The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 41

THE GAZETTE, MONTREAL. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1995 Vegas comes up a winner NEW YORK Leaving Las Vegas, the tale of a failed screenwriter on a final drinking binge, was named the best movie of 1995 on Wednesday by the New York Film Critics Circle. Nicolas Cage won as best actor for the same movie. ASSOCIATED PRESS High-octane start degenerates into predictable farce PAUL DELE AN THE GAZETTE C8 les Anges Hardens runs dry Congratulations to the winners of doulile passes to see Cut Throat 1 .7 fees. ft I fi AGOSTINO, MONTREAL ARORA.

BROSSARO ATKINSON. BEACONSFIELD BABAB. MONTREAL BAXTER, MONTREAL BELL. MONTREAL BERNARD. VAUDREUIL BINSLEY, MONTREAL BLAMIRE.

C. MONTREAL BROOA. VERDUN BRYAN, MONTREAL BUJOLD. LASALLE CARPENTER, MONTREAL CHUN MING. C.

DORVAL D'ADDARIO. MONTREAL DEGIAN, T. MONTREAL DESAULNIERS. MONTREAL DEVINE, VERDUN DIALOS. A ST.

LAURENT DOUGLAS. ATHELSTAN EINHEIBER. HAMPSTEAD ENRIGHT. MONTREAL ESSAGIAN. A PIERREFONDS FILIATREAULT.

DDO FLOYD. CHATEAUGUAY FRAINETTI. MONTREAL FREDERICK. CHATEAUGUAY GIARRUSSO. A LASALLE GIROUX.

CANDIAC GREENBERG. COTE ST LUC HALLE. MONTREAL HAMILL. MONTREAL HANSEN, ST. LAMBERT HEBEL.

LAVAL HELD. MONTREAL HERSH. MONTREAL HOCK. D.O. HOELSCHER.

L. VARENNES HUFANCIA. MONTREAL IRELAND. MONTREAL JOB. PIERREFONDS JONES.

NUNS' ISLAND KELLY. C. CHATEAUGUAY KNEBEL. MONTREAL KOZDRAK, MONTREAL LAMBERT. MONTREAL LEE.

GREENFIELD PARK LEIPNIK. MONTREAL LEITHMAN. ST. LAURENT LEMAY. MONTREAL LESLIE.

GREENFIELD PARK MARKUZE. MONTREAL WEST MATHIEU. ST. HUBERT MCCADDEN. L.

HAMPSTEAD MELKONIAN. K. MONTREAL MEO. ST. LEONARD MIRANDA.

MONTREAL MORISSETTE. LASALLE MURRAY. MONTREAL NELLIGAN. BLAINVILLE NEWELL. CHATEAUGUAY NIEBHUR.

ST LAURENT ORSINI. MONTREAL PERLINGHIS. HAMPSTEAD PIZIO. T. LACHINE POLIDERAKI.

A ST. LAURENT RACICOT. Y. STE JULIE ROSITO. MONTREAL ROSONINHA.

ESTRELA SCHEIGETZ. LASALLE SCHWARTZ. 0 SHAW. D. ST.

LAURENT SPILKIN. MONTREAL STOYLES. ST. LAURENT VARDON. LASALLE VERMEULEN.

HAMPSTEAD WALKER. BROSSARD WASSERMAN. WESTMOUNT WEINBERGER. E. MONTREAL WHELAN.

MONTREAL Burly actor Gerard Depardieu, ho already seems to be in every second movie made in France, is spreading himself even thinner (in a manner of speaking). In Les Anges Gardiens, he's often on screen simultaneously in two roles as a greedy Parisian nightclub owner and his cherubic guardian angel. His foil is Christian Clavier, who also does double duty as a conscientious priest who works with delinquents and as the priest's spiritual alter ego, a long-haired angel prone to temptation and mayhem. The two earthly characters meet by accident in Hong Kong, where the nightclub owner has been summoned by a dying friend who has stolen money from the Chinese Mafia and the priest is wrapping up an educational visit with some of his young charges. To get a cut of the millions his friend has stolen.

Depardieu is supposed to return the man's 5-year-old son safely to his mother in Paris. With the mob on his tail, he ends up dumping the boy and his booty on the departing priest. From that point on, their fates are linked. Les Anges Gardiens already is a box-office smash in France, but it's not the movie it could have been. After a violent, high-octane start, it begins to run dry midway through -about the time the angels are added to the story, almost as an afterthought.

