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love and torture The Tate calls this
'frighteningand t»/arre' (Tate;
Sliding Door* (PG 13/ See Movie
Pick (Mail Outside)
Stros/eck rNR; 197/ tilrn by German
director Werner Her/og about a former
prisoner a prostitute and a pianist who
all fle»* Berlin tor Wisconsin Starring
Bruno Strove* a former mental patient
discovered by Her/og [ xpecl plenty of
Her/og nneirdness and imagery 1 Tale)
Titanic (PG 13) On second viewing.
I ll stick with my initial reaction this is
an inflated recreation ot a terrible
tragedy, and a mediocre love story with
tan acting nice special effects and too
much hype (Beechwood, Commerce
Drive-In)
The Thin Blue Line (NR) "M The
acclaimed documentary by director
frrol Morns about ftie shooting ot a coy
in Dallas Musk: fry Philip Glass (Tate/
Wedding Singer (PG 13) Adam
Sandler stars in this entertaining 80s
spoof (Alps)
Woo r R) Jada Pinked Smith stats as
Woo a hot babe who flirts her way
through yel another uninspired gag
sex comedy She and Tommy Davidson
go out on a blind dale Directed by
Daisy VS Maye r {Party Girl) With
Dave Chappelle ll Cool J and Foxy
Brown (Mall Outside)
MOVIE PICK f
WHAT IFS AND YO WHY NOTS
Sliding Doors (PG-I3) British director
Peter Howitt's romantic comedy tells the
dual “what if?" stories ol an attractive young
London public relations consultant Helen
(Gwyneth Paltrow) who narrowly catches
the subway in one story, and misses it in the
other. In the first story. Helen meets ail
inquisitive and cheerful Scotsman named
Jimmy (/•'our Weddings And A Funeral's John
Hannah) and returns home to catch her
shifty novelist boyfriend Gerry (Angel Baby's
John Lynch) in bed with his old flame, an
incredibly bitchy American (Jeanne
Tripplehom) The other story unfolds simul
taneously as the scenes switch hack and
forth from one story to the other Helen
returns home late after missing the subway,
narrowly missing the adulterous romp in her
Ired What follows is a twisting series of
events showing us flow Helen deals with her
two alternate roman
tic situations
John Hannah and
Gwyneth Paltrow
actually light up the
screen in their
scenes together as
their characters («m
tiously grow closer
Pal!row s perfor
mance is relaxed a
feliet from tier
trained mannered
* *»ies in 1 irral
ialton> and
/ nuna Hannah's
»rn as jimmy in nat-
■ i.illv tunny — lie s
unglamorous. hut
you like him Die
more you see him,
and trust him as “the
good guy" to Gerry’s
pathetic “loser guy "
What makes this
more compelling
than other recent date movies is director
Howitt's courage to introduce darker
aspects of Jimmy's character, challenging
viewers' first impression of him. Though this
negates a predictable, tidy, happy ending, it
adds a complexity to Sliding Doors that’s
close to real life, and echoes the work of two
other British directors with a taste for the
bittersweet, Ken l^oach and Mike l*igh
Bui worth (K) Warren Beatty has lost his
mind, and it's a good thing His new film
Bulunrlh goes way out on a lirnh by not only
addressing the ethical problems associated
with big money in Washington, hut Ivy expos
ing so many oi the persistent racial and eth
nic prejudices evident in America With a
somewhat reckless reliance on shock value,
Beatty tosses an armful of uncomfortable
social and political issues up in their air and
allows them to fall where they may in plain
view
Beatty stars as Senator Jay Bulworth, a
depressed and suicidal California career
l>olitician who. on the eve of his '96 primary.
flips his hd and suddenly begins spewing
“the truth" on the campaign trail, much to
the shock of his sniveling campaign advi
sors.
Bulworth shocks a congregation at a
black church in one early scene, explaining
that if they'd “put down the malt liquor and
chicken wings" for one moment and con
tribute money to his campaign, maybe he
and government would follow through on
some of their promises, l-ater. fie insults a
room full of Holly wood executives by calling
them a "hunch of Jews" who make terrible
movies for easy profit. ‘I know they included
something bad about Farrakhan in here lor
you somewhere." h«* quips as fie shuffles
through the prefabricated speech from
which he's decided to veer
These scenes create instant discomfort
for tfie audience at first — it's great fun hear
ing folks comment in
the theater seats It's
a healthy discomfort,
though because it
tears down the
boundaries of polite
conversation dial
lenging the lear of
maintaining non
offensive. politically-
correct dialogue
Buhl otth unearths
nianv issues main
stream America
would prefer to keep
underground guns
crime, edui ation.
language sex, class
struggle It’s a mess.
!>ut it's a tunny mess
As the story pro
gresses, Bulworth
skips important
meetings, takes to
rapping, steals cars
and eventually hooks
up with three young black volunteer* who
guide hun down to their neighborhood m
Compton It’s here that the Senator connects
with Nina (Halle Berry), a tough, smart and
attractive young lady who offers to provide
Bulworth with a safe house to lay low These
scenes, where the extremely white Bulworth
hangs in the hood, are some of tfie funniest.
There are a few suleplots that never real
ly take hold of the viewer a botched assassi
nation deal paid for by the depressed
Bulworth. a love story between Nina and tfie
candidate, and an on-going game of cat-and-
mouse !>etween Bulworth and several unsa
vory political enemies Despite the story’s
loose ends, the film achieves its intended
goal of exposing what’s wrong with money-
driven politics in America It’s also hilarious
Warren Beatty, as you'd expect, is the hands-
down worst rapper ever to hit the silver
screen.
Next week: Fear and Loathing and Being
and Nothingness at Flagpole Magazine.
Ballard Lasamann
Bulworth
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