Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 36

Oct. 7, 1983 Minneapolis Star and Tribune 2C 'The Draughtsman's Contract' offers wordplay with exasperation Bv Bob Lundesaard 11 wife (Janet Suzmani to frolics about the eardens like a de- "Qoselv observed differences in the Not to mention the dti By Bob Lundegaard landowner's wife (Janet Suzman) to frolics about the gardens like a de "Closely observed differences in the Not to mention the changing light and the fall of the A review discipline of the audience. We can all be grateful that that idea was abandoned. Besides, didn't Andy Warhol already make mented Pan. You expect the statue to have something to do with what's happening to the draughtsman, but, as usual, Greenaway leaves the connection obscure.

shadows on the facade were to be minutely recorded for their Own sake and for the discipline of an idea relentlessly pursued." that movie? make 12 sketches of their estate while her husband is away. As part of the contract, he also provides her with sexual services. Later he draws up a similar contract with her daughter, who is married to a pompous German much older than she is. Before long, strange, out-of-place items begin appearing in the drawings a ladder against the side of the house, undergarments strewn about the bushes and eventually the draughtsman suspects that he's becoming the dupe in a murder plot. It's at this point that Greenaway loses me.

I didn't understand why the draughtsman would associate these items with murder rather than carelessness, and the bizarre ending certainly didn't tie up the loose ends, as it's supposed to in an Agatha Christie mystery. There's also a living "statue" who Word Works festival, and his first "mainstream" film, "The Draughtsman's Contract," opens today at the Cedar Theatre. My reaction to "Contract," despite its greater accessibility, Isn't that much different from my response to "The Falls." The wordplay is scintillating (and the cast so good that you never miss a syllable), but the plot is exasperating. Greenaway has staged the film as a Restoration comedy, with all the periwigs, painted lips and prurient doings that the phrase implies. It's part comedy and part mystery, and all of It is very stylish.

The draughtsman of the title (Anthony Higgins) is hired by a wealthy The film is full of literary conceits. The title alone suggests several: A draughtsman is a Britishism for chess piece in this case, I presume, a pawn. And "contract," if you accent the second syllable instead of the first, hints at the sexual conditions of the arrangement The occupation of the hero, who arranges light and perspective to form a complete picture of the estate, is itself an intriguing metaphor for the role of the film maker. Probably that's what Greenaway had in mind originally, judging by the report that he initially planned to make all 12 drawings from the same vantage point, at two-hour intervals. Ludlum's story line lost in film version SILK 'liVi ANGORAS V'S IMvf Us i if A special blend of hlij' 1- natural and man- V.4f -T'.

made fibers to create tho look and wlA feel of luxury, with if i A easy care. In light "7 -JiJj blue and jade. ij W'U UUUUUUUUUU'tJ 'juuuuuu im niutf mm numtitflmi man i cwTti knuncenth kiouiomiuu (Apple Valtoy) (St. Paul) (Wayzata) (Richfield) (St. Lout Park) vmmtm houthhki km mi fwiiw uuh mill mioumccimi (Bkxxnington) (Fridley) (St.

Paul) (Eden Prairie) (New Hope) (St. Paul) (Wayzata) (Richfield) (St. Lout Park) HOUTHHKI KM IUI MUM URIAH Mill MIOUMCCIMI (Fridley) (St. Paul) (Eden Prairie) (New Hope) A review I 'ju "The Osterman Weekend" Director Sam Peckinpah Producer peter Davis and William Panzer Screenplay Alan Sharp NovelStory by Robert Ludlum Adaptation by Ian Masters lohn Tanner Rutger Hauer Lawrence Fassett John Hurt Bernard Osterman Craig Nelson Richard Tremayne Dennis Hopper All Tanner Meg Foster Maxwell Danforth Burt Lancaster Twentieth Century-Fox distributes "The Osterman Weekend," a Davis-Panzer film rated now showing at the Ridge Square, Northtown, Southdale and Brookdale East theaters. Richard Gere Men.

