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The Red and Black » Thursday. February 8. 1990 « S
SCREEN
Washington, Hoskins make
‘Heart Condition’ okay film
■ FILM REVIEW
By ANDREW LAWLER
Entertainment Writer
A Sieve Tisch Production of a
James D. Parriolt Film. A New
Line Cinema release "Heart Condi
tion" is playing at Georgia Square
Mall.
“Heart Condition’ is a rather
standard action flick that’s brought
up a couple of notches by the in
genious casting of Bob Hoskins and
Denzel Washington.
Bob Hoskins (“Mona Lisa,"“Who
Framed Roger Rabbit”) is an over
weight, racist L.A. cop whose got
some problems. He’s lost his girlf
riend, been suspended, and it looks
like he’ll never get another promo
tion. The cause of all his problems,
or so he thinks, is slick black at
torney Denzel Washington
(“Glory,” “Biko”). However, things
quickly worsen when Hoskins suf
fers a massive coronary. Only a
heart transplant saves him, and to
his horror, he finds he’s been given
Washington’s heart. Worse yet,
he’s also been saddled with Wash
ington’s ghost, and said ghost is de
termined to find the truth about
his death.
The idea operating here is cer
tainly not new. Take a standard
story idea (Romance, Spy, Comedy,
Action flick etc..) and spice it up by
throwing in a ghost. However, it
works better here than in most
films, due mainly to the excellent
chemistry between Hoskins and
Washington.
Despite that, the film is not
overly memorable. The story is
rather obtuse, something about a
political coverup and a murderous
pimp. The "theme”- about coming
to grips with racism - is handled
rather shallowly. It consists
mainly of a couple of racist curses
and a rather muddled monologue
by Hoskins. There is never a sense
of real conflict between these two.
Naturally, everything is resolved
but it’s not all that satisfying.
Not that this film isn’t fun. It is.
It’s as good as most action buddy
films and better than many (e.g the
extremely lame “Tango and
Cash”). The story does move along,
and there’s a good bit of genuine
humor involved. The acting is good
as well. I guess you could say that
the film tustes great, but is less
filling.
Bob Hoskins is quite good as racist
cop Jack Moony. He has a good
sense for comedy and handles him
self well in the action bits. How
ever, this film doesn’t really pose
any kind of challenge to the cele
brated British actor, and at times
he seems satisfied to just go
through the motions in a kind of re
tread of his “Roger Rabbit” role.
Denzel Washington, coming off a
blisteringly good performance in
“Glory,” shows he’s skilled at light
comedy as well. He provides many
of the laughs in his portrayal of the
witty, sophisticated lawyer. Like
Hoskins, he does as much as he can
with his character. That’s not
really a lot, though.
“Heart Condition” could have
been a lot of different films. It
could have been a searing racial
drama about two enemies working
together (a la “In the Heat of the
Night.") It could have been a slaps
tick comedy or a straight action
flick like “48 Hours." Instead, it
chose to be a light action comedy,
and it’s OK
Denzel Washington and Bob Hoskins come together unsuspectedly when one receives
the other’s vital organ in the new movie “Heart Condition.”
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City State
‘Daisy’ focuses on unique friends
Driving Miss Daisy: Tandy and Freeman contrast
beautifully in an interesting 25 year friendship.
■ FILM REVIEW
By ANDREW LAWLER
Entertainment Writer
A Warner Brothers release of a
Zanuck Company production.
“Driving Miss Daisy" stars
Morgan Freeman and Jessica
Tandy and is directed by Bruce
Beresford. “Driving Miss Daisy"
is currently running at the
Georgia Square Mall.
“Driving Miss Daisy" is one of the
best movies of the year.
Daisy Werthan (Jessica
Tandy) has a problem. After her
last auto accident, no insurance
company will let her drive. Her
son Boolie (Dan Ackroyd) has
hired a chauffeur for her, a man
named Hoke Colburn (Morgan
Freeman). Daisy, an elderly
Jewish woman, is none too
pleased by this. However, over
the next 25 years, these two will
learn more about each other and
themselves than they could have
thought possible.
Of all the films released in re
cent months, three have stood
out: “Born on the Fourth of July,”
“Glory" (also starring Freeman)
and “Driving Miss Daisy.” “Miss
Daisy,” however, stands in
marked contrast to the other two.
While “Born" and “Glory" are
both explosively intense works,
this film is much more subtle,
and much softer in tone. Indeed,
while the others examine such
subjects as war and violence, this
film is more of a character study.
In it, we are treated to the work
of two master actors at the top of
their craft.
‘Daisy” is an adaptation from
the Pulitzer Prize-winning play
written by Alfred Uhry. It still re
tains the trademark of a contem
porary play, that is, it’s much
more an examination of the
people involved than it is con
cerned with plot. Indeed, what
actually happens often seems
secondary to how Freeman’s and
Tandy’s characters develop. For
tunately, these characters are of
such a high calibre, and the
writing is so fine, that the film is
consistently interesting.
Ultimately, Daisy, who contin
ually claims not to have a preju
diced bone in her body, must
come to terms with her own prej
udices in dealing with Hoke. Set
against the backdrop of pre-civil
rights Atlanta, this gentle film is
nonetheless a powerful comment
on race and religious relations.
Jessica Tandy has long been con
sidered one of the greats in Amer
ican theater. Her portrayal of
Daisy, with all her strengths and
weaknesses, stands as one of the
finest performances of the year,
perhaps any year. Her attention
to detail has created an incred
ibly rich and subtle performance
of a character who seems utterly
believable. Tandy manages to
achieve the aging process from 60
to 85 with incredible grace and
sincerity.
In the past few years, Freeman
has emerged as one of today’s
finest actors. This may very well
be the best performance he has
ever given. He matches Tandy
step for step with his portrait of
Hoke. He resists the impulse to
turn Hoke into something larger
than life. Rather, he forges a
character, who is both meek and
strong, definitely a man of his
era. Hoke is very much a “yes
boss” person on the surface, how
ever in Hoke, his still-waters run
incredibly deep.
More amazing than these two
performances individually, is
how well the two work together.
They match each other step for
step, neither dominating the-
other. The two create a
relationship which allows both to
seem richer and more complex.
Their scenes always ring true,
with both actors building on the
other’s performance, regardless
of whether the scene is humorous
or stem.
Dan Ackroyd (Boolie) and Patti
LuPone (Florine) perform cred
ibly in rather thankless roles. In
spite of the fact that they seem to
serve the purpose of moving the
story along, they still manage to
create interesting and lively
characters. Esther Rolle is simi
larly good as the maid, Idella.
The best thing that can be said
for the director, Bruce Beresford
(“Breaker Morant") is that, most
of the time, he doesn’t get in the
way. He does strike a few false
notes; at times the film is too
beautiful, the music too soaring.
However, the quality of his actors
smooths over these few spots.
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