gilbert - "Alfie," "Educating Rita," "Shirley Valentine" - handles a complex story with a sure touch and manages to pull out a few more surprises when most viewers will think they've got everything figured out.
In the end, this one's a solid hit that deserves a strong recommendation.
A good heart can make up for a lot in real life and in home video. Take "A Million to Juan," for example. In many ways, it's a run-of-the-mill low-budget comedy about immigrant life in East Los Angeles. But comedian Paul Rodriguez - who also stars and directs - has an engaging screen presence. He also has a fine cast to work with, and he tells a good story, based on his own characters and a Mark Twain tale.
Juan Lopez (Rodriguez) is an ambitious widower who has problems with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, despite the efforts of his pretty case worker, Olivia (Polly Draper). Then an anonymous benefactor gives him a check for a million dollars ... with strings attached. Those strings involve timely questions of community, responsibility, materialism and greed.
The combination of drama and humor is effective, even though the film wears its emotions on its sleeve.
Next week: Suspense!
Have a question about home video or film? Contact your favorite video columnist at P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491, or by e-mail at 75331.2603compuserve.com.
New releases this week:
Nixon *** 1/2
Starring Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen, Mary Steenburgen. Directed by Oliver Stone. Buena Vista (Hollywood). 190 min. Rated R for strong language, some violence.
Like "JFK," this highly fictionalized biography is brilliant, long, engrossing and flawed. Stone and Hopkins present Richard Nixon as a tragic hero of Shakespearian proportions, a great man brought down by his own flaws. As long as Stone sticks to interpretations of documented details of Nixon's career, he's on solid ground. When he indulges his conspiratorial fantasies, the film suffers seriously. This one should be appreciated as entertainment, not history.
- MIKE MAYO
12 Monkeys ***
Starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt. Directed by Terry Gilliam. MCA/Universal. 130 min. Rated R for strong language, violence, subject matter.
Anyone who missed Gilliam's complex science-fiction drama in its theatrical release should be sure to catch it on tape. And those who've already seen it might want to take a second look to work through all of the complications and subtle shadings of the plot. The story involves time travel and fascinating questions of sanity and reality. As always, director Gilliam's vision of the future is dark and disturbing. Recommended.
- MM
The Juror *
Starring Demi Moore and Alex Baldwin. Columbia TriStar. 120 min. Rated R for vulgar language, violence, nudity, sexual situations.
Moore is a husky-voiced single mom bullied by the husky-voiced Baldwin in a suspense thriller so laughable that everyone connected with it ought to be dismissed. Aside from the silliness and poor acting, the script is inconsistent. Rated R for vulgar language, violence, nudity, sexual situations.
- KATHERINE REED
The Essentials:
Theodore Rex ** New Line Home Video. 92 min. Rated PG for mild violence and bathroom humor.
The Haunted *** Evergreen Entertainment. 107 min. Rated R for subject matter, brief nudity, some violence.
A Million to Juan *** Prism. 105 min. Rated PG for a little rough language, subject matter.
LENGTH: Long : 115 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Whoopi Goldberg plays a cop whose partner is a dinosaurby CNBin ``Theodore Rex,'' which is new to video shelves this week.