Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 32

INSIDE cnacnrvrinn 'V 1 "1 Television, C16 Monday, June 15, 1987 Austin American-Statesman Conjuring up fun 'Witches' ultimately light blend of humor, villainy PAGE C14 To) Ls JJ Lru SKfir W)W4iMBpyimww m. a Review ft Ay -i; -i themselves, the yarn has holes in it. How did Van Home come to possess supernatural powers? Where did he get his money? What's the voodoo business near the end all about? We'll have to settle for the explanation that Van Home's behavior and powers is meant to suggest that he is, in fact, the devil. And the argument surely can be made that the woman-hating man is a creature of demonic urges and destructive ways. Whatever.

In any case, the whole thing is a high-spirited hoot. Nicholson needs to quit playing woman-hating bad boys (Terms of Endearment, The Shining, Heartburn and this) before he becomes a self-parody. For the moment, though, he is quite an irresistible prince of darkness. The Witches of Eastwick, rated for various gross-outs, opened Friday. Medford in the screen adaption of as Daryl Van Home and Alexandra I i By Patrick Taggart American-Statesman Staff The of Eastwick is a movie that sort of transcends logic, and it's a good thing.

Look at it closely and you don't find much that look logical. A problem? Not a big one, really. In adapting John Updike's novel for the screen, Australian director George Miller (Mad Max, etc.) has decided to have fun with the material, perhaps even more than Updike had writing it. Villainy and humor are blended in equal parts, thanks to Miller's fanciful direction and Michael Cristofer's screenplay, and it is easy to ignore the shakiness in its supernatural underpinnings. What The Witches ofEastwick is, essentially, is a tale of misogyny pure, unvarnished contempt for and abuse of women.

But it doesn't end there; also considered are the psychological traps that produce those destructive relationships. Set in a tiny New England town, the action opens on three single friends as they get drunk on martinis and swap fantasies about Mr. Right. A few days later a mysterious and rich stranger pulls into town, buys the largest house available and loses no time trying to bed the available females. Jack Nicholson, as Daryl Van Home, has once again found a role he was born to play.

In Cher's Alexandra, Van Home discovers and takes advantage of her intellect-libido war; she is attracted to him emotionally by the very things that repel her intellectually. In Susan Sarandon's Jane, an elementary-school teacher, he encounters what is perhaps a more familiar stereotype in fiction, the repressed schoolmarm who is unconsciously begging to be sexually liberated. That liberation occurs in BEVERLY HILLSCOP H(R) TT I I III 1 1 i I' I lupci No DiicounH. No pauM 2120 N. Mays Round Rock III I A 1 Wl '1 SECRET OF MY SUCCESS (PG) THE SECRET OF 1 Ul3'i 4-15-6 45-9J5 ggL 00-io UNTOUCHABLES MY SUCCESS I I A I I NIGH XtAjVMi (R) (PG-13) 't LETHAL 7 Uitt, Jill ERNEST GOES TO CAMP(PG) gSt 1-3-5-7-9 ffEx 3gT WEAPON 6Uy JJlllt ggL 2 A ISEgy 12:00 11:45 BEVERLY HARRY THE TTm 1 6 THE BELIEVERS (R) HILLS COP HENDERSONS gllTjIiTil'lH mimmmtm 2 (R) (W) IJNice l.V,IW'M!1jrTn iis-ms-s I 2aM3045 I pjCTra 1MJ.TE?' TWJJ.ViaL;! MILLION DOLLAR MYSTERY (PG)1g MILLION THE 1 I 1 i I iffiffiSSr I 13:00.5:30.7:45.9:45 I Du.1inHoman W.r,.n Be.1ty I PREDATOR (R) 1 2K2 1 Ml 1 1 Vfl BLIND PATE iPQ-13) 'flfflffri I WITCHES OF I flECZDI screen fetllft)! fyjilf I EASTWICK (R) TOCAMP(Pe) 1 Tom Berenger in i i PLATOON (R) I I I mynim ii.il II II I I Wn I IJ III! I plus! James Caan in AHimMMP'fWWWH I A I 1 kfJA EDDIE MURPHY I rSwl THE HEAT'S BACK ON! fl1 'MSU one of the best scenes in a movie this year.

Michelle Pfeiffer's Sukie also succumbs, and briefly the four of them live in blissful contentment in Van Home's mansion. But then the town's uptight church lady (Veronica Cartwright) starts spreading gossip about rampant sin, and the women find themselves rebuked by townspeople. Frightened, they retreat to their homes, leaving the "horny little devil" alone and angry in his pleasure palace. That's enough plot. For themes, let's consider that the three women "wish" into their lives the man who ultimately proves to be utterly selfish and destructive.

