THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 1, 1994 TAG: 9406010753
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
DATELINE: 940601 LENGTH: Medium
Noting the humongous hype campaign pushing the film as an ``event'' to open the summer movies, the poor scribes have resorted to the claim that, after all, it is ``clean'' and for the ``family.'' But even that claim isn't original this summer, when more family movies will be presented than ever before. Hopefully, ``The Flintstones'' is not the best of them.
{REST} With the exception of the critters created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, ``The Flintstones'' arrived stone dead last weekend. To be perfectly fair, my perception of it may be colored by the hype campaign. This live re-creation of the 1960-66 TV animated sitcom could have passed as just another relatively harmless kiddie show if Universal hadn't attempted to sell it as another ``Jurassic Park'' event. With merchandising and hoopla that have given it unwarranted notoriety, it arrives boasting a $45 million budget.
Because the studio, quite wisely, kept critics away from advance screenings, the film is being reviewed after already having grossed $37 million in its first weekend. Despite that figure, this could still eventually emerge as a major financial disappointment to match its creative doldrums.
John Goodman looks more like Fred Flintstone than he did Babe Ruth, one of his two earlier starring vehicles. He does little, though, to suggest the lovable, bumbling bluster that Fred should have. Instead, he sweats and bellows.
Elizabeth Perkins, who plays Wilma, is a fine actress but is no comedienne. She apparently decided to play Wilma as a kind of strait-laced doormat - not the slyly conniving Mrs. who usually outwitted Fred in ways he didn't notice.
Rick Moranis, in a weird blond wig, suggests little of the buffoonish second banana that should be Barney Rubble. Just once, I would have liked to hear him say ``Gee, Fred'' in that perky, good-natured manner we remember.
Rosie O'Donnell, on the other hand, has nailed the Betty Rubble giggle and demeanor but doesn't look at all like the character. (Is this Betty after a pig-out on stone doughnuts? And could that on-target giggle have been dubbed?)
The plot has Fred being suddenly elevated to vice president of the Slate and Co. quarry and then being framed for embezzlement. Kyle MacLachlan (looking as if he could stand a good bit of cherry pie from his ``Twin Peaks'' days) is the sourpuss yuppie villain. He looks more cartoonish than any of the more famous characters. Halle Berry, as a character named Sharon Stone, is his sexy cohort.
The costumes and sets are fun to see, even if they do look more like Styrofoam than they should.
Lending a bit of legendary presence is Elizabeth Taylor. She is screeching and hysterical as Fred's mother-in-law. Taylor is making her first film appearance since ``The Mirror Crack'd.''
There are brief moments when ``The Flintstones'' is fun. All of them involve the creatures of the Jim Henson Creature Shop. Yes, it was fun to hear Dino bark ``Yip, Yip, Yip'' and knock Fred down to lick his face. The pigasaurus, which acts as a garbage disposal below the sink, is an eye-catcher. Just about stealing all the laughs is the Dictabird, a prehistoric information storage system with the cleverly condescending voice of Harvey Korman, who voiced the Great Gazebo in the original TV series.
Little things are everything here - touches such as the Stoneway Piano with little lizards as keys and the lawnmower that is actually a hungry dino.
There are diverting guest appearances. Spotting Jonathan Winters in a tiny cameo only made me wish he had more to do. Jay Leno is the host of ``Bedrock's Most Wanted.'' Lorraine Newman is a reporter for the Cave News Network.
The stodgy direction of Brian Levant refuses to wink at us to let us know that he knows most of the puns are groaners. Instead, he lets scene after scene play too long as lines fall embarrassingly flat.
The color and the movement will perhaps please the 7- to 12-year-old fans, but the low aim of the writing ensures that the film will get practically no adult trade, and no repeats. For the most part, this is a ``Yabba-Dabba-Don't Bother.'' by CNB