THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 11, 1996 TAG: 9601110028
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
``TWELVE MONKEYS'' is an interesting mess in which everyone - cast and crew - seems intent on doing the unexpected. The risk is creating a film that is so self-serving no one wants to see it.
Despite bad weather, audiences turned out last weekend to see Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt in a film by cult director Terry Gilliam. It is unlikely they will turn out for a second weekend. The movie is too complicated and lacking in logic. On top of that, it meanders for more than two hours.
The compelling plot involves a convict from the 21st century who is sent back to 1996 to find out the cause of a plague that has destroyed 99 percent of the earth's population. The few survivors live underground.
Willis, the time traveler, is put in an asylum. His doctor, Madeleine Stowe, at first thinks his prophecies are crazy but all-too-quickly warms both to him and a dark future. Brad Pitt plays an animal-rights activist who is also in the asylum. He's completely over the top; among other things, he's upset that his scientist father (Christopher Plummer) is experimenting with monkeys and other beasts.
The look of the film is dark and foreboding. It is only the latest in a parade of movie downers intent on convincing us that the future will be a bleak world that is either devoid of water and gas, or one in which we've blown ourselves up with atomic power. Enough! How about some present-day dramas?
Willis' fans may be offset by the fact that he's such a quiet, reluctant hero. ``Pulp Fiction'' and a few other films have shown that he is a fine actor just waiting for the right roles. One can admire his choice here, but the part is too convoluted to make much sense.
Stowe is a lovely, but unlikely psychiatrist. Giving no indication of professional discipline, she almost immediately gets involved with Willis. Hers, though, is the most difficult role in the film - the onlooker who must react.
Like Willis, Pitt seems intent on playing roles counter to his public image. Apparently obsessed with not being branded as a pretty boy, he partially shaves his head, and rants and raves. His fans will be disappointed by his look and the brevity of the role. It has, however, earned him a Golden Globe nomination for supporting actor.
``Twelve Monkeys'' has all the elements of an important drama: conflict between reality and fantasy, the ambiguity between past and present, the myths of time and the threat of man's misuse of science. Unfortunately, each are only touched on in a mess of convoluted logic.
Time warps and trick photography only serve to muddy what is essentially a very simple plot. The film lacks the visionary character of Gilliam's ``Brazil'' or the drama of his ``The Fisher King.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
Bruce Willis stars as a reluctant volunteer in the year 2035 sent
back to 1996 to find the source of a deadly virus.
Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``Twelve Monkeys''
Cast: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Christopher
Plummer, Frank Gorshin
Director: Terry Gilliam
Screenplay: David Peoples
Music: Paul Buckmaster
MPAA rating: R (language, brief nudity)
Mal's rating: 2 stars
Locations: Cinemark, Greenbrier in Chesapeake; Circle 4, Main
Gate in Norfolk; Columbus, Kemps River, Lynnhaven Mall, Surf-N-Sand
in Virginia Beach
by CNB