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By STEVE PERSALL
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 28, 2000
Here is what we thought of this week's new video releases back when they were released on the big screen. Second thoughts include hindsight about the movies, what they'll be like on video and suggestions bout who might want to rent them.
Where the Heart Is (PG-13)
Natalie Portman plays Novalee Nation, pregnant, unwed and dumped by her dimwitted boyfriend at a Wal-Mart in Oklahoma. Childbirth in the store after hours is only the beginning of an episodic jumble of comedy and drama. Ashley Judd co-stars as Novalee's nurse and confidante, and Stockard Channing steals laughs as a devoutly religious and oversexed mother figure.
First impressions: "The story careens in all sorts of directions . . . none explained in depth. . . . Yet, the movie never irritates as much as the scattershot plot suggests. There is a pleasant rhythm to the melodrama that is practically no rhythm at all. "Our lives can change with every breath we take,' Novalee tells a friend in need. (Director Matt) Williams conducts his film in the same serendipitous manner."
Second thoughts: Where the Heart Is is more evidence that Portman is the finest young female actor working today. This movie deserved more attention in theaters, so home video could be a minor salvation.
Rental audience: Fans of Billie Lett's novel; those who enjoy films focusing on women's issues with a dash of rural eccentricity.
Rent it if you enjoy: Steel Magnolias, Fried Green Tomatoes.
Another live-action version of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon classic. Fred (Mark Addy, The Full Monty) and Barney (Stephen Baldwin) meet and marry Wilma (Kristen Johnston) and Betty (Jane Krakowski), respectively. They all vacation in Rock Vegas, where a casino tycoon (Thomas Gibson) attempts to woo Wilma away from Fred.
First impressions: "A limp prequel to a bad 1994 movie, both worthy of neglect on television when you're too busy to change the channel. A theater screen practically shrinks to TV size while this second dumbing wobbles along with more screenwriters (four) than decent jokes. Effects aren't special. This prehistoric dino-bore could be retitled The Land Before Time Stood Still."
Second thoughts: Yabba, dabba, don't waste time on this movie.
Rental audience: Bedrock fans; parents seeking a video babysitter.
Rent it if you enjoy: The Flintstones (1994).
James Toback has a tantalizing idea going for 35 minutes, questioning why many white teenagers have embraced hip-hop culture, and what African-Americans may think about that pale imitation.
Then the movie careens into cliche territory: a rapper involved with organized crime, a basketball player busted for point shaving and two documentary filmmakers working over their heads. An intriguing cast (including Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Brooke Shields and Mike Tyson) is wasted in Toback's shambling vision.
First impressions: "All those questions posed in the first two reels are left dangling. . . . Without courage to supply answers, Toback simply allows actors to ramble in whatever improvised direction they choose. Production notes proudly proclaim that no script was written for Black and White. The results make that boast absurd."
Second thoughts: Toback missed a great opportunity to make Black and White a film that could spark meaningful conversation about race in America. Just mentioning the topic a few times isn't enough. The scene in which Tyson slaps Downey after an improvised come-on is an electrifying piece of cinema.
Rental audience: Fans of Eminem; curious, easily satisfied viewers.
Rent it if you enjoy: Outtakes from film school experiments gone bad.
DVD
New and noteworthy for digital players
One of the better "lost" movies of the 1970s is Monte Hellman's 1971 existential road trip, in which a cross-country race becomes a revved-up metaphor for loneliness and youthful alienation. Think Easy Rider with four wheels underneath and you get the general idea.
Pop troubadour James Taylor made his only film acting appearance playing the Driver, a sullen soul challenging a crusty racer named GTO (Warren Oates). Car titles are on the line, but also a measure of accomplishment in their unfulfilled lives. Dennis Wilson, the late Beach Boys drummer, co-stars as the Driver's mechanic.
Hellman works hard to make these characters mythic in a John Ford way, with sparse dialogue often drowned out by the whine of engines. Two-Lane Blacktop is episodic and downbeat, as many films of the era tended to be, meaning as much (or as little) as a viewer decides it should. It's not an easy film to enjoy, but one that sticks with you.
Two-Lane Blacktop has been available before in VHS format, solidifying its cult status. DVD provides a wide-screen image and a chance for Hellman to explain his vague intentions on a separate audio track. A documentary on Hellman's career of motorcycle melodramas (The Wild Angels) and early Jack Nicholson rarities (The Shooting, Ride in the Whirlwind) is included, along with a 48-page booklet on this project.
Trivia note: The 1955 Chevy driven by Taylor and Wilson is the same car raced by Harrison Ford in American Graffiti two years later.
REWIND
Videos worth another look
Friday is the 87th birthday of Stanley Kramer, one of the most socially conscious pop filmmakers ever. As a producer and director, Kramer often tackled subjects that made audiences uneasy but usually kept them entertained. Check video store shelves for these Kramer morality tales:
The Defiant Ones (1958) -- Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis play escaped convicts bound by chains and divided by race. Dated melodrama, but a groundbreaker that confirmed Poitier as the first bankable African-American movie star.
On the Beach (1950) -- A memorable doomsday drama, with a submarine in Australia facing inevitable nuclear bomb fallout. Gregory Peck and Fred Astaire co-star.
Inherit the Wind (1960) -- Spencer Tracy and Fredric March in a courtroom battle over the right to teach evolution. Fictional, but based on transcripts of the famous Scopes monkey trial between Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan.
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) -- Nazi war criminals on trial, with an Oscar-winning performance by Maximilian Schell.
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) -- The first Hollywood hit to focus on interracial romance, with Poitier hoping to marry the daughter of an affluent white couple (Tracy and Oscar winner Katharine Hepburn).
And, just to assure you that Kramer does have a sense of humor:
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) -- The greatest assortment of comedy actors ever in one movie make one of the funniest films of all time. No social messages here, just laughs.