The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 52

Fit. Dec. 1978 THE SHREVEPORT TIMES it's riday it's riday it's friday Jit's friday lUCITetilMT MA TV) HI MO nainwa-usj icuuirfluf-ins OWN Till 444aWHWOOD BMn New 'Body Snatchers' film inf to and id OQ for 16 IK. iKij found a disappointment KW.in-IW.Bmo, Miwmyt in Stock' -V if Film in Review AMERICAN LEGION New Year's DANCE 5316 Lakethort Dr. Saturday, Dto.

30 Sonny Starr Grobbs the Starlight Cowboys Members and their invited guest 8:30 mtimiVii mil iimi r- 'iiilnrnrf m'nii 1 n' it 1 mi" Anthony Hopkins and 'Fats' in 'Magic' 'Magic' convincing thriller DIflM Film in Review By JOE LEYDON Times Entertainment Editor Even if you've never seen the 1956 film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," you may think you have. And you very well may have, under a different title, since its basic premise has been ripped off in countless theatrical and made-for-TV movies. The original film, based on a novel by Jack Finney, is a science-fiction film for people who hate science-fiction films. Its disturbingly persuasive plot about pods from outer space taking over the identities of humans hit a responsive chord during the '50s, when conspiracies about Red invasions abounded. Years later, the film remains well-regarded, since the idea of losing one's indentity is the sort of primal fear many moviegoers love to have prodded occasionally.

Trying to remake such a film and duplicate its impact seems like an impossible task. And yet, the 1970s could be the perfect time for telling the classic story again after all, conspiracy movies (and real-life theories) are very popular right now. And plots about completely altering the personalities and bending the will of people may have a special credibilty right now, after the holocaust in Guyana. Still, despite a few creepy moments and some fascinating special effects, the remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is a disappointment. One could accept the fact that the new film has none of the mythic force of the original what cannot be accepted is the number of miscalculations made by director Philip Kaufman and scriptwriter W.D.

Richter. To begin with, any story like this must be set against a recognizably normal, mundane backdrop, so that the slow and subtle invasion by "outside forces" will have any emotional impact on an audience. But Kaufman and Richter have set "Invasion" in a cold and overcast San Francisco where priests stare balefully from playground swings, and civil servants glare menacingly from behind frosted glass windows. There is never any real tension, since Kaufman makes it appear that everything is terribly wrong from the beginning, and that there is no progressive spread of corrupting evil in a "normal" community. To make matters worse, Kaufman tries to hype things up with weird electronic 10 Our Famous FRIED SV.m? BASKET $Q50 WE DELIVER music and constant camera movements, which portend evil so often that one actually grows impatient for something really frightening to happen.

Kaufman is so busy with his technical tricks that he neglects simple logic. The plot is developed in an annoyingly abstract manner unlike the matter-of-fact simplicity of a good horror story so that it's never plain if everyone in San Francisco but the protagonists have been replaced by pods, or if only everyone in one particular neighborhood has been replaced. And troublesome questions keep popping up: Where are the protagonists trying to run? Why are they unable to leave the city by foot? Why did Kevin McCarthy, star of the original "Invasion," and Don original film's director, agree to play Cameo roles in this remake? The ending will come as a disappointment, both to admirers of the original and to people who care about the characters in the film. Not that it's all that easy to care Donald Sutherland (as a public health official) and Brooke Adams (as a woman whose lover is podded) give such underplayed, bland performances that one wonders if they are pods from the beginning. As a psychiatrist, Leonard Nimoy discounts the conspiracies in such condescending tones that one can tell what side he's on right away.

Only Jeff Goldblum as an obnoxious writer and Veronica Cartwright as his frightened wife make much of a case against replacing everyone in the cast with pods. The pod replacements themselves are handled rather well, and a scene in which a pod tries to take over Sutherland is genuinely spooky. Still, I cannot help but think of what I overheard one audience member mutter to her friend as the new "Invasion" ended "They ruined a perfectly good movie!" (Now playing at the St. Vincent Six Theater, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is rated PG "Parental Guidance Suggested." The film features some discreet violence, rough language and brief female nudity.) K0 it E.UX1S BOSSIER 14S-U75 74I-0MI Din( Horn Cirt Struct One Clou to Too: 4 5- VISIJ US BEFORE Mi AMR GAMES ji 6et? 2920 JEWEUA ROAO Phone 631-3711 DANCING By JOE LEYDON Times Entertainment Editor Some thrillers grab you by the lapels right off the bat, shake you up and never set you down. They can be fun, but somehow they are not half as effective as those thrillers which begin slowly, then build in almost unbearable crescendos of suspense.