thru Frl. 10-9, Sot. 10-4, "Son 12-5 A review stan writer when I saw Peter Greenaway's "The Falls" in March at the Walker Art Center, I was amused by his facility with words and dismayed or bored by the use to which that facility had been put. "The Falls" consisted of 92 case histories, done in documentary style, of the victims of Violent Unexplained Events, all of whom had last names beginning with the letters F-A-L-L. I admired Greenaway's ingenuity in extracting as much variety as he did from such a confined format, but it a little like applauding someone for writing a sonnet without using an An Instructive exercise, perhaps, but what's the point? Greenaway's films return to the area this month with a vengeance.

The Walker is showing five of his short films at 8 p.m. Oct 25 as part of its Gere's part and accent go well beyond limit By Bob Lundegaard Staff Writer "Beyond the Limit" gives the appearance of being a film that the studio wasn't sure what to do with. The ad campaign is often a tip-off In such cases. Some of the ads show helicopters. hovering and machine guns blazing and we suspect it's an action movie in the "Final Option" mold.

Others show Richard Gere lying in bed with a woman, a ceiling fan whirling overhead. Aha! It's "An Officer and a Gentleman In the Tropics!" Actually, It's neither. It turns out to be a fairly faithful rendering of "The Honorary Consul," a 1973 novel by Graham Greene, which means thai to quote the book's dust jacket, we're in "that bleak country of exhausted, passion, betrayal and absurd hope." The film makers changed Greene's ironic title to something meaningless and converted the story into a vehicle for Gere. Or, more accurately, they miscast Gere in the central role of Dr. Eduardo Plarr, a half-Argentine, half-English physician who lives in -a village near the Paraguayan border.

The accent is trouble enough." Gere makes a few lame attempts at the King's English and hone in a Spanish accent, settling mainly for yer basic Amurrican. But even if he handled the accent, Gere would seem out of place here. He glides through the part with an almost insolent indifference, a sort of South American Gigolo. While making his rounds, which include a stop at the local brothel, Plarr trades meaningful glances with a beautiful Indian woman. When he next sees her, she's the wife of Charley Fortnum, a boozy Britisher who is the town's honorary consul.

That doesn't deter Plarr, nor her, and the two of them, with scarcely a word spoken, begin one of the most listless affairs in film history. Meanwhile, some of Flair's childhood friends have grown up to be revolutionaries, and they conscript him for a kidnapping plot They Intend to kidnap the U.S. ambassador and ransom him for some political prisoners (among whom is Flair's "Beyond the Limit" Director John Mackenzie Producer Norma Heyman Screenplay. Christopher Hampton Novel by Graham Greene Dir. of Photography Phil Meheux Dr.

Eduardo Plarr Richard Gere Charley Fortnum. Michael Calne Clara Elpidia Carrillo Colonel Perez Bob Hoskins Father Rlvas Joaqulm de Almeida Paramount Picture Corp. distributes "Beyond the Limit," a World Film Services Ltd. Production rated now showing at the Cooper Theater. Presented by Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

A Festival of Language in the Aits 30 Septembar-31 October 1983 ByJeffStrickler Staff Writer Film writers Alan Sharp and Ian Masters apparently didn't have time to finish reading "The Osterman Weekend" before they turned Robert Ludlum's best-selling book into a movie. That's too bad, not that there is anything wrong with their movie. It has espionage and counterespionage, Soviet spies and American spies, Soviet spies working for the Americans and American spies working for the Soviets all the elements that Ludlum is so adept at wrapping into a suspense-filled story in which nothing is as it seems. It's just that their story Isn't the same as Ludlum's story. And it's easy to Understand why: Ludlum's complex, multilayered intricacies of plot don't withstand the compression necessary for conversion to celluloid.

