6
Thursday, June 13,1996
Cage and Connery Break Out
With Thrilling, Escapist ‘Rock’
With summer comes a slew of inevi
table action films, butyou’llbehard pressed
to find a more high-octane assault on the
senses than “The Rock,” a thrilling action
film starring Nicolas Cage and Sean
Connery. The sheer amount of destruction
that goes on in this film makes it the proto-
type of Holly
wood excess
that your
motherwamed
you about.
Some will
BRENT SIMON
"The Rock"
B
deride “The Rock” as nothing more than
high-gloss, derivative drivel, but they’re
missingthepoint, because it’s really “good”
drivel. Producers Jerry Bruckheimer and
the late Don Simpson (“Top Gun,”
“Beverly Hills Cop”) have always empha
sized style over substance. If you sit back
and pout about the film's dozen or so
problems, you’ll ultimately miss out on a
superb performance by Cage, not to men
tion one hell of a good time.
Theplotgoes something likethis: an ex-
‘H’ Proves a Masterful Insight Into Realm of Psychosis
Imagine living in a world filled with
“h’’-shaped beings called Elliots, and hav
ing your home
town called
Elliottown.
Only you can
journey to this
TODD DARLING 1
Book Review
"H"
world, and while you are there, the society
Elizabeth Shepard explores the topic of mental illness in her most recent work,
"H." Her novel allows the reader to see into the world of a troubled youth.
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Marine elite corp leader (Ed Harris) holes
up on Alcatraz with 81 hostages, four poi
son gas rockets aimed at nearby San Fran
cisco and a demand for SIOO million.
The money is ostensibly for the families
of every man who died under his com
mand on secret missions and who was
denied an official recognition of bravery
and a military burial. He also wants to keep
a some money for himself and his Fisher
Price “My Very First Disenfranchised
Mercenary” team, but who’s counting?
Faced with a lose-lose scenario, the FBI
puts together an elite team to infiltrate the
supposedly inescapable prison. Thrown
into the mix are FBI lab rat and chemical
weapons specialist Stanley Goodspeed
(Cage) and British spy/imprisoned con
vict John Mason (Connery), who was the
only man ever to successfully break out of
the high-profile prison.
Connery is Connery, but his co-star
steals the show. As Goodspeed, Cage is the
unlikeliest of action heroes. His perfor
mance breathes fresh air into a fairly con
you normally live in becomes a blur. This
is the portrait that Elizabeth Shepard paints
for the reader in her new novel “H.”
The main protagonist is a 12-year-old,
deeply troubled boy named Benjamin
Sherman. Not your typical bright-eyed,
mischievous youth, Benjamin is looked
upon by his peeis as an outcast, having no
ventional role. The film picks up quickly,
hurtling forward for the next hour and 45
minutes.
The camera work and editing are above
average, but there are several technical
glitches that detract from the overall qual
ity of the film. The sound mixing is espe
cially poor at times. I know part of this is
due to the fact that Connery likes to gargle
with small pebbles while he talks, but it’s
hard enough following the the plot without
having to lean forward inordertocatchthe
lines of dialogue.
Much has been made about Jan De
Bont’s talented direction of “Speed” and
“Twister.” But Michael Bay, the director
of “Bad Boys,” is an action master of a
different sort. Bay’s style bursts forth with
the force and irrepressible intensity of a
Glock 9mm semi-automatic spray. He has
a knack for masterfully mixing action and
comedy, never losing sight of his ram-it
down-your-throat narrative. “The Rock”
is a lot of fun. And it still makes more sense
than “Mission: Impossible.”
connection to his suburban lifestyle. The
sole link between him and his imaginary
Elliottown is a small, stuffed toy in the
shape of the letter “h.”
The novel opens with Benjamin’s par
ents, Lucy and Reston, preparing to send
him off to Camp Onianta. Shepard utilizes
letters from Benjamin’s doctor and his par
ents to develop his character. This unique
style, while not providing active dialogue
for character development, utilizes an in
direct method of characterization that is
particularly useful for this novel.
The reader is first given an impression
of Benjamin by his parents as a “ ... quiet
boy (who) likes to be left alone.” This is the
typical, biased view of parents who are
trying to make their son’s illness seem less
severe than it is. Shepard gives the reader
the impressions that Benjamin makes on
secondary characters before allowing the
reader to see inside Benjamin’s world.
The entire second half of the novel is
devoted to letters from Benjamin to his
imaginary friend, Elliott. In reading these
letters, one can see how disturbed he is.
Benjamin has created an entire other-uni
verse in such detail, that it is beyond that of
a typical “imaginary friend” scenario and
borders on schizophrenia. Elliott has al
most become a secondary character in the
novel, the driving force by which Ben
jamin lives.
