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Will they fall in love? Yeah, you guessed
Page 10 DTH Omnibus
Thursday February 21, 1991
y fall in
JeffTrussell
Green Card
Gerard Depardieu, Andie MacDowell
directed by Peter Weir
Varsity
967-8665
n n box office terms, Green Card
may be seen as successful and
therefore (gulp) a good movie.
Maybe Hollywood needs this type
of film to keep afloat. In the end,
though, the movie seemed like it was
nothing more than a long introduc
tion of French actor Gerard Depardieu
to American audiences.
For years, Depardieu has been the
main man in French cinema. He's
not a typical leading man; he's big,
clumsy and he has an amazingly large
nose. But he is also utterly charismatic
and has a presence that not only steals,
but wrenches every scene from
whomever he's cast with.
In Green Card, Depardieu plays
George, a French composer trying to
obtain a ... green card! Here's the
catch: in order to do so, George has to
marry an American. But never fear,
Bronte, who is a friend of a friend of
George's (who of course is played by
Andie MacDowell), wants to rent a
neat little apartmentgreenhouse in
New York. But wouldn't you know,
she has to get married in order to do
so. So the two get married, run into
problems with immigration and, of
course, fall in love.
Comment on the plot is unneces
sary, except to say it has all been done
before. This movie has big problems
and they stem from the casting.
In order to offset Depardieu, a truly
amazing actor is needed, instead, di
rector Peter Weir chose Andie
Macdowell, who is best known for
last year's sex, lies and videotape.
Throughout the movie, she acts as
though she was handed a script five
minutes before the shoot and told,
"Act!" She is hesitant and possibly a
bit awed by Depardieu. Now, I admit,
there isn't much to Bronte's charac
ter, but it wouldn't have been asking
too much for MacDowell to go a bit
further with her part.
Something that has plagued
MacDowell throughout her career is
her accent. Born in Gaffhey, South
Carolina, she has a distractingly
Southern drawl, something she toned
down a bit for sex, lies and videotape.
Her voice in Greys take was dubbed
over by the eloquent speech of Glenn
Close, an incident that almost led to
MacDowell's early retirement. In
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George Faure (Gerard Depardieu) and Bronte Parrish (Andie MacDowell)
Green Card, she tries to hide her ac- wealthy friend of Bronte's. Neuwirth
cent, but ends up sounding like an is one of the most exceptionally beau
American faking a British accent. tiful actresses to come along in some
Green Card did have its funny time, and she manages to seem self-
moments and a surprisingly good sup- possessed without being aloof. Even few months. Other things aside, ex
porting cast. One actress who stood in her much smaller role, she over- pect to see more of Gerard Depardieu
out was Bebe Neuwirth, who plays a shadows MacDowell. and much less of Andie MacDowell.
Overall, there isn't much substance
to Green Card. It can expect to take
its place on the video shelf along side
Home Alone and Pretty Woman in a
II I
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