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-THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1991
Entertainment
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Bruce Willis in the action packed thriller ’Die Hard 2’
Looking for 'Great'?
Try 'Die Hard 2' on video
By JACKIE K. COOPER
HHJ Entertainment Critic
There are certain videos you think
will never arrive in the stores. "Die
Hard 2" is one of those. The movie
was so good last summer that you
have been waiting ever since for the
video version to be released. And
now it has.
"Die Hard: 2" is everything a
sequel should be. It brings back
characters we have known and loved
in a previous film; gives them a
brief chance to make that
identification; and then moves on to
a new and completely different set
ting.*
In "Die Hard: 2" John McLane
(Willis) symbolically tips his hat
to the action of the first film by
contacting his friend in LA, A1
Powell (Reginald Vel johnson).
This is the black cop who held it
all together on the ground while
McLane was fighting the terrorists
at the top of the building.
Now McLane is on vacation in
Washington, DC during the
Christmas holidays. He has come
to his in-laws' home early while his
wife Holly (Bonnie Bedclia) takes
care of some last minute business.
John goes to the airport to wait for
her Bight to land and all hell breaks
loose.
Terrorists capture the airport and
hold the planes in the sky hostage.
There is a snowstorm moving in
which makes visibility minimal.
The planes need the help of the air
traffic controllers to get down. One
of these planes is Holly's. McLane
springs into action and becomes a
one man army. Along the way he
drafts some bystanders into the play
but basically it is McLane who
holds the key to success. Now that
may sound totally farfetched but
McLane is so dynamic that it
works.
As John McLane, Bruce Willis is
back to being as likable and enjoy
able as he was in the early days of
"Moonlighting". The cocky, arro
gant air that soured that show is
gone. McLane is a decent, do
gooder who puts family at the top
of his list. And if the authorities
can't handle the situation, he will.
Bonnie Bedelia is wonderful as
PUBLIC NOTICE
Starting immediately, the Perry Fire Department will be con
ducting fire hydrant tests throughout the City of Perry. The purpose
of the tests is to gain static pressures at each of the fire hydrants for
tire fighting purposesand for information for the9ll emergency tele
phone service, resting procedures could cause discoloration of water
in some areas of the City. It is possible that some of the discolored
water could be drawn into an individual's water pipe. If this does
occur at a utility customer's residence or business it is recommended
that the cold water in the building be allowed to run until clear water
is again observed. If you feel it is taking too long for the water to clear,
it is recommended that the utility customer call the Perry Fire De
partment or the Perry Utility Department to report your specific
location. Someone from either the Perry Fire Department or the City
Utility Department will be dispatched to the utility customer’s loca
tion for assistance.
The fire hydrant test will be carried out over a period of time over
select areas of the City. Therefore, if discoloration does occur, it will
only be in the specific area where the hydrant test is being conducted.
Anyone having questions relative to the City of Perry's Fire Hydrant
Test program should call either the Perry Fire Department at 987-
1212 or the City Utility Department at 987-1911.
Gary Hamlin, Fire Chief F. Marion Hay, City Manager
Holly. Her strength of character
shines through the film and makes
her perfect for Willis’ McLane. You
pull for these two to make it to the
end together and when you hear his
plaintive wail of "Holllllllly!" at
the end of the film, it is
heartbreaking.
The supporting cast is also letter
perfect. William Atherton reappears
in his role of whiney reporter
Thomberg. Holly belted him at the
end of "Die Hard: 1" and she might
do it again in this film. He is a co
passenger in her plane, and still
whining up a storm.
John Amos is rough and tough as
the leader of a military elite unit.
William Sadler is deadly as the
leader of the terrorists. And Franco
Nero is evil personified as Esper
anza, the military leader the terror
ists plan to free.
All of these characters live and
breathe on screen and are not just
paper cut-outs for the backdrop of
action. You learn them as the story
unfolds and their clarity of purpose
makes the movie that much more
exciting.
