Boxoffice-Febuary.1998

14 RnYOPFirK
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Paul Rudd) and who becomes pregnant by her
boyfriend, decides to raise the baby with her
gay roomie—who himself is courting a young
actor. Tim Daly, Alan Alda and Nigel Hawthorne
("The Madness of King George") costar.
Nicholas Hytner ("The Crucible") directs;
playwright Wendy Wasserstein scripts; Lawrence
Mark produces. (Fox, 3/1 8)
Exploitips: Fox also is releasing the maletrending
"The Newton Boys" this weekend,
but "The Object ofMy Affection" could draw
the distaff demo in good numbers, given that
no other fare directly targets that audience
and that, unlikeotherfor-the-girlstossoffs, this
effort has a critically acclaimed director (Hytner
also did "The Madness of King George")
at its helm. The trick will be to sell the same
product to the mature moviegoer and to the
small-tube set that loves Aniston for "Friends. "
The Newton Boys
In this true-life action/drama set in the
1 920s, the bank-robbing Newton Boys set out
to attain their crowning achievement; a record-breaking
$3 million heist of a mail train.
Matthew McConaughey ("Contact"), Ethan
Hawke ("Great Expectations"), Skeet Ulrich
("Scream") and Vincent D'Onofrio ("The
Whole Wide World") star. In a change of
pace, Richard Linklater ("Dazed and Confused,"
"Before Sunrise") directs, and he
scripts with Clark Lee Walker and with Claude
Stanush, on whose book the script is based;
Ann Walker-McBay produces. (Fox, 3/20)
Exploitips: The big cast and the teenfriendly
PC- 1 3 rating (for violence including
bloody aftermath of a shooting, and for language)
makes this the testosterone alternative
for those too young to get into "Nightwatch"
(see below). As always with mainstream
males, emphasize the action and contention.
Sour Grapes
In this comedy, the lives of two cousins
(Steven Weber and Craig Bierko) are changed,
if not in dream-come-true fashion, after one
hits the jackpot on an Atlantic City slot machine
with a quarter borrowed from the other.
Karen Sillas and Matt Keeslar co-star. Larry
David directs and scripts; Laurie Lennard produces
for Castle Rock. (Columbia, 3/20)
Exploitips: Given the no-star nature of the
cast, the big sell here will be Da vid, co-creator
of TV's uber-popular "Seinfeld. " Although all
of March is crowded, the 3/20 date seems
safe, as it bears no other pure comedy. (Note:
"Sour Grapes" ends the long Castle Rock/
Columbia production/distribution pact.)
Nightwatch
Life
In this suspense thriller, a law student ("A
Less Ordinary's" Ewan McGregor) supporting
his |.D. studies by working as a night
watchman at a morgue finds that all the clues
left by a town-terrorizing serial killer lead
back to him. Nick Nolte, Patricia Arquetteand
)osh Brolin co-star for director Ole Bornedal,
here remaking his Danish-language original;
Steven Soderbergh scripts; Michael Obel produces.
(Miramax/Dimension, 3/20 wide)
Exploitips: Remember "Shine" and "Sling
Blade" fOnce upon a time, "Nightwatch" was
slated to open against them. Rated R (for
strong morbid violence, language, sexuality
and some drug content), this Dimensioner
hasn't changed its 1 ,000-screen plans. Butthe
new opening competition is the star-heavy
and male-pulling "The Newton Boys" and
Miramax itself, which has a deluge of March
releases to take care of
Paulie: A Parrot's Tale
A talking parrot named Paulie can do more
than mimic voices; he can speak and understand.
Told through the bird's eyes, "Paulie:
A Parrot's Tale" (aka just "Paulie") tells of his
adventures as he seeks to return to the little
girl who raised and cared for him. Cena Rowlands,
Jay Mohr ("Picture Perfect"), Cheech
Marin ("Tin Cup"), Tony Shalhoub ("Big
Night") and Bruce Davison ("The Crucible")
star. John Roberts directs; Laurie Craig scripts;
Mark Cordon, Gary Levinsohn and Allison
Segan produce. (DreamWorks, 3/20)
Exploitips: Like DreamWorks' "Mousehunt,
" this features no marquee names, but as
with that holiday release the distributor is
likely to be willing to spend the P&A money
to get "Paulie" noticed in a busy month. Regardless
of creative quality, "Paulie" faces the
same where's-the-audience problem as previous
quality family films— e.g., "FairyTale: A
True Story" and "A Little Princess, " for which
neither Paramount or Warner found a solution;
maybe SKG can find an answer.
The Taste of Cherry
In this Iranian drama, a man driving a car
and considering suicide engages a succession
of riders in adiscussion about the value of life.
