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Spotty showings from a legend, Dalmatians
By STEVE PERSALL
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 5, 2001
The Legend of Bagger Vance
[Photo: DreamWorks ]
A mysterious caddie named Bagger Vance (Will Smith, left) helps a down-on-his-luck golfer, Rannulph Junuh (Matt Damon), get his swing back in The Legend of Bagger Vance. |
(PG-13) Robert Redford directed this overly noble adaptation of Steve Pressfield's golf-as-life novel, chipping in details of 1920s Georgia even as the drama hooks wide of its mark. Matt Damon plays Rannulph Junuh, a drunken, disillusioned World War I veteran salvaging pride in a match against pro legends Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen.
Will Smith plays Bagger Vance, a mystical caddie helping Rannulph recapture his swing on and off the course. Redford took the same metaphorical approach before with fly-fishing (A River Runs Through It) and, as an actor, with baseball (The Natural) more successfully than this.
First impressions: "Beard stubble and mussed hair aren't enough to make (Damon) seem pathetic, or even down on his luck. (He) appears too healthy playing a drunk with personal demons . . . Smith's easygoing personality is always nice to see on screen, although out of place for this film in this era. It's as if segregation never hit Savannah.
"Redford's worst mistake is too much dependency on voice-over narration to explain the feelings of his characters, or even what they're doing at that moment. Jack Lemmon . . . as narrator speaks more lines than most of the actors. The Legend of Bagger Vance takes on the nature of an illustrated audiobook. Abridged, of course."
Second thoughts: I thought golfers shouted "fore," not "bore."
Rental audience: People who like dimples, on Damon or golf balls.
Rent it if you enjoy: The Natural, the Golf Channel.
102 Dalmatians
(G) Glenn Close reprises her dastardly role as Cruella De Vil, a fur aficionado jailed for stealing spotted pups in 1961's original, animated 101 Dalmatians and its 1996 live-action remake. Cruella hasn't been fully rehabilitated. Finishing touches on a Dalmatian ensemble require one more puppy to fashion a hood. Gerard Depardieu co-stars as a conniving designer.
First impressions: ". . . a reasonably compelling extension of the familiar story. It's a smartly designed production that capitalizes on the built-in appeal of the title characters and the shrieking, operatic over-the-top performances of Close and Depardieu. . . .
"(The animated) original, based on the popular Dodie Smith children's book, remains far more charming than either of the versions with flesh-and-blood characters, and the youngest viewers might be better served by a close encounter with the classic version at home, on video." (Philip Booth, Times correspondent)
Second thoughts: Some moviegoers were scraping the soles of their shoes on the sidewalk after the show.
Rental audience: Viewers under age 8, parents seeking to entertain them.
Rent it if you enjoy: The 1996 version of 101 Dalmatians; watching an Academy Award winner slumming.
DVD
New and noteworthy for digital players
Director brings fresh cinematic feast
Soul Food: Director's Edition
[Photo: 20th Century Fox]
Mama Joe (Irma P. Hall, left) prepares the weekly family dinner in the kitchen with her daughters, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long and Vanessa L. Williams, in Soul Food.
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(R) George Tillman Jr. isn't a flashy filmmaker, or provocative in his choice of subject matter, so among African-American directors, he's a bit of a rarity. Tillman is an equal-opportunity storyteller, first and foremost, and one of the most promising we have today after only two movies, last year's stirring Men of Honor and this warm family drama from 1997.
Soul Food was part of a recent minor revitalization of black cinema, nestled between the eye-opening themes and success of Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Tillman didn't follow the tried-and-true method of revisiting downbeat inner-city themes, but showed African-Americans in a loving, positive light with strong family bonds and problems reaching across color boundaries.
The fact that Soul Food recovered its $7.5-million budget nearly sixfold at the box office proved again that audiences want more than gangsta-and-ho dilemmas held high as supposed evidence of some encompassing truth that simply doesn't apply to all black people.
