South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 120

Showtime, Friday, November 20, 1987 7 REVIEW Prince at loss for motif in 'Sign o' the Times' SIGN 0' THE TIMES ous, pulsating groove that feeds the fires of Prince's sexually racy image. He shows his musical diversity with his foray into jazz; Charlie Parker's Now's the Time finds the band in top form, most notably trumpeter Atlanta Bliss. Still, there are moments especially in It 's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night that Prince overindulges in his hazy vision, and songs drag. In addition, the sound reproduction of this film (much of which was enhanced and over-dubbed in postproduction) almost seems too well recorded. The vitality of live sound is lost at some of the musical peaks, particularly in Prince's guitar solos.

However, the insertion of the Got the Look video into the middle of the film is the most offensive part of Sign o' the Times. Although it is the sole visually interesting segment (it was directed by David Hogan, not Prince), it was transferred directly from video to film, so one of the show's better songs and Sheena Easton's "spe cial appearance" are nothing but a super-grainy version of something that can be clearly seen on MTV. This is inexcusable. When he's behind his guitar singing a rocking or insightful number, Prince evokes the power needed to carry a concert film. But when he looks through the lens of the camera, it's obvious he can't read the signs.

VvrH' lit (Y 1 VM 'f- lr V. the Times is visually muddled. Prince's concert film Sign o' tant musical figure. Filmgoers know they're watching a first-rate concert in this movie, but they can't feel it. The 13-song show is bold and complex, from the opening title cut to the concert closer, The REVIEW By JUAN CARLOS COTO Special to the NewsSun-Sentinel Prince should not be allowed behind the camera.

Behind the guitar and microphone he is an electrifying performer who blends sharp-edged Jimi Hendrix-style guitar and moves not seen since James Brown's heyday, creating a feel that is unmistakably Prince. However, as director of Sign o' the Times, a new concert movie filmed during two shows in Holland, Prince demonstrates that his visual style is fatal onscreen, the extravagant stage show seems to fizzle. Prince should have learned from his first directing effort, the unsuccessful Under the Cherry Moon. Sign o' the Times shows that his vision is only visible to himself. During "dramatic" vignettes supposedly developing a steamy relationship between Prince and his dancerbackup singer, Cat, the musician overdirects, bringing the camera down, up and around for needless pans, tilts and tracking shots that disturb the action.

As if the action is necessary. The vignettes are not only overly staged and visually muddled, but Prince also seems to be struggling for a motif. The only thing he can come up Michael E. Knight plays a sympathetic, lost soul in Date rriiii an ruigci. ft Flashy concert film by eccentric rocker Prince.

Credits: With Prince, Sheila Sheena Easton, Boni Boyer, Eric Leads, Atlanta Bliss and Cat. Directed by Prince. Pfin Sexual situations, adult language. Poor Fair Good Excellent with is a glass ball that throws a lightninglike jolt at the holder's hand. (It can be found in the Sharper Image catalog.

It's called the Eye of the Storm.) When it's time for the musical show to crackle with cinematic life, the visuals lose even more direction and the concert looks as if a road crew member filmed it with a home movie camera. And Prince himself establishes no intimacy. When he can stop the music and speak to the crowd, he inserts one of his empty-headed vignettes. This may be the most unkind cut of all because Prince obviously has the integrity and range to be considered an impor- 'Date With By CANDICE RUSSELL Film Writer On the night of his engagement to the town beauty, young Jim Sanders (Michael E. Knight) is stunned when an angel as in heaven on high falls into his swimming pool.

He doesn't know that she has been sent on a mission from heaven. Date With an Angel has so much potential, but it is squandered. The fantasy and special effects are convincing. It's the surrounding elements that get in the way. Because the angel has a broken wing, Jim tends to her secretly and tries to hide the fact from his nosy friends and his fiancee, Patty (Phoebe Cates).

No such luck. The angel's blue-eyed gaze turns men into babbling fools. Even so, there are some who would rather merchandise her than appreciate her. Knight, who played Tad on the TV soap All My Children, makes his film debut as Jim. He's good as a lost soul who doesn't seem to belong with his goofy friends or the rich, pampered Pat an Angel' grounded by cluttered plot Juan Carlos Coto is a free-lance writer based in Coral Gables.

track that McLoughlin fails to exploit fully. Mention must be made of Jim's three friends, played by Phil Brock, Peter Kowanko and Albert Macklin. They are unfunny pranksters and schemers who act like overaged adolescents escaped from a Porky's sequel. Cates is fine in a reversal of the desirable young things she always Cross, a tune that evokes the power and insight that is Prince. With drummer Sheila E.

pounding relentless rhythms at the trap set, Prince romps through House-quake, a rocker that gets-his feet jamming, and Hot Thing, a sensu- DATE WITH AN ANGEL A young man's engagement is ruined with the arrival ot an angel from heaven. Credits: With Michael E. Knight, Phoebe Cates, Emmanuelle Beart. Directed and written by Tom McLoughlin. fpcl Violence, coarse language, sexual situations.

Poor Fair Good Excellent these despoilers. Far too little time is devoted to Jim's growing awareness that in the angel, he has found a kindred spirit. One cannot help but wish that the story emphasized their interspecies affection and the angel's adjustment to life on solid ground. A single scene, with her hobbling in high heels, is onthe right comic ty. While this sets him up to be the sympathetic guardian of the angel, his role is underwritten by Tom McLoughlin, who also directs.

The angel arrives too soon, before we've gotten to know Jim, his needs, or why his relationship to Patty is destined not to work. For what little there is of it, the sweet comedy and romance of Date With an Angel works. Knight generates chemistry with Era-manuelle Beart, who is everything one could imagine as the angel. She is a radiant vision in her filmy white gown and magnificent wings. The angel brings to mind Dar-ryl Hannah's mermaid in Splash, since her chief instinct is to kiss the man who provides shelter.

But there also is a dismaying similarity to the sour notes sounded in Splash, E.T., Howard the Duck and The Elephant Man. The conflict arises from trying to thwart exploiters who want to turn the unearthly creature into a sideshow attraction. Far too much time is spent on the run from plays. Here's she's a beautiful, neurotic brat 1 who thinks that Jim has betrayed her. 'j With each scene, Cates becomes in- creasingly un- hinged.

Date With an Angel in- Cates tends to soar high and with its magical elements intact, and it should have. But this film is grounded by derivative plotting..