Boxoffice-June.1991

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hand at romance, as Gino woos back his estranged wife (Jo Campa) just moments before a handful of Richie's pals crash through the window. Of course it's all just filler for the big showdown between our hero and villain, but there's never any suspense about what the outcome of that battle will be: Richie, after all, is a coked-out, overweight madman; Gino's a great guy who loves his kid, saves a stray puppy and has a black-belt for good measure. Calling Seagal's performance leaden is like calling a tree wooden. Squinting is his idea of a facial expression (perhaps he's trying to make out his cue cards), and he delivers lines as if his tongue were dipped in cement. But physically he's a wonder, and he gives the movie's fight scenes a heart-thumping power that momentarily makes you forget his remedial acting. As Richie, Forsythe (Flat Top from "Dick Tracy") fares far better, exploding with the manic intensity of a genuine psychopath. David Lee Henry's script is little more than a hodge-podge of Clint Eastwood and Chuck Norris-inspired cliches, while director John Flynn manages to keep up with the action if not inspire his actors. And that, after all, is what "Out For Justice" is all about: a slam-bang phantasmagoria of blood and guts that will have audiences cheering its violence and ignoring its laughable dialogue and performances on its way to making Seagal an even bigger star. Rated R for violence, language and nudity. Jeff Schwager MORTAL THOUGHTS Starring Derm Moore, Glenne Headly. Bruce Wilhs and Harvey Keitel Produced by John Fiedler and Mark Tarhv Directed by Alan Rudolph Written by William Reilly and Claude Kcrx'cn A Columbia Pictures release Thriller, rated R Running time: 104 min Screening date April 5 Combine Hollywood's hottest couple and one of America's most interesting independent filmmakers, and what do you get? Not much, if the screenplay they're given to work with is a confusing collection of genre conventions rehashed in an unconvincing fashion. That's the case with "Mortal Thoughts," an only intermittently effective thriller directed by Alan Rudolph and starring Demi Moore (who also coproduced) and Bruce Willis. — Frustrated with Jimmy's violent, destructive behavior, Joyce often talks of doing away with her husband, even going so far as to mix poison in with his sugar; Jimmy's about to drink a cup of coffee filled with the lethal mixture when Cynthia comes to the rescue, knocking the coffee and sugar bowl off the table. Still, Cynthia tells the cops, she didn't take her friend seriously until Jimmy turned up in the back of the beauty shop van with a slit throat. Then, she says, she had no choice but to help Joyce dump the body and cover up the crime. This not-so-thrilling thriller enjoyed a large marketing campaign and faired an okay $6,068,000 at 963 screens nationwide. By its second weekend it dropped almost 50 percent. Part of the trouble with the film is its structure, which shows us everything from Cynthia's point of view. As her story progresses, one of the detectives (Harvey Keitel) begins to question whether Cynthia is telling the truth, implying that she might be more involved in the murder than she's letting on. This puts the audience in the thorny position of wondering how much of what we've seen is true, a question that's never adequately answered. As Cynthia and Jimmy, real life wife and husband Moore and Willis turn in strong, convincing performances. Moore is sincere and measured as a woman whose actions and motives are always in doubt, while Willis has enough animal magnetism to allow us to imderstand how Joyce was attracted to him despite his brutal tendencies. But it's Headly who steals the show, brilliantly swaying between the extremes of victim and murderer and slipping unsteadily into insanity; one second her expression has a waifish sadness, and the next there's a ruthless glimmer in her eyes. As with his low-budget efforts "Trouble in Mind" and "The Modems," director Rudolph (who replaced co-writer Kerven just prior to shooting) gives the film a stylish visual look and establishes an effective pace, once again employing an atmospheric score by Mark Isham to great effect. But despite all the talent in front of and behind the camera, "Mortal Thoughts" still rings false; Rudolph and company simply can't save the script from its own contrivances. Rated R for violence and language. Jeff Schwager — OSCAR