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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1990
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James St. James (Emilio Esteves, left) flanked by his supervisor Louis Fedders (Keith David, right) hold their
pizza deliveryman (Dean Cameron, center) hostage while disposing of a deceased mayoral candidate in the
action comedy "Men at Work"
'Men at Work' is a lost, boring comedy
By JACKIE K. COOPER
HHJ Entertainment Critic
"Men At Work" is a movie that
had a fast release in the movie the
aters, then hit the airplane circuit,
and now has come to video. And all
of this happened in the space of a
couple of months. But that's life in
the fast lane of Hollywood these
days and Emilio Estevez knows
how to make it all work.
Real life brothers Charlie Sheen
and Estevez play good friends in
"Men At Work." The chemistry
between them is good but no belter
than that which any two good ac
tors could convey. Still the movie
has its moments thanks to them,
and has its loses thanks also to
them.
Emilio plays James and Charlie
plays Carl, two garbagemen in the
fictional city of Los Playas, Cali
fornia. When the movie focuses on
them and their handling or work and
'Predator 2' had a lot of potential, final result is sad
By JACKIE K. COOPER
HHJ Entertainment Critic
"Predator 2" starts out as a won
derfully exciting action adventure
but soon slides into cartoon capcr
ish silliness. An outstanding cast
can only watch hopelessly as all
their best efforts fall apart. Danny
Glover, Gary Buscy and others have
the acting know-how to create a
first rate film but the makers of this
movie were only intent on show
casing the "alien" killer.
The first "Predator" gave Arnold
Schwarzenegger a chance to go
hunk to hunk against a lowering
creature from outer space. Arnold
can make even an alien seem a de
fcatablc foe. But Danny Glover is
more brains than brawn so when he
and Mr. Alien go mano a mano the
results arc laughs not thrills.
The main flaw in the film though
is its lack of consistency. The crea
ture, which looks like it used to
live in "the black lagoon," is visi
ble one moment and not the next. It
also is able to leap tall buildings in
a single bound one moment and not
the next. Plus it can lift tons in the
opening segments but can't knock
Glover out with a good right punch
in the latter scenes. You never
know what to expect as to its capa
bilities and that is deadly in a
movie of this type. You can stretch
bclicvabilily to the limits as long
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leisure time it is fairly entertaining.
But scriptwriter Estevez docs not
trust his material to keep hold of
the audience's attention. So what
starts out as a "sanitation workers"
comedy soon changes into a "let's
play detectives" mystery movie.
In trying to get some laughs
from the audience, Estevez (who
also directed as well as starring and
writing) fills the screen with cheap
shoLs at Vietnam veterans, murder
victims, phrenologists, and police
officers. In setting up funny pranks
in the film it is one thing to sec an
air bag attack someone in a car, but
another to see one explode when it
is filled with excrement. Estevez
thinks this last joke is so funny he
pulls it twice. Way to go, Emilio!
Charlie Sheen has some mo
ments of humor when he and Es
tevez arc bantering back and forth.
But then there are those long silent
moments when he is trying to ap
as you arc consistent, and the audi
ence will follow right along. Fool
them and they will turn on you cn
masse.
Glover plays a cop named Mike
Harrigan in the film. Docs that
make him Black Irish? I am glad to
sec Glover getting roles which were
not clearly written for a black actor
but I think the name could have
been changed to a more appropriate
one. Plus they also forgot to give
the character any character. All
Glover gets to do is swear a lot and
huff and puff.
Buscy, Reuben Blade, Maria
Conchita Alonso, and Bill Paxton
do what they can with their sketchy
roles also. But the body count in
this film is so high that you no
sooner get interested in a character
and hc/shc is gone. The movie docs
show some spunk though in pre
senting Morion Downey, Jr. as a
loudmouth reporter. And it bring s
back an older and wiser Kent
"Adam-12" McCord as the police
Caj. ‘iain.
