Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 150

Friday Section 7 Chicago Tribune, Friday, April 15, 1988 tand and Deliver' makes the grade as upbeat TV fare By Dave Kehr Movie critic lnimiCTiv It-Hi II I II Lou Diamond Phillips (left) and high school teacher Jaime Escalante on the set of "Stand and ENTERTAINMENTone appointment you'll be glad you kept" -Rex Reed, AT THE MOVIES he opening of "Stand and Deliver" and "Colors" on the same day demonstrates once again that it's not what you film but how you film it Both movies are about the problems of teen gangs in the ghettos of Los Angeles, but where "Colors" is dark, fatalistic and violent, "Stand and Deliver" is light, upbeat and benign. The truth doubtlessly lies somewhere in between, but only the partial visions are marketable. The difference is one of style, but also of medium: "Colors," with its major stars, visual sweep and emphasis on action, takes place in a movie world; the more modest, chatty and amiable "Stand and Deliver" exists in the environment of television. "Stand and Deliver" is, in fact, a TV movie, produced by PBS' "American Playhouse" and destined for eventual network broadcast It is, though, a pretty good TV movie, smoothly directed by Cuban-born Ramon Menendez, a graduate of UCLA film school, and blessed with a charismatic lead performance by Edward James Olmos. Olmos, the brooding Lieutenant Castillo of "Miami Vice," has thinned his hair and thickened his waistline to portray Jaime Escalante, a computer technician who has given up his well-paying job in favor of teaching math in a gang- and drug-ridden East Los Angeles high school.

Indoctrinating these kids in the mysteries of college-level calculus will, Escalante believes, boost their sense of self-esteem and enable them to rise through the system. To motivate his initially suspicious and hostile students, Escalante relies on props, costumes and a seemingly endless supply of network quality one-liners. Like a series pilot, "Stand and Deliver" has a strong character, a promising situation and not a lot of story it seems to be setting things up for future episodes. Menendez, who wrote the screenplay with producer Tom Musca, fills out the film by spinning subplots around the supporting characters. There's Angel SLou Diamond Phillips of "La the gang member who's afraid his buddies will scorn him if they see him carrying textbooks; Ana (Vanessa 'Beetlejuice1 Andy Garcia in a scene from "Stand and Deliver." "Stand and Deliver" DtnKMd by Rwnon 1 wrtttMt tar Rmhoa MmwwHi and Ton Musca; mm ty Hanoi Rictianlmn; phntogm by Tom Richmond; art MU by bklo: muMc by CMg Satan; pn.

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CAST Anpal Oatcta Marquez), the gifted student whose father wants her to drop out and work in the family restaurant; and Lupe and Pancho (Ingrid Oliu and Will Gotay), two overweight kids who provide comedy relief by falling in love. To keep the audience rooting, Menendez throws up a series of barriers for the teacher to overcome: an administration official (Virginia Paris), who believes Escalante is only encouraging false hopes; Escahnte's wife (Rosana De Soto), who's worried about the effect her husband's mad dedication is having on his health and family, and a representative of the Educational Testing Service (Andy Garcia), who's convinced that the students' high scores could only be the result of cheating. The results are slick, lively and link bit phony. The conflicts don't emerge from the characters, but seem to have been forced upon them purely for the sake of manufactunng a synthetic dramatic interest. The old tricks show, as if Menendez, a good student himself, had somewhat overzealously applied the lessons of his Screenwnting 101 course.

still the tops 'Li I AM I- 5rf -APPOINTMENT 1 mm i CHRISTIE'S r. ere are estimates of the top-grossing films in the cago area for April 8 through 14 as reported by ety (weekend figures are extrapolated into full-week tee cw' cKut iv. pnn BtM xwim mmx with inso WAw-iossottiD ci MKassrcuHN saw 'turn; wmwm. petu iifUAN-iomiwEurratniraiinnaiiMi CS CANNON OIESTM-T STATION EV4VSTON 1. "Beetlejuice" 2.

"Above the Law" 3. "Bad Dreams" 4. "Bright ights, Big City 5. "Biloxi Blues "Moonstruck" 7. "The Fox and the Hound" The Seventh Sign" "Good Morning, Vietnam" 10.

"School Da" $282,000 $175,000 1 27,000 $112,000 $77,000 $69,000 $68,000 $65,000 $48,000 RADIIURST SOLTHUKEMn HOOnCROVl! Fetivl W)LIGBROOK HILIiilDESQ. RIIXE CINEMAS STRATFTIRDSQ. YORKTOT1S DIANA ORI.ANDSO. I rtrh tafl.