Inevitably, something is lost In the translation of these books by the former Tidy Bowl Man. (Seeing as how the Tidy Bowl TV commercials were Ludlum's biggest roles, it's no wonder he abandoned his acting career to write novels.) Sharp and Masters have gotten around the jumbled plot problem by ignoring most of Ludlum's book. The story revolves around a weekend reunion, the organizer of which Is one Bernie Osterman. Before the reunion starts, one of the participants, a superpatriot TV reporter, is pulled aside by the CIA and told that his friends are suspected of being Soviet agents. The idea then becomes for the reporter to use the reunion to drop hints that he has uncovered the spies while the CIA electronically eavesdrops in hopes that one or all of the turncoats will panic.

That much of the story Ludlum, Sharp and Masters agree upon. From then on, however, the book and the movie part company. Director Sam Peckinpah, who has spent the past four years hibernating In a cabin in Montana, has assembled a respectable cast for his first film since 1978, including Burt Lancaster, John Hurt and Dennis Hopper. The most Ludlum-like bit of casting, however, was the selection of Rutger Hauer as the leading man. Hauer, billed as the Paul Newman of the Netherlands, is known to American audiences as a villain, a role he has Charlss Amlrkhanlan and Carol Law-new music Jane Comfort-dance David Jaggard-performance Saturday, 8 October 8 pm assumed both for U.S.

movies Runner" and ''Night and TV the Third Even though this film presents him as the "good guy" superpatriot, it's hard to get that villainous, reputation completely out of your mind, especially when you're aware that Ludlum's trademark is entangling deception with counterdecep-tion until you're never sure who's good and who's bad until the last page of the book. The casting of Hauer conveys this unsettling element well. Another disconcerting bit of casting is the use of Briton Hurt as an American CIA agent. He adds to the discord by playing his character schizc-phrenlcally, civilized and amusing in one scene, ruthless and bloodthirsty in the next. As for the much-heralded Hopper, returning to Hollywood after a 12-year hiatus, he is overshadowed by the even-more-heralded Lancaster, who lends his dignified authority to his role as director of the CIA.

Hopper is also upstaged by previously little-heralded Craig Nelson, a bit player (the husband in "Poltergeist," for instance) who plays the title role of Osterman with James Bond-ian crack-a-joke-as-you-crack-a-head abandon. Ludlum fans probably will be disap-' pointed by the rewrite of his story. But they should look on the bright side: This way, the suspense won't be ruined for those of us who have read the book. It's a completely different story. Walker Art Center Auditorium Films: PrimerRebus by Dan Curry AquiSe La Halla by Lee Sokol Poto and Cabango by Jean-Pierre Gorin Tuesday, 11 October 8 pm Walker Art Center Auditorium Lyn Hejinlan-reading Toby Lurla-reading Michael Ondaate-reading Thursday, 13 October 8 pm Walker Art Center Auditorium father), but by mistake they end up with Fortnum.

Not much leverage there. "If he'd been a business tycoon a titled Englishman in Buenos Aires tells Plarr. "The trouble is, Fortnum's such pitiably small beer." This "small beer," of course, turns out to be the real hero of the story, and Michael Caine brings a touch of grandeur to the role with a typically powerful performance. "Don't you believe in anything?" he says with disgust to Plarr, who has betrayed him twice: with his wife and in the performance of his office. "I don't think so," says Plarr.

The truth is that he's jealous of this man he's betrayed, because Fortnum has the capacity to love. The other member of the triangle, Fortnum's wife, is played by Elpfdia Carrillo with scarcely more expression than Gere's. Fortunately, Bob Hoskins helps pick up the slack as the village's police chief. Hoskins, the star of director John Mackenzie's previous film, "The Long Good Friday," could give Gere lessons on simulating an authentic accent For Information Mil: 378-7600 j3 Protect 2 stars: Skip 'Romantic Comedy' 7 "Romantic Comedy" wmmmmmmmmtmmmmmmtmammmm Arthur Hiller Producer Walter Mirisch and Morton Gottlieb Screenplay Bernard Slade Music by Marvin Hamllsch Jason Dudley Moore Phoebe Mary Steenburgen Blanche. Frances Sternhagen Allison Janet Either Leo Ron Lelbman MGMUA Entertainment distributes "Romantic Comedy," a Walter Mirisch film rated PG, now showing at the Apache 4, Ridge Square, Edina 1-2-1, Brookdale and Burnsvllle I theaters.

