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| Photo furnished Kernel staff |
| ANIMAL CRACKERS Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer attempt to hunt down a pair of man-eating lions in the African adventure story 'The Ghost and the Darkness.' |
I wish I had a dime for every Hollywood action movie that creates an involving, suspenseful storyline and then flushes it down the toilet with a shoddy, all-smiles ending. If this was the case The Ghost and the Darkness would have made me a richer man. Set in 1898, the film begins when railroad engineer John Patterson (Val Kilmer) is sent to Tsavo, Africa to build a bridge for an imperialistic English businessman. He arrives to a situation where the Hindu and Muslim bridge workers are feuding. When a lion attacks and eats one of the revered tribal men, however, Patterson's one-shot killing of the beast rallies the laborers together to work under the new village hero. Things don't continue as smoothly though, as two other lions get hungry, chew on half of the workers and scare the other half off.
Enter Remington (Michael Douglas), a renowned hunter, as hired help to aid in killing the golden maned four-legged demons. His character, resembling a bad mix between Crocodile Dundee and Snake Plissken, was out of place and cartoonish, at times looking like Elmer Fudd trying to track down Bugs Bunny.
The acting is believable with sturdy performances from Kilmer and Douglas as well as John Kani, playing an African native who helps Patterson interact with other natives.
Definitely not for the weak-stomached, the film contains numerous sequences of lions munching on human flesh. If that doesn't sound bad enough, these lions lack proper dinner etiquette and insist on eating with their mouths open. These scenes, in which the lions pummel tribesman and dip their faces in blood have a twisted, enjoyable quality to them, that contribute to the intensity.
Other notables include a well-done, large-scale set design and a gorgeous South African landscape shot by cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (The Deer Hunter).
With the mystic, man-eating lion premise, The Ghost and the Darkness had the potential to become a good horror film. But director Stephen Hopkins (Nightmare on Elm Street 5, Predator 2) botched some of the action scenes and William Goldman's corny textbook Hollywood ending with some laughable voice-over narration took away from the generally solid adventure picture.
The film' s running time is approximately 110 minutes long. My advice: leave after 108 minutes and you'll enjoy the film much more.
First came the Coen brothers with Blood Simple, five years later the Dahl brothers followed with a very similar Kill Me Again, and now, the Wachowski brothers debut with a very, very similar film, Bound. Not to say this newest set of family filmmakers lack originality completely, but their journey into the shadowy depths of film noir doesn't exactly blaze any new trails.
With blatant influences from Martin Scorsese, Tarantino and the Coens, the brothers blend an odd mix of black comedy, torturous violence and lipstick lesbians in their first directing effort. The result is a fun, entertaining film with a host of cool visuals and camera trickery. Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon and Joe Pantoliano star in the convoluted theft-gone-awry story.
They spend the opening scenes with Tilly's bimbo-ish character, Violet, trying to seduce her neighbor, the ex-con, dyke, plumber, Corky (Gershon). While some of the sequences are humorous, I couldn't help but feel that the Wachowski brothers used their directorial power to live out some of their sick lesbian fantasies.
The pitch comes when Violet proposes to steal two million dollars from her gangster boyfriend Caeser (Pantoliano).
Apparently Gershon took everything she learned from Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls and put it into this performance. Every scene with Gershon progressively detracted more from the film, due to a clumsy, maladroit delivery. In addition to her poor acting, her character's name, Corky, constantly evoked memories of the down-syndrome boy from "Life Goes On," thus furthering her irritating presence.
Luckily, after the first 30 minutes Pantoliano and Tilly governed the screen as the high-strung, loose-cannon Mafia hitman and the cunning, squeaky-voiced girlfriend, respectively. The entire supporting cast comprised mostly of ruthless, Italian mobsters, were outstanding despite their cliché-ridden roles.
Although the playfulness with the camera was eye-catching, their style didn't contribute much to the story. They seemed to show off in the wide range of shots and angles rather than give them a purpose. If these young brothers mature a little they may one day be mentioned in the same sentence as their obvious superior influences.
Aside from occasional lapses in creativity, Bound is perhaps the most amusing and imaginative film of the young fall season.
The Long Kiss Goodnight
New Line Cinema
HHHH
By Josh Herr
Contributing Critic
One of the most disappointing things about this summer is that, with the possible exception of The Rock, there was no truly great action film. Well it's a season late, but The Long Kiss Goodnight may be the movie I was waiting for.
The story centers around a New England school teacher who can not remember her past beyond eight years ago. After a series of violent and mysterious events though, it all comes flooding back. Turns out the sweet little school teacher is, in fact, an assassin for the government, and a whole lot of people want her dead.
Action director Renny Harlin manages to redeem himself from last year's biggest financial disaster, Cutthroat Island. His action scenes are breathtaking, though he has trouble with the more tender scenes. Most of the credit for this film, though, has to go to screenwriter Shane Black who has cranked out another great story filled with his usual brand of action and comedy. He seems to have a great deal of fun playing with his usual buddy formula (Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout) by making one of them a woman.
In the acting department, I have never been a big Geena Davis fan, but she does fine in The Long Kiss Goodnight. Much of the story is about a woman struggling with different sides of her personality, Davis manages this relatively well.
Samuel L. Jackson proves, yet again, that he might be the best actor in Hollywood. As the private detective who helps Davis, he is easily the best thing about the movie. Every other line out of his mouth is hilarious, but it isn't just comedy that makes him great, he turns the character into a human being. One complaint though, did we have to see him naked?
Newcomer Craig Bierko also does quite well as the darkly charismatic psychopath who pursues Davis. Impeccable British actor Brian Cox, probably best known as the other Hannibal Lector, is great for the fifteen minutes he is on screen as Davis' mentor. Yvonne Zima (Rachel Green on "ER") is also very good as Davis' daughter. It's rare to see a child actor able to handle the "Help me mommy" material without seeming corny, but she manages to be convincing.
Other than a cheesy dream sequence at the beginning and some abrupt shifts of tone, this is a great movie. Harlin and Black keep the action and comedy coming all the way up to the nail-biting climax.