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Movie Delivers 'Message' Sans Mush
By Justin Winters
Staff Writer
For real men, romantic movies come
in two flavors. There is the type that is
so overly sappy, you feel you have been
unjustly taken advantage of afterwards.
The other type, which “Message in a
Bottle” most closely resembles, moves
you in such a
way that you B MOVIE REVIEW
don’t mind
recommending Message in a Bottle”
it' to your gf
mom, grand- § § §
mother and all
your female friends.
Mixing together a popular story
based on a Nicholas Sparks bestseller
with two Attractive stars (Kevin Costner
and Robin Wright Penn) makes
“Message” an above-average choice for
movie-going couples.
Set in what is meant to be the Outer
Banks (but actually filmed on the beau
tiful coast of Maine), the story revolves
around Theresa (Penn), a divorced jour
nalist who is at the point during her life
when dating is a foregone option.
This changes when, while on vaca
tion, she finds a washed-up bottle con
taining a loved one’s lost letter.
After a little research (she practically
stalks the guy) she meets the letter’s
writer, Garret (Costner), a poetic ship
builder who has problems communi
cating his feelings.
The plot moves on to include love,
Fans Should 'Rush' to See New Dark Comedy
By Jeremy Hurtz
Staff Writer
Poignant characterization, hilarious
visual humor and a bravura perfor
mance from Bill Murray make Wes
Anderson’s new film “Rushmore” the
best comedy
since “There’s B MOVIE REVIEW
Something
About Mary.” Rushmore
And, in some sst SS ssf
ways, a better § § § §
one.
Fifteen-year-old Max Fischer (Jason
Schwartzman) participates in virtually
every club at prep school Rushmore
Academy, many of which he founded.
He’s so successful, in fact, his grades suf-.
fee for it, and the Academy places him
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IN THEATRES THIS FEBRUARY
__
Kevin Costner and Robin Wright Penn fall in love in "Message in a Bottle." Judging by his performance,
Costner should stick to more "average guy" roles like this rather than trying to play a hero.
lots of water and an ending that ends up
being mildly surprising.
The acting, however, won me over.
Costner should really think about stick
ing to the regular guy roles (“Field of
Dreams”) rather than the post-apoca
lyptic hero roles (“Waterworld”). He
shines here as the type of guy whom you
would not mind bringing home to
Mom. He’s not going to win an Oscar
for the role, but give the guy points for
effort. He even cooks.
on academic probation.
Then a woman enters his life: Miss
Cross (Olivia Williams), an attractive
first-grade teacher. Max uses all that
remains of his clout at the school in an
effort to win her over, but she’s not real
ly falling for it.
Murray rounds out the cast of char
acters as self-loathing steel magnate Mr.
Blume. At first, he takes Max under his
wing, but their relationship becomes
hostile when Blume falls in love with
Miss Cross as well.
The film sways from farce to satire to
serious drama. In all cases, though, the
tiny details shine best. After Blume’s first
conversation with Cross, he starts to
walk away - making it only a few yards
befprft,breaJdng into, a run, leaping like
a boy smitten with puppy love.
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DIVERSIONS Movies
His chemistry with the gorgeous
Penn also makes the movie better.
Mainly known as Jenny from “Forrest
Gump,” she made me anew admirer by
playing a role that would have normally
gone to an actress such as Meg Ryan.
Paul Newman steals the movie like a
man intent on winning next year’s Best
Supporting Actor Oscar. When he was
n’t on screen, I was either thinking about
his last appearance or eagerly anticipat
ing his next.
All three main roles contain bits that
could easily grow melodramatic, but the
actors make their characters believable
in crucial, often ridiculous moments.
Murray (looking quite haggard in a
Golden Globe-nominated performance)
pulls off the difficult trick of allowing
audiences to simultaneously laugh at
and feel sorry for an old rich guy.
