14 RnYOPFirK " " 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
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