That they also become quite devoted to him might not do very much for the movie, but it proves the validity of the currently popular book titled, Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them. And just like the witches of yore, who were not witches at all but midwives who angered physicians by taking work away from them, the "witches" of Eastwick are bum rapped. While Miller and Cristofer make their points clearly enough, and in ways that allow the performers to seduce their audiences as well as MIKITY ssin ENDS THURSDAY ICBEfl ONE (1 15-3 45-6 OOt 112 15-2 4S-5 00) 8 15-10 JO JO-IOOO THE STEPFATHER (1 30-3 iOS JO -7 41-10 OS CHIPMUNK ADVENTURE I1J 4-2 45-4 40t-7 00- 00 SHOAT'MS A-ftE FO TOOAV OIL 6vpf infobmatin FO" PSIOtO 345-6789 M0N-FR1 ALL SHOWS BEFORE I PM SAT. SUN I HOLIDAYS 111 SHOW ONLY MQPAC etlOO te0 327-8381 V4WCf TICK OS SAMS DAY ADVANCl Harry i The Hendersons ipoi 01 IT I PREDATOR (R) ism STUfO The Witches of Eastwkk (R) smit 1 1 ItntOU I TODAY (5:15 $3.00) 7:15, 915 i.u, a.ia- MHHlMHiMe f. ft 111:" 1 CHILiJhtNS FILM FESTIVAL P4.ATOON1I CHIPMUNK AOVENTURE TIJU RRCHJ iooo KT STEPFATHER J7TrTH7T I 112 15-2 4S-5 OOt I I Jack Nicholson and Cher star John Updike's The Witches of 892-2775 westgate blvd.

MANNEQUIN (PG) Eastwick. THE UNTOUCHABLES (R) ON TWO SCREENS THE BELIEVERS (R) Million Dollar Mystery (pg RAISING ARIZONA (PG-13) ISHTAR (PG-13) TOO MUCH (PG) PLATOON (R) PREDATOR (R) ON TWO SCREENS) 12: 5-3 BEVERLY HIUSCOPB(R) a a) i i 1 i i i ON TWO SCREENS "BBfcgi m0 rf i-w, 14V pot s.p.o THCAraf jl I MA. fflf l.pgpjl mMi is-io to 1-LCH "iil; iJ TiZrv I j4bi- I I IF 1 BTFBl "ST lr; wMJMl ra mr 1 XJLl Ulili tiXJU UUULU.J IS" Trr'riiM 7:40.9.55 taa5UHLCj I 1 THEY COULDN'T BE BOUGHT. THEY WOULDN'T BE 5. t0f S.IV.

BRIBED pnesioto TMf th(s J.2...i..r- BSHKIB1 IHX tuoft ivx 730-1005 iia wi win pis IIS. llllil'MAUl 70MM t-1 4SJ 10-4 4S -7 30-10 IH I (HARRY mte HENDERSONS CJ 4S-3 0O- 15t-T 40- SO 7 I WITCHES OF EASTWICK 00-7 45-10 10 RIVER'S EDGE tl 30-3 30-5 45t- 0Q-10 2 5 WITCHES Of EASTWICK til 2-1 5S-4 2S)-7 10-t 45 UNTOrrHABI.KS (1 1 40KH0-4 40-7 JO- 10 05 BEVERLY HILLS COP II (1J 30-J 45-5 151-7 4S-10 1 Thx 1 OllH ABLhS (it 451-2 IS -4 4S-7 45 THE HENDERSONS I v. 111-OO-f JO-10 OO Pi. RIVER'S EDGE it Ori IS-S 3 7 I General bargain 'Cinema matinees I WIOWIAWO WAU BUD 451-7326 I imi I Harry Th Hendersons (To) STiWal RAISING ARIZONA (PG-13) I JS.Kf0 10 4S1764A 1 H.1 jjjj. Mrww -V MOWf-TNURSOrS TWES fiffi ijjM: $OZ2 MATINEES TWI-LITE SHOWS STS I K4Wra fc EVERYDAY-ALL SHOWS BEFORE 6PM mMI ml FS A HI.

Stereo Sound in Ail AuQitonumsl A T. Steteo Sound In AH Auditoriums 1 I CROCODILE DUNDEE (PG) The Witches of Eastwick (R) ON TWO SCREENS! Ernest Goes to Camp (pg) Million Dolur Mystery (PG) THE BELIEVERS (R) BEVERLY HILLS COP II (R) TOO MUCH (PG) PREDATOR (R) HOT PURSUIT (PG-13) 30-9-45 LETHAL WEAPON (R) BLINU UA IE (PG-13) CREEPSHOW II (R) BLIND DATE (PG-13) I (Tf. 1 1 Secret of My Success (pg-u) 105-120-5 10-7 45-1O00 ERNEST GOES TO CAMP (PC) Million Dollar Mystery (pg) Ernest Goes to Camp (pg) ISHTAR (PG-13) THE BELIEVERS (R) 50-5: 10-7 30- SO Mtujon Dollar Mystery ipgj 1 20-130-5 40-7 SO-10-00 PREDATOR (R) 1 5-25 HOT PURSUIT IGI ftrl HtfTHmr Mm BLIND DA (PG-13) THE ARISTOCATS.