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Film Flops
Even for
Teen Fare
Teen heartthrobs Freddie
Prinze, Jr. and Julia Stiles
join forces in the latest
date flick "Down to You."
By Jus™ Winters
Staff Writer
Meshing the dude from “She’s All
That” and the chick from “ 10 Things I
Hate About You” into one spunky cou
ple, this year’s first true date flick,
“Down to You,” ends up leaving women
fawning and men yawning.
The dude, Freddie PrinzeJr., and the
chick,Julia Stiles, had better material to
work with in
their earlier
forays into
teendom, and
this entry
mechanically
processes the
||| Movie Review
"Down to You"
ft
same unoriginal love story into a quick
90 minutes of average entertainment.
Dude meets chick. Dude loves chick.
Dude and chick fight. Dude and chick
break up. Dude and chick live apart and
realize there is no other dude, or chick,
for them. Dude and chick get back
together and live happily ever after.
Director and screenwriter Kris
Issacson deserves blame for most of the
problems that plague the film. The stu
dio that made “She’s All That” report
edly drafted him based on his superb
work in public service announcements.
Some of the ideas that might have
sounded good on paper (a cooking
show blended with a “COPS” reality
show) don’t play out excitingly enough
to keep the attention of the younger
audience the film targets.
Last year’s “She’s All That” and “10
Things" used Shakespearean stories, but
gave them a little twist that pleased both
young and old audiences. The biggest
originality of “Down” stems from the
cast that backs up the two lovebirds.
Prinze’s best friend Monk (Zac Orth)
is an up-and-coming porn star who
hopes to move on to direct and become
a speaker on the college circuit. Prinze’s
tall, dark, handsome competition takes
th’4HnM■) oEnJim Mormon - \Aslitou
Kutcher, “That ’7os Show”), a loner
who does all he can to imitate the late
Doors frontman. If there was a support
ing actor award for teen films, Kutcher
would be in the running.
More than “She’s All That in
College,” Prinze and Stiles do share sev
eral scenes that may have them up for
the Nobel Prize for chemistry. So if
you’re a girl looking for a date movie,
“Down” is the best choice out there. If
you’re a guy, just grin and bear it.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
'Affair' One to Remember
By Jeremy Hertz
Staff Writer
When writing a review, one tries to
be cautious not to give away the ending
of a film. But it’s not saying too much to
reveal that the conclusion of “The End
of the Affair” isn’t a cheery one. That
much becomes obvious from the initial
mournful vio
lin strains and
the first
gloomy shot of
a rainy World
War 11-era
London park.
Hi Movie Review
"The End of the Affair"
ffff
Far from spoiling Neil Jordan’s adap
tation of the classic Graham Greene
novel, the sorrow which permeates it
lends a certain believability.
The characters - cynical novelist
Maurice (Ralph Fiennes), his lover
'Ashes' Spins Tender Tale of Woe
By Russ Lane
Staff Writer
Four years after the novel became a
bestseller, “Angela’s Ashes” creeps its
way into both the big screen and audi
ences’ heads with an adaptation that
even the book’s author lauded.
Directed and co-written by Alan
Parker, the film recalls Frank McCourt’s
childhood in ggK
Limerick, MOVIE REVIEW
Ireland with " Ange | a ' s Ashes "
flawless prose
to-script accu- ijjt Sjjt |jjf ijjt
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T h e
McCourt family suffers a steady decline,
revealing each family member at his or
her best and worst. Three of Frank’s sib
lings die, his alcoholic father abandons
the family, Frank has frequent bouts of
sickness and his broken and humiliated
mother whores herself for survival.
While McCourt’s story is poignant, it
is far from rare. The magic of “Angela’s
Ashes” lies not in the plot, but the sub
tleties that surround it. Parker’s cine
matography is affecting, making
Limerick’s streets as central a character
Join Us Before
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Sarah (Julianne Moore) and her impo
tent husband Henry (Stephen Rea) - are
tragic ones, and they know it.
Sensing the end of his illicit affair
approaching, Maurice becomes ven
omously jealous of Henry. Sarah claims
not to love her boring husband; to prove
her sole devotion, she initiates a partic
ularly passionate round of lovemaking.
Immediately afterward, Maurice’s
apartment is bombed (WWII London,
remember). Sarah is unhurt, but thinks
the blast killed her lover. He’s not dead,
though, and when he comes to, she
leaves suddenly and refuses to see him.
What happened in those moments
while Maurice lay motionless is but one
of the story’s many secrets. Every event
in this picture’s complex plot drives it to
its conclusion; not a line deviates.