And exciting the movie is! One
explosive event happens right after
another. John McLane hardly has a
chance to get his breath and neither
do you. It is a special effects chal
lenge for the moviemakers and they
rise to the occasion each and every
time.
The film is rated R for excessive
profanity, nudity, and explicit vio
lence.
The hot film of last summer was
one with a Christmas setting. "Die
Hard: 2" will chill you with its
action and thrill you with its plot.
Bruce Willis is back in top form
with a movie that not only matches
the entertainment value of the orig
inal, it might even exceed it - if
that is possible.
And if you are worried about the
excitement shrinking when it is
viewed on the small screen, don't.
Seeing it on your tv screen just in
tensifies the excitement - if that is
possible.
I scored "Die Hard; 2" an ever
rcady 8+ out of 10.
Three reasons to see 'Sleeping with Enemy': Julia, Julia, Julia
By JACKIE K. COOPER
HHJ Entertainment Critic
There are three good reasons to
see "Sleeping With The Enemy" -
(1) Julia Roberts, (2) Julia Roberts,
and (3) Julia Roberts. For in her
new film you get to see Julia
Roberts as a battered wife, a woman
in transition, and a newly emerged
total woman. Everything else in the
movie is trivial except for the three
faces of Julia as she gives us yet
another full performance.
Roberts stars as Laura Burney, a
young woman who married Martin
(Patrick Bergen) with hopes of liv
ing happily ever after, but instead
found a life of living hell as he
turned from loving spouse to abu
sive louse. She finally gets up
enough nerve to leave him but
knows he will pursue her if he
thinks she is alive. So she stages a
fake death and then takes off for
lowa to begin a new identity and
A private lady
Roberts keeps to herself
By JACKIE K. COOPER
HHJ Entertainment Critic
BEVERLY HILLS, CA - A few
weeks ago the press was invited to
meet with the producer, director,
and two of the stars of "Sleeping
With The Enemy”. It was fascinat
ing meeting Leonard Goldberg, the
producer; Joe Ruben, the director;
and Kevin Anderson, one of the
stars of the film; but all of it was
just a ways and means of leading up
to an interview with Julia Roberts.
Roberts is the hottest star in
Hollywood right now. She recently
won a Golden Globe for her role in
"Pretty Woman" and topped that by
winning TWO "American Movie
Awards" for her roles in "Pretty
Woman" and "Flatliners" ihe latter
co-starring the man in her life
Keifer Sutherland.
Each of the three men talking
with the press had nothing but
praise for Roberts. They know that
the success or failure of their movie
rests on her shoulders and they have
a lot of confidence she can bring in
the audiences.
Goldberg had this to say about
her, "When we were considering
Julia for this movie I had seen her
in 'Mystic Pizza' and of course she
was just fabulous. In 'Mystic Pizza'
she was this exotic, sexy Italian. I
thought that was what she was. I
believed her totally. Then when I
met her she was this little middle
American girl just sitting there."
"But I believe she has the ability
to make you believe whatever it is
she is playing," he continued.
"She's wonderful. I believe she is
going to be the next - and I don’t
know who the last one was - major
female movie star. She has it all -
she has talent, she has great beauty,
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life.
There she meets the gentle man
she has always dreamed about. Ben
Woodward (Kevin ArtiJßrson) sees
Laura is a frightened wemah so he
gives her plenty of leeway in his
courtship of her. All goes well
enough for a while - until Martin
discovers where she is and comes
for vengeance.
Roberts is such a facile actress
she can easily handle each and every
one of Laura's traits and tendencies.
But she is also such a strong actress
that she blows Bergen and Anderson
off the screen.
Bergen is handicapped by looking
just like Kevin Kline in "A Fish
Called Wanda". In that film Kline
played the uproarious Otto. In this
movie you expect Bergen to utter
Otto's most famous line - "Don't
call me stupid!" as he lurks about
recking havoc on any and all who
cross his path.
and she has the ability to connect to
an audience. That vulnerability, that
empathy - you look into her eyes
and you know everything she is
feeling. Well that is just one man's
opinion. But I do think people are
going to come to see the next 'Julia
Roberts movie'. I think she has a
legion of fans who just want to see
her next movie."
