Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 22

C2 THE HARTFORD COURANT: Saturday. 'Jum 23, 1984 'Rhinestone' Has Dull Story, But Makes Silver Screen Shine Stallone's talent may be limited, but he sure does know how to have a good time making movies. If 0 J. if -y i Continued from Page CI into "My Fair Lady." "Rhinestone," itself based on the song "Rhinestone Cowboy," might have been called "My Fair Good Ole Paisan." Simply told, it concerns a bet between Jake and her employer, Freddie Ugo (another lech), that the Queen of the Rhinestone cafe can transform anyone into a country singer in a mere two weeks. The designated transfor-mee is not a flower girl, but America's favorite cauliflower ears, the Italian Stallion.

As Jake and Nick meet, stare at each other's chests, fight, make up, visit each other's families and fall in love, there are a few bright moments along the way. The songs, by Parton herself, have buoyancy, zip and that wonderful Southern gal savvy that the unique Dolly projects. Occasionally the dialogue, by Robinson and Stallone, offers up a snappy aside. There are even a few passable duets by the stars, including the big finale, in which both are swathed in enough Rhinestones to outfit every glitzy chorus line from "La Cage aux Folles" to Las Vegas. It certainly does make the old Silver Screen shine, and it's occasionally rewarding to see what a good sport Stallone is to be making such an utter fool of himself, as he does when tunelessly screaming out "Tutti Frutti," or squawking out a song about Frankenstein while clad in an unbelievably ridiculous dude cowboy ensemble.

er, so he just overcompensates. It's a war of egomaniacs here, a flexing battle of pecs that Parton wins by a large margin, putting down Stallone by playing it cool as he goes bananas. With Stallone and Parton in a picture, there's little room for anybody else. But Ron Liebman, never a shrinking violet himself, manages to grab off a piece of comic turf by out-obnoxing all comers in his playing of the slavering, ostentatious rich New York club owner Freddie, who-makes the big bet with his star: attraction Jake. Richard Farnsworth, on the other hand, is a subdued and gen-: tlemanly actor who is rendered; virtually invisible in his good, grey-fox playing of Jake's The director, Bob Clark, seems" not to have been able to give any dimension or balance to the ture at all.

You can almost see" him shrugging his shoulders letting all his cowhands do their: own things. Nor does the man who gave us; "Porky's" and the able but uneven "Murder by Decree" and "A Christmas Story" seem to have exerted himself in giving "Rhine-; stone" a look or style. There's -color, brightness, artificiality-in' this area, too, especially in some of the soft-focus Tennessee seg-' ments which look positively; glassy. Rated PG, this film abounds', with sexual innuendoes of a generally harmless if puerile and contains some impolite language. 1 Stallone's talent may be limited, but he sure does know how to have a good time making movies.

But do they all have to have a speech about not wanting to be a bum as the big emotional moment? As for Parton, she doesn't seem to be having such a high old time. She often can be observed watching Stallone with the same bemused detachment Mildred Dun-nock displayed while supposedly admiring Elvis Presley's rendition of "Love Me Tender" in the movie of the same name. When Parton sings, she fills the screen with her particular joie de vivre, or at least a seeming delight in performance. But playing opposite Stallone, she shoots off even fewer sparks than she did when acting the loving Madame to Burt Reynolds' overly sober sheriff in "The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas." Parton, who in this particular film looks oddly like a cross between Meryl Streep and Mae West, shares something with both of those very different actresses. She totally overpowers her male co-stars.

Reynolds didn't even try to compete, but Stallone is no los m-- i strf'l 1 United Artists Eric Roberts is a schemer in "The Pope of Greenwich Village." The Pope' Just Misses Being Great By MALCOLM L. JOHNSON Courant Film Critic "The Pope of Greenwich Village" almost makes a big score. Actors Eric Roberts and Mickey Rourke, cast as a pair of small-time operators with big dreams, excel throughout in this sometimes funny, sometimes grisly parable of the high price of brotherhood in the mean streets of Little Italy. But ultimately director Stuart Rosenberg loses control. His timing is off, and his visual style shifts from hard to Consider the pivotal break-insafe-cracking intended to set the boys up for life.

The caper's loose construction I robs it of tension, as it cross-r cuts from the deserted building to the crooked cop who will in- trude at just the wrong mo- ment. Worse yet, the aftermath of panic and accusations under an East Side bridge is shot through romantic blue filters. It's too bad that the direction isn't more taut and tough-minded because the screenplay, adapted by Vincent Patrick from his own novel, bristles with hard, vulgar idiomatic dialogue and develops a vivid gallery of characters. The story line is intriguing, and its sub-T plots give it breadth without being overly digressive. And its ideas about the not-so-sweet smell of success are developed with trenchany and poignancy.