"Magic" belongs in the latter category. Skillfully directed by Richard Attenborough Bridge Too and cunningly written by William Goldman the film starts out in a deceptively quiet fashion, but winds up leaving you white-knuckled and breathless. The story centers on Corky (Anthony Hopkins), a shy young man whose dreams of success as a magician are clouded by his stage fright. After a disastrous debut at a seedy nightclub, he decides to use another personality on stage the personality of a ventriloquist's dummy. Performing with Fats, a pop-eyed puppet with more than a passing resemblance to its owner, Corky is a hit.

Magicians may be a dime a dozen, but a ventriloquist-magician with a foul-mouthed dummy is a hot property or so figures Ben Green (Burgess Meredith), a William Morris Agency talent representative. Green takes over Corky's career, guiding him through a slow buildup and to a network deal for a prime-time special. But the pressure is too much for Corky, an introvert still barely articulate in public without his dummy nearby. Seeking refuge in the safety of the past, he runs away to the Catskill Mountains, where an old high school sweetheart (Ann-Margret) runs a dilapidated cabin resort with her boorish husband (Ed Lauter). Unfortunately for all parties concerned, fear of success isn't Corky's only problem.

He's been hiding behind Fats so long that its hard for him to stop. Not that Fats seems to mind very much he enjoys being in charge. And when anyone poses a threat to either of them, Fats is more than willing to decide just how the problem can be disposed The dummy-as-dominator plot has been used many times before, most memorably in the classic 1946 chiller "Dead of Night." Placing the premise in the 1970s demands a special suspension of disbelief, since the Corky and Fats act never appears to be the sort of thing that would impress a contemporary agent as a sure-fire multimedia hit. But "Magic" is convincing enough in other respects to paper over this crack in the otherwise watertight plot. Besides, everything before Corky's escape to the Catskills is mere prologue what happens after he gets there is what quickens the heartbeat and chills the spine.

After a series of fine supporting performances most notably in "A Bridge Too Far" and "International Velvet" and a brilliant Broadway stint in "Equus," Anthony Hopkins finally has a star movie role in "Magic." He makes the most of the plum part. Hopkins' Corky is a painfully self -depreciating soul who has abdicated his emotions to his dummy. And now only his dummy can control the emotions for him, even after Corky tries to get them back. On a purely technical level, Hopkins is very impressive he learned ventriloquism for the film, and uses the art most effectively. But it is the emotional impact which he scores that lifts his performance beyond mere trickiness and up to the level of masterwork.

Almost as impressive is Ann-Margret as his onetime high school flame, now an over-30 housewife with only dim memories of an earlier, happier life. The character is slow-witted, but not dumb, a distinction Ann-Margret appreciates and conveys sympathetically. The performance ranks with her best work, and that is high praise indeed, considering how good this under-rated actress has been in such films as "Joseph Andrews" and "Carnal Knowledge." Burgess Meredith makes his annual bid for an Academy Award nomination as Corky's agent. Meredith can be a shameless ham when not held in restraint, but here as in "Rocky" Meredith demonstrates how expertly he can project the tired wisdom and genuine concern of someone who has seen it all. And as Ann-Margret's husband, Ed Lauter gives a strong performance in role which could come across as an afterthought.

Director Attenborough does not go in for very many blatant shocks. Rather, he enjoys playing on audience fears and expectations like a master violinist fingering a Stradivarius. It's diffcult to be more specific without spilling away more of the plot. But suffice it to say that a scene depicting a search of Corky's cabin is one of the most suspense ful segments in a film since Vera Miles rummaged through Anthony Perkins' basement in "Psycho." (Now playing at the Eastgate Four, "Magic" is rated R. The film features some bloody violence and rough language.) S-S 5 5 i ij IfeSSKINGS HIGHWAY Phone 631-3771- THE THRIFTY WANT AD IS COMING A New, Low Cost Family WANT AD PLAN WATCH OUR WANT AD SECTION I 1 ADULTS ONLY I Aj-TTT, I OPEN nT3TT37nl 5:45 TUP! 7 PAYS A WEEK -faSLf 2 NEW FILMS fhf, 4 LH I 8 EVERY WED.

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