Soul Food is a simple, sentimental story of Sunday dinners at Mama Joe's house, with Irma P. Hall once again endearing as the gentle matriarch. When Mama Joe is hospitalized with diabetes, the dinner routine is threatened. Tension among her daughters (Vivica A. Fox, Vanessa L. Williams, Nia Long) prevents their cooperation, even in the kitchen.
Tillman's script brings several topics into play, from same-race jealousy to reliance on family traditions. Everything works out fine, as expected, but audiences are seldom exposed to this side of black culture, so the mechanics are fresher.
Fox Home Entertainment didn't provide an advance copy of Tillman's special edition of Soul Food featuring his audio commentary track. Too bad, because I'd like the chance to hear his thoughts on making this film, perhaps how difficult it can be to produce big-studio movies about black America that aren't completely hopeless.
On a lighter note: The DVD also includes several recipes for Mama Joe's favorite meals.
REWIND
Videos worth another look
Birthday celebration brings out the dead
Call them schlock or junk, but don't call Roger Corman's movies insignificant. The undisputed king of grade-Z cinema used several of his 301 movies produced since 1954 to introduce -- or revive -- some of modern Hollywood's greatest talent.
Corman turns 75 today, offering a chance to remind videophiles of his singularly low-budget oeuvre. Corman, of course, wouldn't know what that word means and probably doesn't care. That kind of maverick spirit made him a legend to whom many stars owe their first or last breaks.
Check out these Corman calling cards that opened the door to fame, fortune and occasionally better scripts:
The Little Shop of Horrors -- A carnivorous plant was the star, but Jack Nicholson made his first impression as a masochistic dental patient. Nicholson actually debuted in Corman's 1958 potboiler The Cry-Baby Killer, not available on home video.
The Terror and The Raven -- Nicholson again, playing straight man to aging ghouls Vincent Price, Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. The movies were produced almost simultaneously on the same sets, proof of Corman's frugal method.
The Pit and the Pendulum -- Corman loved Edgar Allan Poe stories: scary, easy to get frisky with, and the late author wouldn't complain. This may be the best, with Price creepier than ever.
X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes -- Oscar winner Ray Milland was washed up when he took this role as a scientist who invents a serum allowing him to see through solid objects. Milland's career caught a second wind.
Dementia 13 -- A family inheritance dispute gets interrupted by an ax murderer. The screenwriting and directing debut of Francis Ford Coppola, eventual creator of the Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now.
The Wild Angels -- Three years before Easy Rider, Corman cast Peter Fonda as a motorcycle rebel battling another gang led by future Oscar nominee Bruce Dern. Extra credit for casting Peter Bogdanovich, who later directed The Last Picture Show.
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre -- Corman's lone shot at respectability with a top-notch cast (Jason Robards, George Segal, Ralph Meeker), a tidy story (Al Capone gets revenge) and better-than-usual production values. Nicholson is still an unbilled unknown as a getaway driver.
The Trip -- Corman hired Nicholson to write the script for this LSD adventure starring Fonda, Dern and Susan Strasberg, daughter of famed acting teacher Lee Strasberg.
Bloody Mama -- Shelley Winters got a career boost by playing gangster "Ma" Barker, but it's the eighth-billed actor -- Robert De Niro in his first major role -- who was remembered.
The Big Doll House -- The essential women-in-prison fantasy, but Pam Grier parlayed her tough role into such blaxploitation hits as Coffy, Foxy Brown and, later, Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown.
Boxcar Bertha -- Barbara Hershey and David Carradine play Depression-era foes of railroad security guards. Maybe you've heard of the director, an enthusiastic newcomer named Martin Scorsese.
Caged Heat -- More chicks-in-chains shenanigans with another promising filmmaker debuting: Jonathan Demme, who later won an Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs.
Grand Theft Auto -- Corman was ridiculed for allowing "Opie Taylor" to direct a movie, but Ron Howard became one of Hollywood's finest filmmakers.
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