T he film makes up in sincerity and
sure-handedness what it may lack in
as the McCourt family. Every scene is a
curious mixture of dirt, green hue and
darkness -a fitting environment for
McCourt’s bittersweet storytelling.
Throughout the McCourt family’s
struggle, its strict Catholicism casts a
shadow over the family’s plight.
“Angela’s Ashes” constantly examines
the limitations of faith. Amid Frank’s
poverty and misery, he struggles to
make sense of his family and the world
within the Catholic doctrine.
The film itself is on a holy mission.
Refusing to dissolve into heavy melo
drama, Parker captures the dark humor
that made the book realistic and mov
ing. He perfectly portrays the McCourt
family’s sharp wit in scenes that become
the Catholic equivalent to Woody
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Arts
subtlety. Only on a few occasions does it
slip into melodrama.
Jordan also achieves a few excellent,
important touches - like displaying a
passionate reconciliation in such a way
that we at first think it’s happening in the
here-and-now, though in fact it’s long
past in the characters’ memories.
Jordan's finesse lets us see how these
characters become so haunted by mem
ory. But we believe it because Fiennes,
Rea and Moore are first-rate.
All three have been nominated for
Oscars in the past. They all deserve it
again - especially Moore, the one
actress working who most consistently
delivers dead-on performances. In many
other movies, this turn might eclipse the
other actors involved. Here she fits in.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
Allen’s trademark neurotic humor.
Frank and his cohorts play Peeping
Tom outside women’s windows, raid
farms, learn new uses for livestock and
sneak into theaters. Amid crises of faith,
poverty and dysfunctional families, the
film has the good sense to allow Irish
Catholic boys to be Irish Catholic boys.
Hollywood’s determination to tell a
story better than the original author did
is usually the downfall of most film
adaptations. The obvious respect for
McCourt’s novel and the humility inher
ent in Parker’s direction makes
“Angela’s Ashes” a brilliant, exquisite
film worth watching.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
Play' Delivers
A Weak Punch
By Ferris Morrison
Staff Writer
With all the drama and scandal that
surrounds the sport of boxing, many
filmmakers have taken a jab at captur
ing that aura of excitement found in the
ring. Unfortunately, Director Ron
Shelton’s “Play It to the Bone” is no
“Rocky.”
With no connection between ran
dom Jesus sightings, flashes of naked
women and
the star
cameos in the
last scene,
“Bone” strug
gles to present
a clear mes-
m Movie Review
“Play It to the Bone"
ff
sage to the audience.
While the film offers an accurate rep
resentation of the sport, the unorga
nized plot is riddled with trivial
comedic events and bizarre, inexplica
ble happenings.
Woody Harrelson and Antonio
Banderas star as two washed-up mid
dle weights asked to duke it out in the
undercard fight for Mike Tyson. The
film chronicles their road trip to Las
Vegas and their bout in (he ring.
Shelton has several sport films under
his belt, such as “Tin Cup,” “W hite Men
Can’tjump” and “Bull Durham.” Much
like “White Men Can’tjump,” “Bone”
features excellent camera shots during
the sports scenes, capturing the drama
and intensity found in the boxing ring.
The character development and plot,
however, leave much to be desired.
Vince Boudreau (Harrelson) and
Caesar Dominguez (Banderas) decide to
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Friday, January 28, 2000
drive to “Sin City.” On the road trip, the
audience discovers how each of the
boxers failed in previous fights as they
talk about their sordid pasts.
Harrelson portrays a tough guy who
found the power of religion when he
sawjesus after a car accident. Jesus now
visits him wherever he goes. Banderas
lays his Spanish accent on extra thick to
play the stereotypical Hispanic fighter.
In the boxing ring, the two friends
morph into two ruthless fighting
machines. Camera shots that dart back
and forth between punches draw the
audience into the fight. But by the sev
enth round, the repetitive scene leaves
eyes wandering.
In between rounds of tough fighting,
Boudreau and Dominguez have odd
visions that don’t seem to have anything
to do with the plot itself. Boudreau sees
several topless women while
Dominguez sees a naked man. But this
isn’t really all that surprising, as random
and gratuitous sex scenes are scattered
throughout the film.
And if it wasn’t for a surprisingly
amazing soundtrack filled with bluesy
jazz and intense techno, “Play It to the
Bone” would seem to drag on for hours.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
I STUART LITTLE^
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MAN ON THE MOON 1
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ISN’T SHE GREAT ]
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ANGELA’S ASHES 1
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