St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 67

3F REVIEWS FILM Psychological Horror Tale: Quiet But Deadly FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1991 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 4T 1 fi is 4 4 John Goodman as Ralph Jones, a Las Vegas piano player who becomes king of England in "King Ralph." they are dead.) "The Silence of the Lambs" has extraordinary depth and compelling psychological complexity. Much of that depth comes from Harris' book, which is one of the best popular novels of the last decade ranking in quality with works of such genre-transcending writers as John le Carre and Tony Hillerman. Director Jonathan Demirie and screenwriter Ted Tally had the good sense to follow the outlines of Harris' book without surrendering to it. "The Silence of the Lambs" might seem an unlikely project for Demme, whose previous successes and Howard," "Something have been marked by charm, whimsicality and an acute eye for the paraphernalia of American culture.

But another of Demme's strengths is bringing an indisputable humanity to his characters, and there certainly were hints of his eye for the dark side in the scenes toward the end of "Something Wild," when escaped convict Ray Liotta turned comedy into terror. Demme's delight in keeping the audience visually off-balance is again evident here, particularly when he has FBI agents in two separate spots closing in on houses that both contain surprises. When the series of cross-cuts comes to its dual climax, for a moment we are completely disoriented and then everything makes a horrible kind of sense. Hopkins, who increases the ominous perversity of Lecter's character by playing him as a kind of archly superior Nietzschean deadpan comic, gives a memorable performance, and Foster is excellent as his foil. In fact, the whole cast is first-rate, and that includes Ted Levine as Buffalo Bill just as scary as he was in the book, but somewhat more human.

It is always risky to predict how posterity will rank a contemporary work of art, but my instincts tell me that "The Silence of the Lambs" is one of those classic suspense movies that people will be talking about in years to come. I don't give stars, but if I did "The Silence of the Lambs" would get a galaxy. (Clarkson, Des Peres, Eureka, Halls Ferry, Ken-rick, Mid Rivers, Northwest Plaza, Regency, Ronnie's, Union Station.) "THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS" Rating: violence. Running time: 1:58 By Harper Barnes Post-Dispatch Movie Critic irpHE SILENCE of the Lambs" is the stuff that J. nightmares are made of.

It is, in a sense, a horror movie, but one that deserves comparison with such great works of psychological terror as "The Shining," "Psycho" and "Rosemary's Baby." Based on Thomas Harris' compulsively readable, best-selling novel of the same title, "The Silence of the Lambs" stars Jodie Foster as a young federal agent on the trail of a serial killer, and Anthony Hopkins as the brilliant, insane psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Lecter, who is locked up in the dungeon-like maximum security ward of a psychiatric hospital, is himself a serial killer, one who likes to munch on the remains of his victims. Thus his nickname: "Hannibal the Cannibal." Foster's character, Clarice Starling, is plucked out of the FBI Academy and set on the trail of another serial killer, a man who skins his victims and is called Buffalo Bill. Starling's boss, Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn), feels that a ferociously bright young woman like Starling might be able to seduce Lecter psychologically into helping her catch Buffalo Bill.

In fact, Lecter is willing to give Starling valuable insights into the mind of his fellow serial killer. But he exacts a painful price: Starling must reveal secrets about her personal life. The deeper Lecter probes into Starling's psyche, the more perversely fascinating the relationship becomes. It is almost as if Lecter is laying his cold murderer's hands on Starling's soul. There is an almost unbearable tension combined with just a whiff of sexuality in the scenes between Starling and Lecter, who spends most of the movie either behind a thick transparent wall or wrapped in a straitjacket with a modified hockey mask over his jaw and mouth.

The reason for the mask is made clear in a few chilling words of dialogue, when the inept, glory-seeking head of the hospital (Anthony Heald) explains to Starling what happened when a nurse got too close to Lecter's teeth. This horrifying moment, like much of the intense Goodman Makes Most Of Role In 'King Ralph' VI i 1 I "KING RALPH" Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs." violence that lurks in the subtext of the movie, is never explicitly shown on screen. Indeed, "Silence of the Lambs" conveys a lot more violence by suggestion than it does visually. (The most explicitly horrifying scenes involve an autopsy and other glimpses of Buffalo Bill's maimed victims long after Racial Conflict, Friendship In Peacetime Army Of '60s O'Toole and his skinny aristocratic adversary John Hurt, has an inexplicable physical grace.