By using this stream-of-consciousness
effect in these letters, the true nature of
Benjamin’s sickness is revealed. He lives in
this other-world and has no lasting touch
with reality. When he arrives at the camp,
his disorder becomes worse. He cuts him
self off from his other campmates, as Elliott
tells Benjamin that “ ... (humans) are bad
and they don’t understand us.”
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Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery star in "The Rock," a smash-em-up action thriller which provides constant excitement.
“Endorsed by the National
Mental Health Society,
Shepards novel is a work that
explores mental illness on
several levels. Not only is the
clinical side explored, but the
reader is also brought into the
mind of Benjamin Sherman. ”
The novel ends with Benjamin at home
after spending the summer at camp. He has
left the hospital, and although Eh\ Dysan
has come to the opinion that he has im
proved, Benjamin is deeply depressed at
having to come to grips with reality. In his
final letter, Benjamin’s strained, troubled
emotions surface as his confusion and pain
are apparent. He does not want to leave his
other-world, yet he shows signs of wanting
to rejoin society.
Shepard’s style throughout the novel is
truly unique, using only letters to advance
the plot. Endorsed by the National Mental
Health Association, Shepard’s novel is a
work that explores mental illness from
several levels. Not only is the clinical,
medical side explored, but the reader is
also brought into the mind of Benjamin
Sherman in addition to the Sherman
family’s characterizations of him through
their letters.
“H” is a-startlingly real book that has
applications in today’s society, as people
with mental disabilities are often scorned
as freaks and outcasts. By reading this
book, the reader can gain healthy insight
into, though not necessarily comprehen
sion of, the workings of a disturbed mind.
‘Phantom’ Haunts Box
Office With Cheesy Appeal
Paramount must have wanted to cash in
on the highly profitable Warner Brothers’
franchise of developing comic book heroes
into multi-million dollar movies. Viewing
the success of such blockbuster series as
“Superman” and “Batman,” Paramount
has now delivered its comic book hero
turned movie star. Lee Falk of King Fea
tures created “The Phantom” in 1936, and
it is amazing
that it has taken
Hollywood
over half a cen
tury to develop
it into a film.
DEAN HAIR
Movie Review
"The Phantom"
C-
Little problems bothered me through
out the film, like where in the middle of the
jungle did the Phantom (Billy Zane) find
purple spandex? Not that he does not fill it
out nicely with his recently buffed body,
however. The Phantom is like Tarzan with
a little more attitude and class, but not
much more. Zane comes across as very
likeable and appealing, though you have to
keep a box of crackers nearby to catch all of
the cheesy dialogue.
The action scenes are pathetic. The only
interesting scene involves a truck crossing
an ancient bridge and of course you know
Arts&
Entertainment
Calendar
—<♦
FRIDAY, JUNE 14
COLD COFFEE. Ninth Street Bakery. 776
Ninth St, Durham. 286-0303.
SATURDAY, JUNE 15
JACKIE AND PATTIE LESUER with RICK
LARENO. Ninth Street Bakery. 776 Ninth St,
Durham. 286-0303.
SUNDAY, JUNE 16
ERRATICA with KUNG FUSION. The Cave.
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the bridge is going to break.
Kristy Swanson plays Zane’s love inter
est and sports one of the worst Amelia
Earhart hairstyles I have seen. Swanson’s
performance is like her performance in
“Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” airheaded.
The plot centers around the hunt for
three magical skulls, which, when put to
gether, create an evil force the likes of
which God has never seen. The Phantom
then begins a cheeseball chase through the
jungle and New York City to foil the bad
guys’ ambitions of controlling the world.
Mix in an ancient brotherhood ofbad guys,
namely pirates, and you have, well, an
even worse mishmash of disaster than what
Alec Baldwin delivered in “The Shadow.”
There are a few good things about “The
Phantom.” The cinematography is warm
and inviting. Crisp shots of the jungle and
wonderful map paintings of New York in
the 1930s help distract you from the messy
acting going on in front of them. I would
bank on this film making a modest opening
and then quickly slipping into the $1 the
aters before the month is over and into the
video store before Fall. If you want to taste
the best that comic book heroes have to
offer, stick to the comics.
452 1/2 W. Franklin St, Chapel Hill. 968-
9308.
MONDAY, JUNE 17
THE VAN GOGH GOGHS. The Cave. 452 1/2
W. Franklin St, Chapel Hill. 968-9308.
TUESDAY, JUNE 18
JAMIE NOTARTHOMAS. The Cave. 452 1/2
W. Franklin St. Chapel Hill. 968-9308.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19
GIBB DROLL with EVAN & JARON. Cat's
Cradle. 300 E. Main St, Carrboro. 967-9053.
THURSDAY JUNE 20
DOUBTING THOMAS. The Cave. 452 1/2 W.
Franklin St, Chapel Hill. 968-9308.