Homayon Ershadi and Abdolrahman Bagheri
star. Abbas Kiarostami directs, scripts and
produces. (Zeitgeist, 3/20 NY, 3/27 LA)
Exploitips: Our Cannes critic gave this just
2 1/2 stars (see our Aug. 1 997 issue), but "The
Taste ofCherry" (aka "Ta 'm E Cuilass") shared
the fest's prized Palme d'Or. Also citable:
Kiarostami directed the Miramax release
"Under the Olive Trees" and scripted the
October Films release "The White Balloon.
Mendel
This Norwegian drama tells the bittersweet
story of how Mendel, a nine-year-old Jewish
boy displaced from Germany after World War
II, adjusts to life in a remote Scandinavian
village. The coming-of-age tale follows Mendel
as he strives to understand who he is and
what,' in the shadow of the Holocaust, his
religious background means. Alexander
Rosier directs. (First Run, 3/20 NY, 3/27 LA)
Exploitips: Holocaust-themed films continue
to pull, even a half-century after the
event itself, and coming-of-age tales seem to
have the ability to cross over cultural boundaries.
Still, this is obviously specialized fare;
outreach programs to local Jewish and Scandinavian
groups could pay dividends.
Wide Awalce
With the death of his beloved grandfather
("Big's" Robert Loggia), a 10-year-old boy
(newcomer Joseph Cross) begins a search for
God at home and school—to his parents' and
teachers' consternation— in this spiritual
comedy/drama. Denis Leary, Dana Delany
and Rosie O'Donnell star. M. Night Shyamalan
("Praying With Anger") directs and
scripts; Cary Woods and Cathy Conrad produce.
(Miramax, 3/20 NY/LA, 3/27 exp top
20, 4/1 exp top 40 or wide)
Exploitips: Our critic (9/97) gave this three
stars for fine character turns and Shyamalan's
"dexterity with the simpler emotions.
iVIy Giant
MARCH 27
In this comedy, struggling sports agent
Sammy ("Fathers' Day's" Billy Crystal, who
also produces) heads to Romania in search of
talent. There, he finds 7-foot, 7-inch Max
(NBA Washington Bullets center Gheorghe
Muresan), who's happy living in a monastery.
Kathleen Quinlan co-stars. Michael Lehmann
("The Truth About Cats & Dogs") directs;
David Seltzer scripts. (Columbia, 3/27 wide)
Exploitips: Columbia's 1,800-screen bow
could help make this the choice of diverse
demos, including the family aud at which
"Meet the Deedles" (see below) is targeted.
Despite the cool response to Crystal's latest
efforts, he remains a popular performer for the
date-night crowd, and "My Giant" arrives
nearthe NBA playoffseason, which could put
dads out there in the mind for a family outing.
(Meet the Deedles
In this comedy, two Hawaiian surf-bum
fraternal twins ("Pleasantville's" Paul Walker
and "J
i ngle Al I the Way's" Steve Van Wormer)
are sent to a militaristic boot camp in Yellowstone
National Park by their millionaire father.
Dennis Hopper plays the camp's
tough-as-nails leader. Steve Boyum directs;
Jim Herzfeld ("Tapeheads") scripts; former
A&M Films head Dale Pollock produces with
Aaron Meyerson. (Buena Vista, 3/27 wide)
Exploitips: This is the first result of the pact
between Disney and DIC Films, the new liveaction
arm of the TV animation giant. Despite
Its Disney imprimatur, "Meet the Deedles"
could suffer versus "My Giant," which has a
marquee name and that crucial adult-interest
factor. (The theory is, the dad has to drive.) So
highlight the leads' ages and the hijinkery to
attract the preteen set that attend on their own.
Without Limits
In this real-life drama, Billy Crudup ("Sleepers")
plays famed and ill-fated track star Steve
Prefontaine. Donald Sutherland, Monica Potter
and Judith Ivey co-star. Robert Towne
("Personal Best") directs, and he scripts with
Prefontaine's friend and Sports Illustrated
writer Kenny Moore; Tom Cruise and Paula
Wagner produce. See our Sneak Preview in
this issue. (Warner Bros., 3/27; could go 3/20)
Exploitips: Disney's Prefontaine film hits
theatres first tlieatres first— and it did poorly.
The Cruise- Wagner imprimatur is a solid one,
however, and the PG-13 rating (for brief sexual
material and brief strong language) will
allow the crucial teen patronage.
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Hong Kong action maestro Jackie Chan
plays a TV chef who helps a woman journalist
being pursued by a crime syndicate. Sammo
Hung directs; Edward Tang and Fibe Ma