It's as if Gale Sayers had crept inside the Fridge. There is something magical about watching Goodman whale away at a cricket ball, or waltz with an adenoidal ice princess or and this is my favorite kick the bench away from a harpsichord and launch into "Good Golly Miss Molly" in the key-pounding, foot-stomping style of Jerry Lee Lewis. Goodman also has a wonderfully expressive physiognomy when he raises his eyebrows, most of his face goes up with them. And, like all great comic actors, he always seems a little sad, no matter how maniacally he may be celebrating life. "King Ralph" does not rank among Goodman's best roles, such as the half-bright escaped convict in "Raising Arizona," the all-too-human cops in "Sea of Love" and "The Big Easy," the man advertis-' ing for a wife in "True Stories" and his too-brief portrayal of an exterminator in "Arachnophobia." It's almost a John Candy role.

Goodman makes more of it thap Candy would, but it is still a very limited use of his acting talents. In a way, I hope it is not too success-. ful, because I don't want to see Goodman doing a bunch of sequels and knockoffs. Goodman has the kind of talent that should be challenged to the limit. For example, think of how wonderful John Goodman would be as Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman." (Chesterfield, Des Peres, Es- quire, Eureka, Halls Ferry, Ken- rick, Mid Rivers, Northwest Plaza, Regency, Ronnie's, St.

Clair, Union Station.) Rating: PG. Running time: 1:30 By Harper Barnes Post-Dispatch Movie Critic 41-ING RALPH" might also be JVcalled "A Missouri Hoosier in King Arthur's Court." Before John Goodman's mother calls in from Affton, let me be quick to assure everyone that I'm not calling her son a redneck, although there is a engaging touch of the Ozarks, where he went to college, in almost everything he does. His portrayal of an amiably unsophisticated Las Vegas lounge singer who becomes the king of England is no exception as usual, Goodman makes the most of his part. Goodman is rapidly becoming one of the most respected character actors of his generation. And the lovey-dovey segments of "King Ralph" suggest he may be the largest man to become a matinee idol since Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Overall, "King Ralph" is not a particularly good movie. You've read and seen the story a hundred times, beginning with the Mark Twain fable referred to in the opening paragraph. And writer-director David Ward (his last effort was "Major does not ring many original changes on the standard story. But the movie is well worth seeing because Goodman is such a pleasure to watch. When he is not on the screen, the movie goes limp and slithers into the hole he left.

"King Ralph" is best looked at as a series of titillating John Goodman sketches connected by a barely tolerable story. Big John Goodman, nicely counterpoised against his skinny royal secretary Peter "CADENCE" Tribal Laws Vs. Love In W. African Village "TILAI" No MPPA rating. Running time: 1 :21 CONFLICTS between tribal laws and love are at the center of "Tilai" a luminously photographed, dramatically effective drama set in West Africa.

Director Idrissa Ouedraogo pulls remarkable performances out of amateur actors and films in real thatched-hut villages on the parched plains of his native Burkina Faso. But "Tilai" is somewhat less focused than "Yaaba" the superb Ouedraogo film that was shown last year at Webster University. Saga comes home to marry Nogma, only to discover that his father has already married her. Saga and Nogma have an affair; tribal leaders find out and decide Saga must die. His brother must carry out the sentence.

"Tilai," in a tribal language with English subtitles, will be shown at 5 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday and at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Webster University. "From Russia With Rock," a compendium of the best rock bands in the Soviet Union, will be shown at 10:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Feb.

22 and Feb. 23 at Webster. Harper Barnes King Malcolm X), but they are cohesive in their racial pride. This is most clearly demonstrated in a marching chant they have devised that is based on Sam Cooke's version of the song "Chain Gang." (In a nice juxtaposition, Bean's relationship to the Army and imprisonment is represented by Bob Dylan's "Maggie's The sergeant tries to befriend Bean and get him to reject his black barracks-mates, but Bean isn't playing that game. After some initial conflict, Bean and the black prisoners come to an accommodation and the sergeant is so threatened that he forces the issue to a tragically violent conclusion.

"Cadence" is crisply directed. It presents an accurate picture of the paradoxical racial divisions in the officially integrated Army, avoids stereotypical characters and never belabors its points. (Crestwood Plaza, Halls Ferry, Keller, Northwest Plaza, Regency, Union Station.) Harper Barnes Rating: PG-13. Running time: 1:37 THIS IS NOT the most propitious time for a movie about the peacetime Army. That's a shame, because "Cadence" is a good, tight little film about racial conflict and friendship at an Army detention barracks in Germany in the 1960s.

Martin Sheen makes his directorial debut in "Cadence," based on Gordon Weaver's novel "Count a Lonely Cadence." He also co-stars with his son Charlie Sheen. The elder Sheen plays a racist, self-pitying sergeant who is in charge of a small stockade. His prisoners are all black until a bitter young white soldier named Bean (Charlie Sheen) arrives after a drunken biergarten brawl. (Another Sheen son, Ramon Estevez, plays a guard.) The black prisoners represent a variety of political positions of the era (Stokely Carmichael, the Rev. Dr.

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