It helps, of course, that writer/direc
tor Anderson (“Bottle Rocket”) gives
him excellent material to work with. For
instance, Murray’s perfect delivery takes
one line from good and funny to good,
funny and very sad. Again, he lends
memorable quality to a solid scene in
which Blume discovers Max has been
lying about his parentage.
Anderson also, displays true cinemat
ic flair. He slips homages and parodies
While audiences will probably expect
deeper meaning from this syrupy-sweet
movie starring die guy who dances with
wolves, I left feeling good about the
romance genre in general because it set
the mushy-meter at five rather than 10.
I even called my mama and told her
to run out and go see the movie. Man, I
felt like such a wuss.
The Diversions Editors can be reached
at artsdesk@unc.edu.
into the film at random, subdy enough
that those who don’t catch on aren’t left
behind. The film slyly references Oliver
Stone and Stanley Kubrick in one
scene, while another pays tribute to
Nirvana and “The Graduate.”
Anderson occasionally becomes a bit
too obvious when handling more seri
ous moments. A few scenes end on
weak, even cheesy lines, when silence
would have delivered greater impact.
However, the audience quickly forgets
these minor flaws in the wake of such a
funny, touching film.
The Diversions Editors can be
reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
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-==>— AT THEATRES THIS FEBRUARY SS WWfIU
Note to Disney: Stay
With Cartoon Films
By Matt Miller
Senior. Writer
There has always been a sort of caste
system at work in the hierarchy of
Disney films. On the upper tier you’ve
got your “animated classics,” which
Disney dangles before salivating chil
dren before rereleasing them every
seven years. __
On the ■ Movie Review
lower tier are
the insipid live " M V Martian"
action films sst
starring f
washed-up
actors in wacky situations so formulaic
that an 8-year-old can predict how they
will end 20 minutes into the movie.
When I was a kid, we always used to
rent those cruddier films - “The Apple
Dumplin’ Gang,” “The Million-Dollar
Duck,” all those Herbie the Love Bug
movies -and somehow, I enjoyed
them. Maybe it was the low production
values or the “I really need this job”
look on Tim Conway’s face (he still has
that look).
Not true with the current crop of
Disney live-action crap, though. The
Mouse factory has taken great care to
make these films look state-of-the-art.
Take “My Favorite Martian,” a
remake of the ’6os television show. This
flick overflows with “Men in Black”-ish
special effects, most of which look pret
ty good.
Too bad the plot just rehashes one of
Disney’s earlier low budget live action
Christopher Lloyd stars as "Uncle Martin" in Disney's latest abysmal
attempt at a live-action feature film, "My Favorite Martian."
Thursday, February 18, 1999
movies, 1978’s “The Cat From Outer
Space.”
Jeff Daniels plays Tim O’Hara, a
local news producer who, after stum
bling upon a crashed alien spaceship,
befriends an uppity Martian
(Christopher Lloyd) whom he dubs
“Uncle Martin.” Tim must help Uncle
Martin fix his spaceship and get back to
Mars, and in return, Martin tries to help
Tim woo a camerawoman who has a
crush on him (Darryl Hannah). Along
the way, they’ve got to avoid govern
ment scientists and a pesky reporter
(Elizabeth Hurley). Nuttiness ensues!
When asked to explain his take on
the film, Director Donald Petrie (“The
Associate”) said, “At the core of this
movie are two people from different
worlds ... literally!” This movie is bad,
full-tilt bad, worse even than that joke.
The only things that garner it a one-foot
rating are the cameo by Ray Walston
(Uncle Martin on the old TV series),
some cool special effects and Elizabeth
Hurley (when she’s not speaking).
I have the feeling that the vast major
ity of The Daily Tar Heel’s readership
knew before reading this review that
“My Favorite Martian” was not a film
that they wanted to see. They were
right.
But if you really feel the need to
watch a bad Disney movie about aliens,
do yourself a favor and rent “The Cat
from Outer Space.”
The Diversions Editors can be reached
at artsdesk@unc.edu.
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