Boxoffice-November.2001

REVIEWS
*•
OSMOSIS JONES
Stalling Bill Murray. I oiced
by Chris Rock. David Hyde
rote high-school science material?
Pierce and Laurence Fishburne.
Directed by Bobby Farrelly and As far as the Farrellys are
Peter Farrelly. \\ ritten by Marc concerned, the answer seems to
Hyman. Produced by Dennis lie in their need to offer a lecture
Edwards, Bobby Farrelly. Peter
about staying healthy and
Zak Penn and Bradley
eating right.
Farrelly,
Thomas. A Warner Bros, release. While the animated
Animated!Comedy. Rated PGfor sequences are involving, the
bodily humor. Running time: 95
min.
With "Osmosis Jones," the
Farrelly Brothers have reached role as a prop, a setup for the
their purest form of expression—an
animated movie that wanders in, shrieking on cue, to
animated stuff. Molly Shannon
takes us through the back door play the stooge victim of
of their Comedy of Bodily Murray's body-fluid outbursts.
—
Functions. It can be a scary Paid Clinton
place. With its lovingly rendered
green mucous and bubbling bile,
the movie is another example of
just how little interest the
Farrellys have with what motivates
people. "Osmosis Jones" is
inspiration for a shower.
The movie, a hybrid of animation
and live action, is set in
two worlds: the dreary, realworld
life of Frank (Bill
Murray), a junk-food-addicted
slob, and the inner, animated
world of Frank's body.
When Frank gobbles down
a hard-boiled egg he has just
grabbed out of the mouth of a
monkey at the zoo, the
Immunity Police, led by a
streetwise white blood cell
named Osmosis Jones (Chris
Rock), go into red-alert mode.
Riding that toxic egg is
Thrax (Laurence Fishburne, in
a silky villainous mode), a
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drawn is always front and center.
And it begs the question:
What's the point of jazzing up
real-world scenes thud on the
screen. A disheveled Murray
sleepwalks through his slovenly
BORN UNDER LIBRA
• ••1/2
Starring Mohammad Reza
Foroutan and Mitra Hajjar.
Directed and written by Ahmad
Reza Darvish. Produced by
Ahamad Reza Darvish. Romantic
drama. An Iranian Film Society
release. Romantic drama. Farsilanguage;
subtitled. Unrated.
Running time: 95 min.
"Born Under Libra" is a
romantic drama in the tradition
of Persian romantic dramas,
which is to say it's about repression—individual,
social and
religious. The story centers
around Daniel (Mohammad
Reza Roroutan ), a boy from
the rural south of Iran who
goes north to Tehran to attend
college. There he falls in love
with a feisty and sophisticated
young woman, a classmate
nasty virus intent on bringing
named Mahtab (Mitra Hajjar).
the City of Frank, as the animated
community is called, to
They want to marry, but political
and social turmoil get in the
an end. Jones, who says he is
way, along with Mahtab's very
from "the wrong side of the
traditional father.
digestive tract," teams up with a
Daniel decides that things
cold tablet (David Hyde Pierce)
are never going to work out and
to stop Thrax.
leaves. Mahtab, unwilling to
As far as the style of the animation
in concerned, the movie
give up on their relationship,
heads south in search of him,
is fun to look at. The animators
braving the rising unrest and
use sensuous, rounded shapes
the possibility of becoming as
and deep colors. But the constant
reminder of what's being
social outcast.
"Born Under Libra" continues
a recent trend in exceptional
films from Iran, including
last year's "A Time for
Drunken Horses." Director
Ahamad Reza Darvish directed
"Kimia" and composed the
score for "The Day I Became a
Woman," two other recent
Persian films worth seeking
out.— Tim Cogshell
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Review Digest
i. (Ac) Action; (Ad) Adventure; (Ani) Animated;
D) Drama; (Doc) Documentary; (F) Fantasy; (Hor)
Musical; (My) Mystery; (R) Romance; (Sat) Satire;
Fiction;
w > U & a.
American Outlaws PG-13
(Sus) Suspense; (Th) Thriller (W) Western.
s e b s
i i i
2 QB > X J Z 3
1-01 !.5 3