Boxoffice-March.1988

.
RUNNING ON EMPTY
Sidney Lumet, who makes movies both
bad ("The Morning After") and great
("Fail Safe," "Dog Day Afternoon," "The
Verdict"), returns with this drama about a
married couple of '60s radicals who remain
on the run 20 years later. Adding to
their problems is their teenaged son, wlio
is growing fed up with not having a stable
home life. Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti
("Housekeeping") star as the radicals,
and River Phoenix plays their son.
STORMY MONDAY
A group of interesting actors who always
seem to get stuck in unsuccessful
films stars in this caper film that has been
compared to John Huston's "Beat the
Devil." Set in Newcastle, England, Tommy
Lee Jones ("The Big Town") stars as a
devious American businessman bent
upon making a real estate swindle. Sting
("Julia, Julia") co-stars as the owner of a
jazz club who is out to foil Jones's plans,
and Melanie Griffith ("Something Wild")
and Sean Bean ("Carvaggio") play a pair
of young innocents who get caught up in
the battle between the two. The film is
written and directed by Michael Figgis, of
British TV. An Atlantic release.
PUNCHLINE
what's so funny about being a standup
comic? Not a whole lot, at least according
to this dramatic-comedy from David
Seltzer, the writer-director of the critically-praised
but commercially-overlooked
"Lucas," Tom Hanks and Sally Field star
as a pair of comics who work the boards in
the cutthroat comedy clubs of Los Angeles,
trying to make a living with laughs
while struggling with the competitive nature
of their relationship. Honest-to-gosh
standup comics play many of the supporting
roles, and Hanks and Field both made
surprise appearances in L.A. clubs as they
perfected their schtick (Hanks also
demonstrated some of his patter on "Late
Night With David Letterman," and was
suitably hilarious.
MARCH RELEASES
"Split Decisions" Filmed imder the
title "Kid Gloves," this is a generational
drama about a family of New York City
boxers. John McLiam and Gene Hackman
play a father and son who run an amateur
iDoxing program, and Craig Sheffer
("Some Kind of Wonderful") and Jeff
Fahey ("Psycho III") play the young pugilists
who fight for (and with) them. Jennifer
Beals, in only her second film since
"Flashdance," also stars. The film is directed
by David Drury ("Defense of the
Realm"). A New Century /Vista release.
"The Decline of Western Civilization
II: The Metal Years" In the heyday
of the punk era, Penelope Spheeris made
"The Decline of Western Civilization," a
harrowing look at the Los Angeles club
scene that was either fascinating or disgusting,
depending on your appreciation
of the "music" (do those quotation inarks
reveal our opinion?). Now, she turns her
cameras on a form of rock and roll that
has a much longer history than punk,
with almost none of the critical support:
heavy metal. Currently enjoying what
seems like its 20th revival, metal music is
celebrated through interviews with the
likes of Ozzie Osborne, Kiss and other
luminaries, as well as fans of the genre.
Our best wishes go out to any theatre
playing this one. A New Line release.
"Appointment With Death" Peter
Ustinov returns as Hercule Poirot, Agatha
Christie's master sleuth. This time the
murder mystery takes place on the high
seas, and the cast of suspects includes
Lauren Bacall, Carrie Fisher, John Giclgud.
Piper Laurie, Hayley Mills, Jenny
Seagrove and David Soul. A flannon release.
"The Penitent" The unusual Easter
rituals of the Penitent sect of the Amen
can Southwest form the backdrop for tin
story about a love triangle involving t\s
old friends and one of their wives. Raul
Julia (in his third film this spring), Armand
Assante ("Private Benjamin") and
Rona Freed star. A New Century/Vista
release
"The Wrong Guys" A gang of standup
comics (including Louie Anderson, Richard
Belzer, Richard Lewis and Franklvn
Ajaye) star in this adventure-comedy
about the 25th reunion of a Califomian
cub scout troop. When adversity otrikes,
they are forced to rely on their old survival
skills in a romp that is described as a
cross between "Deliverance" and a Hope
and Crosby comedy. A New World Pictures
release.
"Doin' Time on Planet Earth" Its a
teenager's God-given right to feel like he's
different from everyone else, but in this
case our hero finds out that he's really
different: he's an alien. Described as a
smalltown comedy with an offbeat point
of view, the film star.s Man .\dU'i, (. andii e
Azzara, Hugh Gillin and Adam West. It is
directed by Charlie Matthau, the young
son of Walter. A Cannon release.
"Consuming Passions" Michael Palin
and Terry Jones, who appear to be about
the same height, provided the ston,' for
this black comedy about a chocolate factory
that stumbles upon the secret ingredient
that leads to undreamable success
Unfortunately, that ingredient is human
( and you thought Crunchy Frog was bad )
Vanessa Redgrave, Jonathan Pryce ("Brazil"),
Tyler Butterworth, Freddie Jones
{"The Elephant Man") and Sammi Davis
("Hope and Glory") make up the utterly
British cast. A Samuel Goldwyn Company
release.
"Dark Tower" Set against the backdrop
of a major European city, this
science fiction thriller concerns an tmseen
force that unleashes a reign of terror
over a premiere office complex. The series
of murderous events focus on, and
later implicate the prominent American
architect of the building. Michael Moriarty
("Q"). Jenny Agutter ("An American
Werewolf in London"), Theodore Bikel,
Kevin McCarthy, Anne Lockhart and Carol
Lynley star. A Spectrafilm release.
10 BOXOPUCE