Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Sept. 21, 1989, edition 1 / Page 19
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Page 10 DTH Omnibus Thursday September 21, 1989 C II INI E im A Pacino's on the crest of a major comeback Sea of Love Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman cSrected by Harold Becker Carolina Blue and White, South Square call for times cooo - ew .York City is a paradox: while it is one of the most vibrant cultural centers of the -world, it ts also one of the loneliest. Iri order to adapt to its frenetic pace, its social ambitions, its overpopula tion, its violence and its noise, New Yorkers develop air-tight defense mechanisms to protect their fragile egos. Yet far the midst of this intimi- "dating, energetic city, many people long for that certain someone who Will allow them to exhibit their vul nerable side and make them feel connected to the society they both love and hate. ft .$-' P if Eddie and Sept.25-3Q Is Greek Week! STTVl FCDMAATS DIcUGCeiTH? r. t i - 1 X it i- - " ' ZTA SSo Zandy Hartig Sea of Love, written by Richard Price and directed by Harold Becker, evokes this alienated, overwrought city so well that it is more than just a backdrop, it becomes yet another skillful player in this tense murder mystery thriller. Someone is killing men who write personal ads in verse to a well-known New York magazine. All the victims are murdered naked, in their bed rooms, at the peak of sexual excite ment, while an old 45 of "Sea of Love" drones endlessly on a phono graph. Detective Frank Keller (Al Pac ino) is assigned to the case. Keller has no other Ufe outside of his 20 year devotion to the police force; his wife left him for his partner, and in order to deaden the pain of his mid OOO js O v. 3M W ZZZTZZ- - " ' - : -.. 1 - s-.Jy?.-A. his new Cruisers do H aft again one more time jK. A3cAAn,AKA,Xa j J I I . KA. KKT. OM. nBO. ZOB r : All Hcrchcndlso vO"! E CarrMill 933-0069 (onC&Fbusline) J) life crisis, he has turned to drink. Frank personifies the sometimes des perate loneliness of New York. Holed up in his dingy little apartment on the Upper West Side, his liquor is his only bedside companion. The murderer strikes again in Queens, so Frank teams up with a Forest Hills detective, Sherman Touhey, vibrantly played by John Goodman (Roseanne Barr's husband on TV's Roseanne). He is the an tithesis of Frank's depressed charac ter. Jovial and rotund with a stable family life, Sherman is a man who enjoys and is securely tied to his world. These two men, who are as different physically as they are psychologically, develop a strong sense of camarade rie and friendship which had previ ously been absent from Frank's life. In order to catch the killer, the two detectives place personal ads in the same magazine and pose as singles. One woman stands out above the rest of the respondants. Helen, acted with remarkable strength and sensu w 212 V. Main St. .-:;:-'-X:::::::::.;:::;:;' :vv:x - :-:-:o:"i: Carrboro,NC 27510 (919)942-4048 (T) American Hoart y Association ( crafts ) )s Gallery '"Z ality by Ellen Barkin, is a gutsy, pow erfully intelligent woman who eludes Frank's attempts at interrogation veiled in small talk. Her animal magnetism, her sexual ferocity and unabashed demand to get what she wants makes Frank suspect her of being the murderess. But it's not that simple. Frank is more attracted to Helen than he has ever been to any woman. His life is loveless and desolate, and despite the danger she poses to him, Frank is drawn helplessly to her vital, smol dering presence. Who is Helen? Is she just a restless, e impassioned woman who seeks a connection with another lost city soul, or is she the killer? I must admit, I was so thrilled to see Al Pacino back on the screen after his six year hiatus that he could have flared his nostrils and. I would have been satisfied. Nevertheless, his performance as the mournful homi cide detective, Frank Keller, is a triumph. His soulful eyes are invalu able instruments for expressing his Give it up, Eddie Eddie and the Cruisers II Michael Pare, Marina Orsini, . Bernie Coulson, Matthew Laurance directed by Jean-Claude Lord Plaza doses tonight 0012 . What's that you say, Eddie and the Cruisers Part 11, Eddie Lives! 1 Why not? After all, this has been called "Sequel Sum mer." So with another blast into the past and hard-rocking music that is sure to please, here's the movie to answer the question that hasn't ex actly been burning in our hearts for all these years: Is Eddie Wilson alive? If you remember (and the movie assumes you can for the first thirty minutes), in the first Cruisers' movie Eddie Wilson (Michael Pare) drove his car off a bridge in, 1964fc just when his music career was beginning. His body was never found, a Circumstance which leads to the million-dollar scam for music producer Lew Eisen (Har vey Atkin) that opens fast ll. Eddie has been lying law in Can ada for the past , twenty yars as a regular Joe (by the name of Joe, Joe West) trying to cope with his haunted past. He soon finds himself caught up in a romance with struggling art ist Diane Armani (Marina Orsini) and in a conflict with a degenerate, over-ambitious guitarist named Rick DeSal (Bernie Coulson) who wants "Joe" to join his band. After a battle with his macho conscience and a not-half-bad love scene, he decides to build a new band in hopes of bring ing the old sound back to life. pain and isolation. Yet he maintains his grouchy, deadpan sense of hu mor, which is a key asset to survival in a tough city. Unlike many method actors, like Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino's vigorous acting technique does not interfere with the purity of his performance. I can never forget that I am watching Hoffman act like an autistic, or Nicholson act like the Joker, although their performances are mesmerizing. But Al Pacino seems to become his character completely. I forgot I was watching Al Pacino. I was only watching Frank Keller. - Sea of Love is not a perfect movie. It does not deliver all the excite ment and thrills it promises the viewer,' and there are inconsisten cies within the plot. Yet Richard Price is so adept at the smart, brash city lingo, the actors are so gifted, the mood is so right and the suspense is so taut, that the imperfections are relatively unimportant. Sea of Love is definitely worth seeing. Donald Beck The movie cranks up with the unmistakable sounds of Eddie and the "New Cruisers" (courtesy of John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band). From speechless "Conan the drum mer" Charlie Tansey (Paul Markle) to the sophisticated and wimpy pi anist Stewart Fairbanks (David Matheson), Eddie's ensemble of mis fits produce a penetrating sound while singing (actually lip-syncing) and playing their way to the top. The music was the most impressive part of the movie and you may find your self, as I did, tapping your foot and singing along. I even went as far as trying to tind the soundtrack (Rec ord Bar only had one). Director Jean-Claude Lord (He Shoots, He Scores) uses flashback se quences and brings back Eddie's best friend Sal Amato (Matthew Laurance of TVs Duet) in. hopes of keeping the spirit of the original movie alive but it doesn't work. With America enpulfed in Eddiemania trvine to fie- o I u c ure out if the star js alive o dead, the movie loses its emotional involve ment as we wait an hour and 45 minutes for Eddie to come out of the closet. I found myself wishing pleading . . .hoping (not but loud, of course) for someone to discover he had not been killed. Eddie could not have said it better when he states, "A man's music speaks louder than his words." This is espe cially true for this film, since music is all the entertainment it has to of fer. Eddie Wilson and John Cafferty fans ought to give it a shot, but oth ers should just buy the soundtrack. mm
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Sept. 21, 1989, edition 1
19
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