Rosenberg also has a superb cast, and he has drawn mostly strong performances though he sometimes seems too per-1 missive. He makes no attempt 'v to subdue Geraldine Page, who is too young and attractive to play the mother of a middle-aged police detective on the take. Page squeezes her juicy plum far too deliriously. i But most of the cast can do no wrong. Rourke, who gets better and better with every role, makes his character an embodiment of a kid from the streets who just misses the road out.

He makes his Charlie Mor-I an a no-longer young man with a boy's touching loyalty and affection for his crazy cousin "and he shows both his character's good sense and competence and his wild destructive streak. With a gesture, he also shows us values and mind-sets in the way he folds the wads of bills into his pocket, or pops up his collar I and slips on his shades. Eric Roberts also gives a ter- rif ic performance as Paulie, a FILM REVIEW THE POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE, Directed by Stuart Rosenberg; screen, play by Vincent Patrick, based on his novel; director of photography, John Bailey; production designer, Paul Sylbert; edited by Robert Brown; music by Oave. Grusln; produced by Gene Klrkwood. An MGMUA release, playing at Showcase Cinemas, East Hartford.

Running time: 120 minutes. Paulie Eric Roberts Charlie Mickey Rourke Diane Darryl Hannah Mrs. Ritter Geraldine Page Barney Kenneth McMillan Pete Tony Musante Burns M. Emmett Walsh Bedbug Eddie Burt Young Bunky Jack Kehoe Paulie's Father Philip Bosco Nunzi Val Avery Jimmy the Cheese Man Joe Grltasi Some Runners Prefer To Switch key authenticity and touching depth by Kenneth McMillan, wants the last big score so that he can make right a life that has too often gone wrong. The Little Italy Mafioso, Burt Young in an unusually controlled performance, has a totally absurd vision of himself as a figure of law and order.

The cop on the take, acted with perfect colorlessness by Jack Kehoe, dreams of a better life in Arizona, while Darryl Hannah, as Charlie's WASP girlfriend, ridiculously pictures her lover as the proprietor of a Connecticut country inn. There is much to admire in the way the characters relate to each other and to the themes of Patrick's book and screenplay. But Rosenberg and producer Gene Kir kwood have too many artificial inspirations to make everything in "The Pope of Greenwich Village" fit together satisfyingly. John Bailey's camera work is often too glossy, and Dave Grusin's inspired use of Sinatra on the music track dissipates into lilting but off-key Irish airs, for the crooked police, and modernistic seethings for violence. Rated this film is riddled with language of the street, and also contains a variety of vendettas, including one very grisly one.

good in other ways you have a lot of energy. The weightlifting makes me feel like I can walk through a brick wall." Not everyone wants to walk through walls. There still are millions who are content running on Eavement. But even many die-ard runners have diversified their exercise schedules. They still run, but they mix it up with other forms of exercise during the week.

Louise Klaber of Hartford, past resident of the 600-member artford Track Club, says that interest in exercise still is boomh ing, but that people recognize that there can be more to exercise than putting one foot in front of the other. "Running is not the way," Klaber says. "We still get a fair amount of new members, but running is not at the craze stage. It's stable." Club members, from joggers to ultramarathoners, are a Continued from Page CI of injury," Pizzo says. But fear of injury isn't the only reason runners switch.

Al Berto-lini, 36, of Glastonbury found he just liked weights better. He started lifting weights to help his running, but decided he preferred being a beefy lifter to a lightweight hoofer. He started running four years ago to help him quit smoking. In two years he worked up to SO miles a week. He wanted to strengthen his legs so he could run faster on hills, so he started lifting weights at the Strength and Fitness gym in Glastonbury.

He ended up addicted to pumping iron and now just jogs a little every week. He considers himself a serious weightlifter, not a serious runner. "I got the bug. I love weighlift-ing," he says. "It makes you feel strong.

When I was running, I felt very fragile. Running makes you dedicated bunch, Klaber says': are people who have a commitment to running." And even these committed run-; ners don't spend all of their time-on the pavement. They engage in one or more alternative exercises in addition to running often -with the goal of faster or longer, runs. Sam McClendon, 41, of Bloom-1 field, has been running seriously, for five years. He has run respect-; able, three-hour marathons.

Last' year a doctor suggested Nautilus workouts to help with a running injury. He said he could tell immediately that Nautilus was helping his flexibility Now he mixes running with-: Nautilus and a stationary cycle. He believes he has improved running speed and endurance. "What we're finding out is that there are other ways to get to the: starting line," he said. big spender who will never grow up although here and there he goes overboard.

Roberts makes Paulie a vain, stupid kid who is always jittering about and who often reveals a malformed idea of -how things work. When he and Charlie cross the street, Paulie bops along backward, talking excitedly. Telling his cousin about his new race horse, he reveals how the filly was bred through "artificial inspiration." Artificial inspiration, of course, is what "The Pope of Greenwich Village" is all about. Everyone in the picture seems to share Paulie's twisted sense of how life ought to be. The old locksmith recruited to crack the safe, played with low- i 1 RollFable.

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