Magic 1ri A 0 7-' j. I'lfalnynrtlniiir mi I ByJeffStrickler Staff Writer Dam it Dudley) Why'd you have to do this to me? I liked you in "10," loved you in "Arthur" and marveled af the way you rose to the cause to keep "Six Weeks" from becoming a 9u-minute cliche. So what on earth are you doing in "Romantic It's a dog, Dudley. A dead dog. And it's embarrassing for people who like you, Dudley, and want to like your movie.

Remember when your character suffers that heart attack halfway through the film? I was hosing you would die and put us both out of our misery. No such luck. "Romantic Comedy," Moore's newest film (which opens today), is neither romantic nor much of a comedy. It's mainly a disappointment the story of two people who love each other but are out of sync' in their timing. When she's Interested, he's not; when he's interested, she's not; by i the time they're both Interested, we're not Before the movie starts we have ev-ery reason to look forward to an enjoyable experience.

After all, what's not to like? Costarrlng with the likeable Moore is the equally likeable Mary Steenburgen. And the supporting cast is likeable: Janet ('Whose Life Is It EJlber, Ron (TV'S Lelbman and the highly decorated Broadway mainstay, Frances Sternhagen. Even the people- behind the scenes are likeable. The producer is Acade- Mary Steenburgen and Dudley Moore In "Romantic Comedy." A review Present us with this ad when you order two $13.95 Sukiyaki Steak and Chicken Dinner Feasts, and you'll pay for only one. Our chef will dazzle you with culinary magic performed at your table to create an Incredible, delectable harvest of the sublime.

Each Sukiyaki Steak and Chicken Dinner Feast comes complete with shrimp appetizer, delicate Samurai soup, crispy salad with ginger dressing, Japanese vegetables and Green Tea. Let's get acquainted tonight. Call 542-9922. 850 Louisiana Avenue Golden Valley. The supporting cast, Sternhagen, Leibman, et al, seem confident enough in what they're doing, but the confusion brewing between the two stars only serves to make competent characters seem even more out of place.

The contrast is too strong. Moore has missed before. Let's not forget although we certainly have tried to his last debacle, "Lovesick." And Steenburgen has demonstrated she's no sure-fire hit-picker, either, having followed her smashing performance in "Ragtime" with "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy." But Moore has been busy lately with his musical career. And Steenbur-gen's rise to stardom has been so accelerated that she probably needs time to gain a perspective. Let's give them both the benefit of the doubt and remain their fans.

But let's also stay away from "Romantic Ax0 1 dialogue is uninspired. Moore seems confused, as if he's unsure whether he's supposed to be the lovable lush of "Arthur" or the frustrated stud in "10." In desperation, he assumes the worst qualities of each, a frustrated lush. Steenburgen, who won an Oscar for "Melvin and Howard," never seems quite sure what to do with her role either. She's supposed to be playing a shy, vulnerable young writer. But she's too shy, withdrawn to the point where she seems emotionless.

And she keeps flaunting the vulnerable-young-writer routine long after the script says she has become an accomplished playwright and novelist. my Award-winning Walter the Heat of the Mirisch. Directing is Arthur Hiller. And the script came from Bernard Slade, whose Broadway hits include "Same Time Next Year." So, we ask again, what's not to like? Just about everything else. Imagine, if you can, that somebody has spliced together the out-takes from the worst Neil Simon movies.

The plot two writers acting out their plays In real life Is stale. The dialogue glib lovers' spats is banal. The acting understandably, when you consider the plot and the Japanese Steak House Ai te far 1 dinner only Offar good thru Oak SI, 18.