Florida Today from Cocoa, Florida • Page 26

4D FLORIDA TODAY, Monday, December 29, 1997 Costner pushed the envelope in 3-hour-long The Postman' At the movies story of the postman, a loner in 2013 who stumbles across a dead mail carrier and puts on the carrier's uniform and develops a system of communication that thwarts the ruling bad guy. He hates to hear mention of running time. He didn't "to fit into your dinner plans," he says. "It's painful to hear people talk about length like it's the enemy." He had hoped his "gentle" movie would get a PG-13, but brief nudity and some violence earned it an R. "It needs the best possible chance to mount itself and that's just one more grizzly that it's got to get around.

It's too bad." I v-w 1 1 V- who worked with him in Costner's 1987 breakthrough, "No Way Out," remembers a dream Costner once had. In 1988, Neufeld offered Costner the Jack Ryan role in "The Hunt for Red October," but Costner kept talking about "this Western that he was really dedicated to," Neufeld says. Costner wouldn't even look at the "October" script in case it might pull him off track, though he could have used the money to finance his pet project. "He's rather unusual in that respect," Neufeld says. "A lot of actors would have done the 12 weeks of work and gotten the money." The role went to Alec Baldwin.

Premiere describes Costner's strength this way: "Makes gutsy choices and delivers." His weakness, the magazine says: "Takes himself a tad seriously." Newton Howard, who has worked with Costner on "Wyatt Earp," "Waterworld" and now "The Postman," says he is "just really focused" and "sure of his instincts." Neufeld says Costner's credibility is not in jeopardy, even if his instincts are proved to have been off with "Postman." "If the picture's a hit," says Neufeld, "everybody's going to say, 'Wow, he really stepped out on this And if it's not, everybody has those in their career." Costner is drawn to playing heroes and liked the "gentle" i 1 KiMTE By Ann Oldenburg Gannett News Service LOS ANGELES "Listen," the composer James Newton Howard says, "Kevin's a large target." Global star. Director. Producer. Divorced dad. On top of that, Kevin Costner is a filmmaker under fire.

Some are attacking "The Postman," a post-apocalyptic epic, as indulgent and tedious. Others wonder if holiday audiences will sit still for yet another three-hour blockbuster, especially one that isn't built on snazzy special effects. "I do feel pressure," says Costner. "I feel like, 'Am I out of I don't feel that at all in my heart, but it's not easy to make a good film, an uplifting film. That's the risk you run.

But I have to be true to the sense of style that I have." Costner has been down this road before fighting for a film before the public has had a chance to judge. He battled the odds and the critics in 1990 with 3-hour, 1-minute "Dances With Wolves" and wound up seeing it win seven Oscars. In 1995, he was nearly sunk by bad press on the $175 million "Wa-terworld," but instead took over after the director bailed and propelled the movie to a $300 million gross worldwide. Now comes "The Postman," an $80 million cross between "Shane" and "Mad Max" starring Costner as the title character. It opened Christmas Day.

Daily Variety calls it "involving" and "impressively filmed" while also saying it has some "clunkiness." The Hollywood Re- S.J Viriimfti WARNER BROS. KEVIN COSTNER both stars in and directs Warner "The Postman," labeled by some critics as both indulgent and tedious. children Annie, 13, Lily, 11, and spotted with L.A. newscaster Joe, 9, every other week. They're Tawny Little.

(They're friends, in "The Postman" with him. Costner's rep says.) There's also Liam, a baby he Costner spends time today talk-acknowledges he fathered last ing about values, saying that his year with another woman, but life is "destiny" and he simply wants very much to protect and wants to remain true to his vision keep private. He says he is dating for himself, no one, but has been recently Mace Neufeld, the producer TITANIC (PG-13) SCREAM 2 (R) ss 2:00 7:00 9:00 MOUSEHUNT (PG) LITTLE MERMAID (G) mW 4:00 7:00 I 2:00 3SDg6U MATINEES $3.00 BEACHSIDE Thurs. Friday 2400 S.R. 520, Cocoa (3) S250 JP Reg.

$50 $10, $15. $20. $25 Eve. Thur.Fr. Open r-roceeas 10 onppiea L.nitarens 784-4756 Beach Adult Video S.R.520 East ofAlA Cocoa Beach, Fla.

Around th comer from Rob Jom jMRWHEDlOWEgTPR(CES Direct Factory Outlet16 years same location Magazines Adult Toys Video Sales CD Rom's 2 Sun. thru Thurs. 8:00 am Fri. A Sal. 8:00 am 8 ramaaib i Meet Here For Fitness Fun! Programs CHOICE! For All No Contract) Ages! 7 'Monthly 7:00 3r "The Postman" is showing at United Artists, Oaks 10, Roxy 10, Merritt South and Indian River 24 in Vero Beach.

Rating: -fr-fc; (sex, violence, nudity and profanity). porter says it is "chock-full of glorious, old-style movie scenes." USA TODAYS Mike Clark calls it "loopy." And People magazine puts it on its Worst of Screen list for 1997, calling it a "borathon." On the Internet, movie chatters are snidely dubbing it "Return to Sender" and "Dirt World." Tan and calm, he's not wavering or defensive, and he settles in, feet up on the coffee table and head back on the couch of the hotel room. Next month he turns 43, and today the words "in his prime" are brought up by him in an off-hand reference to himself. A king in the Hollywood jungle, whether "Postman" gets raves or pans, Costner still has a box-office resume boasting nearly a dozen hits in nearly a dozen years. He knows the game: Premiere magazine ranked him No.

39 this year on its Most Powerful list (down from No. 23). He knows his impact on people. "I have found my way in this world," he confirms. "I have a pretty wonderful life." His life these days: He's single, having split in 1994 from Cindy Silva, his wife of 16 years.

He sees After 5 Years as "ROCKLEDGE BINGO" Ginny Sc The Ganq Moved BIRTHDAY SIN. NOVELTY SHOW DEC. 28 (BIRTHDAY GIFT FOR EVERYONE) NOW PLAYING imc INDIAN RIVER IM'IA'. V'-u tiVr 569-8460 3mc MERRITT SQUARE 12 WlHfilH SuiiAHF. MALI 459 2550 fteCAL GALAXY VERO'9-1112 ftCAL OAKS 10, 1300 H'tii: 676-0680 ftCAL 10 712 Watch the Golden Globe Awards on NBC on Sunday, January 18th.

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But, "I do see the need for people to connect with smaller things in this era of cynicism." He doesn't use a computer. Nor does he go on the Internet. "The problem with the Internet for me is it's instant bad information. I wonder, too, if we've taken the joy of discovering away from people. It's fun to discover a new book or a new movie ana snare it.

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