Boxoffice-September.1997

.
—
eontomKo.- looT /D tta\ 1'>S
REVIEWS
ing outtasight sights. Special
effects are imaginatively used
to take audiences on an interspacial
tour. Ultimately,
though, the unknown can only
be glimpsed, and it's implied
that we aren't ready to be made
fully aware of the wonders of
the universe. It's a trite way of
avoiding the effort of creating
an alien world that can live up
to sustained scrutiny.
Still, the drama unfolding on
earth is the greater focus of the
filmmakers. Reaction to
history's greatest discovery is
shown as being militantly divided,
and astute commentary
is made on how such news
would actually affect the
world. At two-and-a-half
hours, "Contact" is well-paced
with humor, humanity, and an
electrifyingly ascending momentum.—
Christine James
A SIMPLE WISH •^
Starring Mara Wilson,
Martin Short, Kathleen
Turner, Robert Pastorelli and
Amanda Plummer. Directed
by Michael Ritchie. Written
byJef/Rothberg. Produced by
Sid, Bill andJon Sheinberg. A
Universal release. Comedy.
Rated PG for mild language.
Running time: 90 min.
Efforts to produce a broadbased
family film with equal
appeal for adults and children
fall flat in "A Simple Wish," an
almost too simple fantasy that
hedges so indecisively between
full-blown fantasy and
satire that it never
does justice to either
genre.
In the wake of
her "Matilda"
success, Mara
Wilson stars as
Anabel, yet another
wide-eyed,
wonder-struck
child in search of
"A Simple Wish" might
a better future; in
this case, that
consists of soliciting
her "fairy
godmother." Unfo
rt u nat ely
Anabel's fairy
godmother turns
out to be a bungling
fella named Murray (comedian
Martin Short, last seen
in "Mars Attacks!").
Had screenwriter Jeff
Rothberg and director Michael
Ritchie chosen to play this
Bubble Factory procluction as
a straightforward fantasy with
all the requisite mirth and malice,
have worked as a proper
children's film. Instead, the
filmmakers trade charm for
satire, overloading the narrative
with "hip" adult references.
Children, of course,
won't appreciate the references,
and adults are likely to
find their inclusion in a film of
this sort more curious than
amusing. Wade Major
THIS WORLD,
THEN THE
FIREWORKS ^^1/2
Starring Billy Zane, Gina
Gershon, Sheryl Lee and Rue
McClanahan. Directed by Michael
Oblowitz. Written by
Larry Gross. Produced by
Chris Hanley, Brad Wyman
and Larry Gross. An Orion
Classics release. Drama.
Rated R for strong violence,
sexuality and language. Running
time: 99 min.
"God rigged it, we take the
hits" is the Weltanschauung of
this modestly convincing adaptation
of a 1955 Jim Thompson
short story about two
troubled grifters. Bom twins,
Marty and Carol Lakewood
(Billy Zane and Gina Gershon)
while still children saw their
father, caught naked in bed
with a neighbor's wife by an
outraged husband, shotgun the
man, their little faces sprayed
by blood. Now a muckraking
journalist equally interested in
SHADEY CHARACTERS: Gina Gershon and
BilhZane in "This World, Then the Fireworks. "
roiling life's muck and in rak-
ing transgressors on to their
eternal unreward, often while
quoting biblical derangements,
Marty has always had a
special bond with sis, a weagainst-the-world
attitude.
Fate brings the dark-hearted
duo together again as Marty
and Carol, who is now a well-
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Response No. 40
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Response No. 117
JOHN GAMBLE