Starring Sylvester Stallone. Peter Riegert, Omella Muti, Tim Curry, Kirk Douglas and Mansa Tomei- Produced by Leslie Belzberg Directed by John Landis Written by Michael Barrie and Jim Mulholland. Based on the play by Claude Magnier A Touchstone Pictures release Comedy, rated PC Running time: 109 min Screening date: 4/18/91 John Landis has been known to take risks in his films. Add to his list of risks directing Sylvester Stallone as a leading man in a dialogue-driven farce that copies the screwball comedies of the 1930s. Surprisingly, the gamble pays off— it should net Sly another fortune and increase Landis' status as a director who can tackle a variety of cinematic concepts. Too bad, because there's the germ of a truly intriguing film here. The script, credited to William Reilly and Claude Kerven, touches on several interesting and important subjects, including friendship, loyalty and the plight of abused women. But Reilly and Kerven never seem quite sure what kind of film they want to write, and the result is an unsteady cross between "Beaches" and "Body Heat." The film begins in a police station, where Cynthia Kellogg (Moore) is offering voluntary testimony to a pair of police officers. In flashback, we meet her best friend and boss, Joyce Urbanski (Glenne Headly), who owns the beauty parlor where Cynthia works. We also meet Joyce's husband Jimmy (Willis), an abusive lout who's more interested in drugs, gambling and getting into Cynthia's pants than he is in finding a job or settling down with Joyce. Stallone's move into the mainstream of screwball comedy lacked much sparkle in its luster. Its Brst weekend saw a mediocre take of $5,091,000 at 1388 screens. Trim and well-groomed, Stallone plays Angelo "Snaps" Provolone (yes, as in the big cheese), a notorious bootlegger who is summoned to his dying father's bed and forced to promise the old man that he'll renounce his criminal activities. Here Stallone is as thick-tongued as ever, but his timing is on target and when audiences laugh at his repartee it won't be out of embarrassment. Michael Barrie and Jim Mulholland's lively dialogue spot- R-34 BOXOFFICE
lights the talents of a score of Hollywood legends who pop up throughout the picture with broad routines that will please people of all persuasions It's easy to recognize Don Ameche as the family priest, but less obvious are Kirk Douglas in a cameo as the dying father and Yvonne DeCarlo as Snaps' Aunt Rosa The funniest supporting roles are played by Tim Curry, as the arch linguist who gets to make Snaps sound cultured; and Martin Ferrero and Harp.' Shearer as the immigrant tailors who outfit him for a meeting with legitimate bankers Snaps struggles hopelessly to rchne his dim-witted henchman (Chass Palminteri) along with his wise-cracking sidekick ( Peter Riegert) who makes a sarcastic, running commcntarj' throughout the film The film ambles along at a lively pace, its plot filled with mistaken identities and missed rendezvous. (Even though the story takes place during the Depression, many of its jokes play on modem cultural references familiar to young movie-goers.) Thanks to a stuttcnng informant (Eddie Bracken), neither the Feds nor the mob really believe that Snaps will go straight. Of course, the film's title is awfully self-congratulatory (Oscar, the character, doesn't materialize until the last scene). Nevertheless, it deserves credit for, among other things, its wonderful Clamation sequence which accompanies an aria by Rossini during the opening titles. Rated PC, "Oscar" will play to a very broad audience. Karen Kreps A KISS BEFORE DYING Slamng S\att Dillon, Sean Young and Max Von Sydow Produced by Robert Lawrence Written for the screen and directed by James Dearden A Universal release Drama, rated R Running time .95 min Screening date 4/22/91 The first—as well as the last—seven minutes of "A Kiss Before Dying" have the kind of surprise sang-froid gore that will curdle your blood and congeal your popcorn butter Unfortunately, the remainder of this pseudo-noirish matinee flick is mournful, dismal and gloomy (cat-eyes required here) in an affected and exaggerated manner. Also, it is more chockful of chuckles (unintendedly so) than loaded writh choking suspense. Right after Matl's surcthrart took a dive in this him, his "Kiss" took a di\r at thr hoxotht r, opening uith a middlin' $4,348,000 at close to 2,H00 screens. Badly satirizing our society's unscrupulous materialism and careerism, this post-Yuppy era movie