Now that is a pretty strong en
dorsement, especially from a man
of the stature of Leonard Goldberg.
But Julia seems to impress just
about all the people she meets in
that way. Her co-star, Kevin
Anderson, chimed in with his en
dorsement too. He said, "Julia is
new and fresh. She's very
approachable. Working with her
was very easy She is very
professional. When it comes to the
work she has very clear ideas about
what she wants to do."
Again those are high words of
praise and Anderson did not speak
them lightly. He had spent a few
months working with Vanessa
Redgrave on Broadway in "Orpheus
Descending" so he had been exposed
to an actress with some high talent.
But he seemed to be equally im
pressed with the talent Roberts has
to offer.
Director Joseph Ruben described
her talent in this way, "Julia has
very strong feelings. She is a
Southerner and this seems to make
her have very strong feelings about
everything. When she is happy she
is very happy and when she is an
gry she is very, very angry. And
these strong feelings come across
on screen."
Following these glowing praises
the lady under discussion joined us.
Sporting a close cropped hairdo, a
Plus Bergen's performance is to
tally one dimensional. You see
only the horrific side of his charac
ter and not the gentle one he must
have worn when he courted Laura.
Without this balance Martin is a
monster from the start and Laura's
ability to ever love him questions
her credibility.
Anderson is gentle Ben, the non
aggressive neighbor. Trouble is that
Ben is so sweet and so loving that
Laura would have tossed him aside
as one bland cupcake as soon as she
met him. You can never buy that
they could ever be more than mere
acquaintances. Possibly friends -
lovers never.
The movie is rated R for violence
of j n u.
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radiant smile, and a diamond the
size of Argentina on her third finger
left hand (from Keifer), she got
down to the business of discussing
the film.
The first question out of the box
was what she thought of the situa
tion in the Gulf. Her answer was
quick and to the point. "I am an ac
tress, not a politician so I won't
answer that. I will answer anything
about my acting," she said.
That ended that subject so we
moved on to other areas. One of
which was the controversy that
erupted in Abbeville, South Car
olina during the filming. Roberts
had been accused of making nega
tive statements about the South in
general and Abbeville specifically.
"It was unfortunate in the one
situation that happened," she said,
running her hands through her short
hair. "I was an isolated situation. I
was not attacking the town as a
whole just that one bar that
wouldn't serve my friend who was
black. I thought it was completely
unjust, but at not time was I mak
ing any generalizations about the
town itself or about the South. I
am not going to say all the people
in the South are racist pigs ...are
you crazy? I am from the South.
I'm from Georgia. But for some
and profanity.
Roberts her best to make the film
succeed. She is in just about every
scene so watching the movie is al
ways a pleasure. The makers even
include a montage of her trying on
different outfits a la "Pretty
Woman". But though Roberts is
still pretty pleasing the movie is
pretty awful.
The core of a good story is here
but the weakness of the lead actors
opposite Roberts, and the triviality
of the direction provided, make the
film a hard one to believe in any
aspect.
I scored "Sleeping With The En
emy" a yawning 5 out of 10.
reason this town rallied against me
like I had attacked all of them and
that was not the case."
She paused then, waited a second
before continuing, "Later, I gave an
interview to 'Rolling Stone' and
somewhere between my lips and
God's ears it became very distorted.
I mean I was still very high on my
horse about the incident... and I al
ways will be when I see injustice of
this type. But I do hate that it all
got blown out of proportion and
came out that I was attacking all of
this town and the South. I hate that
that happened but I do think we
have to expose prejudice like this
when we find it."
At this point she looked directly
at me and said, "Those people really
hated me. I saw them on 'Good
Morning, America' and they had tee
shirts with my face on them and a
'no smoking' bar across my face.
That really upset me!"
But then she loosened up a little,
smiled a little sadly and said, "We
all have to do what we can do to
keep the dream alive."
Hollywood gives us the Julia
Roberts image for some short mo
ments in the movies but the real
person goes on and on and on.