The most ironic bit of casting is
that of Kevin Peter Hall as the
game hunting alien. Hall special
izes in playing "big" roles. His
most famous one was the Bigfoot
pear deep in thought. Thai's when it
dawns on you there might be no
one home in his head at the lime.
Emilio Estevez has much more
of a screen charisma than does his
brother. You arc always interested
in what he is doing, or what is be
ing done to him, on screen. So as
an actor this movie is not a waste
for him. But as a director and writer
"Men At Work" is only a short step
up from his previous basement
level effort - "Wisdom."
Leslie Hope has been seen in a
large number of second rate movies
and she usually has matched the
film, but this time she is a bright
spot in the movie. She is extremely
likeable, and fun to watch. It's a
shame she didn’t get more screen
lime because she improves the
movie every lime she appears.
The film is rated PC-13 for pro
fanity and violence.
WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT THIS
character in "Harry and the Hender
sons." He was so loveable there and
is so ferocious here.
The movie is rated R for much
violence, nudity and constant pro
fanity.
Giving the devil its due, 1 have to
say the movie keeps the suspense
going right up to the end. But these
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VIDEO - The on screen camaraderie
of Sheen and Estevez; the bright
beauty and personality of Leslie
Hope; and the cheap laughs that do
work. Some of you arc bound to
find some of this hilarious.
WHAT'S BAD ABOUT THE
VIDEO - The failure to maintain
the comedy of the first third of the
film; the long gaps when nothing
interesting is happening; and the
cheap shots at various groups to
grab a laugh.
THE VERDICT - Too little
originality in the comedy scenes
and 100 little inventiveness in the
plotline make "Men At Work" a
tedious way to spend an evening.
But the joy of video is being able
to scream at your TV screen when a
joke is really lame or when the act
ing is really bad. So hoot and holler
and have a good time with "Men At
Work."
I scored "Men At Work” a
leisurely 4 out of 10.
arc cheap thrills in a movie that
could have offered more. And on a
final note, it is a confused film that
fails to name any of its cast until
the final credits. Glover may not be
the mcga-slar Arnold is but he does
deserve to have his name above the
title.
I scored "Predator 2" an alienating
4 out of 10.
A murder mystery
that keeps readers
in deep suspense
By JACKIE K. COOPER
HHJ Entertainment Critic
NIGHTWATCHER is an inter
esting murder mystery by Charles
Wilson. It has enough crooks and
turns to keep the reader off balance
as to the identity of the killer and
this helps sustain the suspense to
the very end of the story.
In NIGHTWATCHER a young
nurse is brutally raped and mur
dered. Her father is distraught over
this occurrence and pursues his own
investigation into her death. As he
digs deeper and deeper into the cir
cumstances surrounding her murder
he uncovers one suspect after an
other.
Judith, the daughter, was not the
sweet young thing her father
thought she was. Although she was
married she had quite a few
boyfriends in her life. And a good
many of them were married. She
also had strong sexual appetites
which took a violent turn from
time to time.
Brandon Richards has to accept
these revelations about his daughter
while he works to discover her
murderer. And when he hires a de
tective to do some of the investiga
tive work which is beyond him, he
unknowingly picks a man who
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might be a suspect in the case. But
then just about everybody in this
Mississippi town is a potential
suspect in this bizarre case.
The only problem with the book
is the overly simplistic way in
which Mr. Wilson writes. He has
all the elements of the plot nailed
down but he fails to create a totally
fleshed out character in any of those
described in the story. The main
hero, Brandon Richards, appears on
just about every page but you never
get a feeling of full comprehension
or understanding about him.
Even the maniacal Minneficld
who sits in the asylum across from
Judith's apartment constantly
watching is only a stick figure.
This man has the potential to be a
devastating villain but the words arc
never given which would convey
the full impact of horror he should
inspire.
Since Wilson is good with plots
it is expected his next novels will
gel better and belter. The talent for
writing in depth characters appears
to be there, it just needs to be cul
tivated.
NIGHTWATCHER is published
by Carrol & Graf. It contains 263
pages and sells for $17.95.