The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 104

MOVIES 1 W'- i i j. mi mi ii imi inn mi i ii i VILLAGE injij aaVtV mi'- 1 7 i W- Mt.t.. I Warn I sr. tmomf 2 tn. 4 JOpm hxlaT MM 'O Lasting Impressions: Lithography as Art.

A stunning print display including works by such masters as Touloun-Lautrec. Picasso, Bonnard, Goya and Cezanne. Until November 6. Henri Matisse: Costumes Designed for the Ballet Le Chant du Rossignol 1920. View the spectacular costumes Matisse designed for the ballet Until November 27.

Drawing in Australia. For the first time. Australia's history In drawings, watercolours and pastels. Until October 23. Facing Facts: Documentary Photographs.

A fascinating array of classic photographs by the masters of the documentary tradition. Until October 2. Rubens's Self-portrait in Focus. The first Australian exhibition devoted to Europe's greatest Baroque painter, Peter Paul Ruber. Until October 30.

Australian National GaHeryl CANBERRA t' Australian National Gallery, Partes Place. Partes Phone 712 502. I 71 tot CAMS V( tK I -r-irin mi I ONE MILLION KUNl COPS. A QV.ZI MOMENT: Rugged hero (Harmon) falls for tho Colonel's daughter (Ryan). fedy 1 10 4 00 30 OOpm Wen li JO.

2 OO. 4 M. 7O0 Mpm Presidio opens with you guessed it a car chase. A security patrol from the Presidio army base gives chase to the murderers of a night sentry. After leaving tyre marks across half of San Francisco, they give up and call for police help.

That comes in the muscular shape of Detective Jay Hmy 1 4 00 10 tQfimm Mun lit 4 00 TQQ Mm si 1 THE PRESIDIO (M) Directed by Peter Hyams. Starring Sean Connery, Mark Harmon, Meg Ryan. Greater Union George Street, Parramatta. Cremorne Orpheum, Eastgardens, Warringah Mall, Bankstown, Beverley Hills Twin, Hornsby, Hurstville, Stanmore. Vi 'fad 4 ipm THE Presidio Is a big budget action thriller with more potential on the page than In the final frames.

On paper, this combination of a great cast with romance, murder suspense and action should be Oscar-worthy stuff. The final result certainly isn't. Hyams rather coarse direction exaggerates the action, and Presidio becomes a lavish blam-blam cop movie entertaining, but hardly outstanding. It's rather a shame to see sensitive performers like Connery, Ryan and Harmon struggling Austin (Harmon). To his dismay, Austin finds himself forced to for Herald Classifieds 2821122 work with Presidio Pro 'tzmrm la- W1 I 1 1 .11.

1 tC ttw Mon It iiO 2 OO 4 49 against the one-track roller coaster Hyams approach. Although all three deliver nicely judged performances, viewers will find themselves wishing that Hyams had concentrated more screen time on drama rather than on car chases. vost Marshall Colonel Caldwell (Connery). There's bad blood between these two and matters aren't helped when Austin falls for the erSgdneytsoldon 1 11 I Kmmmaammmaam Colonel's daughter i Won lftMl I (Ryan). JO .4 4.

I00 lllo 1 il At least the casting is right. Even in his sketchily drawn antagonistic father role, Connery delivers. A bar-room brawl becomes DREW FORSYTIEE CAMERON DADDO JON ENGLISH JOHN BELL sheer joy to watch with Connery at the centre of it while a (too brief) drunken soliloquy shows just how good he can be. Superficial I I I 1 OOV 1 4t I OOofft dav Ho VrMMnf I 1 Hon II M. 100 lllta "on UO looaa I wJoaooaooOBBaatlSaalWIol fooa, 7 Mjpm I looay tpn a- a I 1 loVS" on.ml toTTvTn'Taai fcon la 1 in r.TTr a Harmon fares less well as the supposedly rugged hero.

He often seems i jt. av an- rr ik hi i nv i na. I li uncomfortably stiff although his Summer School niceness does Mom ipm 30 item I Htm 700 IIsmn I nrrt -m 1 iv: vt.ji I -i ne musical mat won I- vr 1 UJ 7 Tonv Awards! BiiiniiiiiiMiiiaiiiag a- I jPij 'lii ii.dtWJwMt. jyi toXJT V' Wlt Kjoay ont I II Is. I 4 4 It.

444 I ISpm i soften Austin into a generally likable character. Harmon also works well with Ryan and they manage to add a tittle individuality to their badly staged love scenes. Hyams is clearly at a loss in the more personal scenes which often seem simplistic and superficial. He's obviously more comfortably following the straightforward comedy action formula which made his last unorthodox-cop movie Running Scared such a success. Hyams fans will know that his speciality is the hyper-paced car chase.

Presidio is no exception. These scenes are real edge-of-the-seat stuff and Hyams control of his actors, locations and camera is superb. His method of piling one crashnear misstotal wipeout on top of another is enough to take your breath away for minutes at a time. The regular actionfight scenes are adrenalin shots to a movie which is little more than a star-studded but straightforward murder story. If there are no surprises in plotline or dialogue, at least the visuals are enough to gloss over the film's patchier moments.

Connery alone is worth the price of a ticket ROB LOWINQ I a It's about It's about to sweep everything before it. Mo srana ey a. 'iTTT4aaTaaT I -T 1 Wotey 00 44l Li.i.'li'TiV'irfrM in ii ii il CiMHClTVMGa'9oS 7M4IC1 COS fif) Aai' Si lOaliaian CXMJHI I in H-m Sir, M4 WJl hjih4 4VO AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE SATURDAY JANUARY 7 HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE TICKETS ON SALE TOMORROW 9AM BOOK NOW IN PERSON OR BY PHONECREDIT CARD 212 Mil. For Drat 10 day 0" Ml lUjWy'l IliTickfttl 2U tMO. CROUPS OF 12 OK MORE: Phone Joan 212 3411 for BIG Savings and BIGGER Savinfa during Brat 2 weefca of aeaaonl LOW PRICE PREVIEWS January IB ALL SEATS 2S.

NlfkrlT at Spm Matiaeea Wednesday Setnrdar pai THE SUN-HERALO, August 14, 1988 105.