tells the story of Jonathan Corliss (Matt Dillon), a well-groomed, bug-eyed monster who does away with his girlfriend only then to take up with her twin sister (Sean Young), a damsel-in-distress who, ironically, doesn't seem to know she is in any trouble We can all take it from there: just how long will it be before this dullminded female catches on She has an inkling that her sister — was murdered, and the rest of this film focuses on her relationship with the monster a la Dillon. In his adaptation of Ira Levin's excellent novel, Dearden has tried to skew the character of Jonathan Corliss to match the unscrupulous career woman played by Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction" (which Dearden penned) In "Kiss," Corliss is Close's counterpan, an unscmpulous and dangerous career man who is a threat to anyone Yet audiences will get very little from this film, and it should prove to be a fatal boxoffice attraction instead. This stop.' is neither entertaining nor consciousness-raising (a good lesson in Yuppyism, perhaps:") Nor is it even hair-raising Instead it is a confused maze of plot twists that go nowhere and characters who are more irritating than interesting Rated R for violence, language and sexual situations.— Allen Spear THE MARRYING MAN Starrmg Kim Basmgcr, Alec Balduni, Robert Uiggia. Elisabeth Shue, Paul Reiser, Fisher Stevens and Arniand Assanie Produced by David Pcmiut Directed by Jerry Rees. Written by Neil Simon A Hollywood Pictures Release Comedy, rated R Running time 115 mm Screening date 4/12/91 If June is the marrying month, then "The Marr>'ing Man" is June to the limit The man and woman in this not so believable farce marry four times— and given their penchant for disorganized affections— four times is four times too many The problem with this film is not its stor\' so much as its actors While Neil Simon's script is sillyncss incarnate, there is no reason why it wouldn't have worked if it had been fleshed out with a marrying man and woman of some substance Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin, however, are not that couple. Their appeal here translates to supercilious sexuality— and this just isn't enough. Baldwin is Charlie Pearl, a handsome playboy and heir to a toothpaste fortune He's just become engaged to Adele (Elisabeth Shue), the daughter of movie mogul Lew Homer (Robert Loggia, who huffs and puffs a bit too much here) While Homer doesn't quite trust Charlie with his daughter, nevertheless Charlie seems to be genuinely in love with Adele Then, while on his way to a bachelor party in Las Vegas with his friends (two of whom are a funny Paul Reiser and an even funnier Fisher Stevens), Charlie gets a look at singer Vicki Anderson (Kim Basinger). While Charlie may love Adele, he doesn't really find her that sexually attractive Yet he doesn't know this is true until he meets Vicki. Vicki is all sex appeal and Charlie can't help but want Vicki (literally) all over the place Unfortunately, just as the two of them take their first sexual " romp, in walks "Bugsy Seigcl (Armand Assante), Vicki's erstwhile boyfriend, who, even though he's about about to dump her, feels humiliated At the same time, he wants Vicki to be taken care of financially. So, practically at gunpoint, he coerces Charlie and Vicki into marrying Yet this is only marriage number one—and there are three more to come. Bugsy Siegel, as well as movie mogul Lew Homer, are out of the picture soon enough, and Vicki and Charlie are left to themselves to botch their relationship at least several more times Sometimes they just don't agree on things very much; and sometimes the old sexual spark simply flies out the window when they settle into a marriage of disharmony. Whatever the reason, sex keeps reuniting them (and here sex is ultimately supposed to translate into love). The problem with Vicki and Charlie is Baldwin and Basinger's inability to be little other than cardboard figures. They try to be funny—they tr\' to be up to snuff to Simon—but they just don't make it. While Baldwin sits near the edge of funnyness, Basinger never emerges from her persona as a sexualized object. While the script itself pegs her this way, as an actress she also appears to bank on it. Put together (pun intended), Basinger and Baldwin are pretty to look at yet lack the warmth that translates into great Neil Simon. Rated R for mild sexual situations Marilyn Moss — June, 1991 R-35
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