Boxoffice-July.1995

CANNES
DEMISE CALLS UP ^^1/2
Staniug Tim Daly.
Directed and written by Hal Saliven.
Produced by J. Todd Harris.
In Cannes' Critics Week. No distributor
set. Comedy. Not yet rated. Running
time: 79 niin.
A film that's literally talking headsscene
after scene of people engaging in
phone conversations — comes with
a
built-in uh-oh factor, but "Denise Calls
Up" is, if limited, a surprising success.
The phonecord-tangled storyline pairs
off three twosomes: an ex-boyfriend
("Year of the Comet's" Tim Daly) and
ex-girlfriend (Dana Wheeler Nicholson)
trying to arrange a blind date between
two of their single friends (Liev Schrieber
and Caroleen Feeney), plus a pregnant
woman (Alanna Ubach as the titular Denise)
who's telephonically tracked down
the man (Dan Gunther) who provided
her sperm-bank donation.
The conceit of this Davis Entertainment/Skyline
Partners effort— that these
New Yorkers are too busy in their workat-home
schedules to ever meet in person—gives
them a certain loonybin aura
and undercuts writer/director Harold
Salwen's serious interest in these emblems
of today's angst. But the players
bring to life a script that could've seemed
scholastic, and Salwen keeps onscreen
happenings interesting with numerous
quick cuts and, at the end, one perfectly
restful frame.— Ki'w Williamson
RUDE ***1/2
Starring Maurice Dean Wint, Rachel
Crawford and Clark Johnson.
Directed and written by Clement
Virgo. Produced by Damon D'Olivcira
and Karen A. King.
In Cannes' Un Certain Regard. No
distributor set. Drama. Not yet rated.
Running time: 90 min.
Clement Virgo's feature debut is startling
and powerful, fulfilling the promise
of his award-winning 1993 short, "Save
My Last Nigga' Soul." As a pirate radio DJ
broadcasts to Toronto, various characters
reach turning points in their lives. Maxine
(Rachel Crawford) has been brutally
dumped by her boyfriend after revealing
she was having an abortion. Jordan
(Richard Chevolleau) is a boxer whose
participation in a gay bashing makes him
examine his hidden homosexuality. And
"the General" (Maurice Dean Wint) has
left jail and is trying to reconcile with his
loan-shark brother Reece (Clark Johnson),
policewoman wife Jessica (Melanie
NichoUs-King) and young son.
Though Virgo interweaves the three
stories, their characters never meet. It's
a mark of his skill that "Rude" never
falters; each tale is compelling, and none
ends in an expected way. His structure
also lets Virgo tackle numerous themes,
including black perceptions and stereotypes
of law enforcement, male/female
relations, family responsibility and, most
impressively, black homophobia.
REVIEWS
At times, "Rude" betrays a fondness for
style over content; there are a few too
many gorgeous shots of clouds moving
over the city and pixelated visions of
Toronto traffic. But there's also an exhilaration
in every frame, coming from a
director who can make his film look great
(also courtesy of cinematographer Barry
Stone) and move fast. "Rude" is one confident
piece of work, and well acted to
boot. It might not be quite as personal
as "Soul Survivor" (p. R-56), by the other
Toronto-based Jamaican filmmaker represented
at Cannes, but Virgo's is the far
stronger. —S/i/oMio Schwartzberg
THE POISON TASTERS ^1/2
Stamng Fiench Stewart, Karolina
Rosinska, Veerlund Tliomas Bierce and
Aga Lange.
Directed by Vlrik Tlieer.
Written by
Veerlund Tliomas Bierce. Pioduced by
Hong Ting and Veerlund Thomas
Bierce.
In Cannes' Ihi Certain Regard. No
distributor set. Drama. Not yet rated.
Running time: 90 min.
Shot in black and white, this exercise
in Kafkaesque territory might rival even
the most pretentious of the European
entries at this year's Cannes (and that's
saying quite a lot). Set in a small Lodz
apartment on the eve of Nazi Germany's
1939 blitzkrieg into Poland, this Basilik
Films production focuses on the relationship
between two men— an angst-ridden
moralist, Crawford (French Stewart), and
a cynical amoralist, Georg (Veerlund
Thomas Bierce)— who yap and stammer
about ethics, morality, heroism, integrity,
anarchy, loyalty and an assortment
of other philosophical meanderings that
seem unlikely to occur to people on the
verge of hostile occupation.
While Georg is indulging his sexual
insatiability with the landlady's daughter,
Crawford tmds more virtuous solace
in the friendship of Anna, a young Jewish
girl whose fleeing family has sought shelter
in their flat. By day's end, Crawford
and Anna have fallen in love and married,
at which time Crawford confides his
and Georg's "secret." Unfortunately, this
"Twilight Zone-ish" secret is patently ridiculous,
making the rest of the film even
more unnerving than it might have been
with a halfway sensible conclusion.
Faced with the daunting task of having
to dig themselves out of their overwrought
nightmare, the filmmakers decide
to go the madness route, wherein
everyone goes bonkers and the audience
is left scratching their heads over the
purposelessness of it all. Most of the
blame lies with co-star/producer/screenwriter
Bierce, whose triple credit can't
begin to indicate the apparent extent of
his self-absorption. First-time director
Ulrik Theer might well be the only one
to emerge relatively unscathed from the
mess, proving himself an able and commanding
stylist when confined to tight
spaces. — Wade Major
SCREEN
CLEANING
"STREAK FREE"
WITH THE
OPTI-KLEAN
SYSTEM
EASILY APPLIED
REMOVES
• SMOKE RESIDUE
• SCREEN GRIME
• CANDY AND
SYRUP STAINS
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Response No 82
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