At that point, the film degenerates into broad, busy, predictable farce, with Depardieu and Clavier aiming words and objects at the angels only they can see and connecting, natu- Christian Clavier (left) is a delight in Les Anges Gardiens, Gerard Depardieu is splendid. 3 range, physique and comic flair to pull off this kind of silliness. Clavier, who's been in six of Poire's movies since 1982 and writes the scripts with him; is also a delight. But there's not much they can do when the story stagnates. The fact the closing credits consisting of outtakes and flubs get bigger laughs than anything in the body of the film says plenty about its unrealized potential.

Les Anges Gardiens is playing in French at the Parisien, Famous Greenfield, Cine-Laval, Angrignon, Versailles, Chdteauguay, Dauphin and Lacordaire. Parents' guide: violence, nudity. rally, with innocent bystanders. Les Anges Gardiens has many of the recurring attributes of French films: lots of slapstick, astonishingly beautiful women (including the dancers from the Crazy Horse Saloon), an emphasis on food and wine, Depardieu. It has brisk direction from Jean-Marie Poire, a multitude of car crashes, gunfights and flying bodies, and remarkable technical sophistication.

The scenes in which the characters are on screen with the angels are executed with amazing skill. Depardieu is a splendid actor with the For more information, please call Gaby at 987-2405. Cljefeette 1 ALWAYS THE RIGHT SIZE AND COLOR! SHU Child actors excellent in Kids of the Round Table "AWESOME. TRULY EPIC. A Masterpiece.

Wholly Original" -Richard Scmcm TIME MAGAZINE 'A Real Scorcher Of A Movie!" -Most Persico. CFCF "Explosive Performances. -Louis B. Hobson. CALGARY SUN In a perfect world, there would be a place for a simple, well-meaning little movie like the Quebec-made Kids of the Round Table.

But at a time when action-packed blockbusters like Toy Story and Ju-manji are the talk of the schoolyard, it has a snowball's chance of surv iving at the local multiplex. You wouldn't know it from the misleading title, but Kids of the Round Table is more moral tale than adventure saga. And it's set very much in the present, not in King Arthur's time. The story centres on a 12-year-old from a single-parent family, Alex (Johnny Morina), who along with his friends enjoys re-enacting medieval battles in makeshift armor at a clearing near his home. One day, he happens upon the legendary "sword in the stone," in a local field.

He also is visited by the sorcerer Merlin (Malcolm McDowell), who advises him on how to use its power for good deeds. Alex, who has Johnny Morina As Alex I i mmmmutmuHtS'JmM" TffiWlfnTi fawn till 16 ANS lh 7 had bully problems, quickly finds a practical outlet for his new strength. But he can't resist also using it against a friend (Jamieson Boulanger) who has caught the eye of the girl he fancies (Maggie Jane Castle). He ends up alienating both, but gets a chance to redeem himself when he stumbles upon a hostage-taking conducted by three dimwitted bank robbers. Directed by U.S.-based Robert Tin-nell from a screenplay by local writer David Sherman, Kids of the Round Table is long on talk and short on action.

Low-budget and low-tech, it's also very much a boys' movie; the only significant female character doesn't get to do much. The young cast, headed by Montreal-er Morina, is refreshingly normal and natural. They look, talk and agonize like real kids. As actors, they're head and shoulders above most of the adults in this movie (the excellent McDowell excepted). The worst of that lot is Quebec singing star Rene Simard, embarrassingly bad as the nerdy, third-banana bank robber.

-PaulDelean Kids of the Round Table is playing at Eaton, Famous Pointe Claire, Mirage and Cavendish. Parents' guide: for all. A LOS ANGELES CRIME SAGA in association wth REGENCY ENTERPRISES a FORWARD production a MICHAEL MANN MONO ROBERT DE NIRO "HEAT" TOM SIZEMORE DIANEVENORA AMY BRENNEMAN ASHLEYJUDD MYKELTi WililAMSON WESSTUDI TED LEVINE win ION V01GHT and HER ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL produced MirUACI MAMM ADT I IMCAM wittfnano SOUNDTRACK ALBUM ON WARN'R MOS IFCODS, CDi AND TAPi I I llwlnLLl mill nil I lii wwi umtu StfrMisiaiiaS! FRENCH VERSION LII WW 3 Sft the. WlantAeat Wiea pum cemfoA 7, to. 31, td the.

849-1011 LI PARI LI Assurances generates des caisses Desjardins i i A irJT I HNAI I' i AUTO It II iniivu k. ipwi LAST CALL fooM. g)C (1)c((c iiou hit the. head! A PAHTENAIRI PROVINCIAL Lt COMMANDITAIRE rROVINCIAL If PARC xLer OLYMPIQUE I MONTRfcAL.