The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City, Utah • 51

E9 OUT OF THE GENE POOL Matt Janz Second String No Christmas Movie But It's a Lot Better Than It Sounds FUNKY UHMUST REIhJDEER TD 60 BACK TO VOKKec 5 The Salt Lake Tribune COMICS TV Wednesday December 18 2002 I I I 1 2 I I THE PIRANHA CLUB Bud Grace I recently called a publicist at the TNT network to ask what Christinas programming they had planned this month After giving me the list of holiday shows the publicist threw in a pitch for a new sports movie called When I asked her if it was a Christmas movie since it was about the Buffalo drive to the Super Bowl she said something like it very much has a Christmas Well unless your idea of a Yuletide theme is a halfback running a quick-toss power sweep to the strong side going to be hard-pressed to see this as a holiday movie While it VINCE HORIUCHI have a single mistle-TELEVISION toe or ho-ho-ho starring Oscar-winning Jon Voight is fun to watch even for the holidays: It has moves like a Drew Bledsoe bullet pass fairly likeable characters and is as light and airy as a snowflake Gil Bellows plays washed-up quarterback Dan Heller who is given a chance to lead the Bills in the post season after their whole starting line is hospitalized from eating bad oysters Heller at first was hired to practice with the team but now must take the second string offense through the playoffs His biggest obstacle however may not be the odds against the team winning Coach Dichter (Voight) who like showboating and would rather bench him Like every other sports movie Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet KUED Channel 7 tonight at 8 Documentary about toe Ives of American Muslims and a profile ol toe prophet Tonight Show with Jay Leno KSL Channel 5 tonight at 10:35 The ever-funrry Italian actor Roberto Benigni (Tile is is a guest Frontline KUED Thursday 8 pm This excellent documentary series looks at Islam around toe world particularly its growth in toe US focuses on a couple of other players and their individual quirks like the place kicker who punted a ball since high school and the 10-year veteran who has doubts he will ever win a Super Bowl ring The pleasant surprise about is how fast and energetic the movie can be and how the filmmakers turn the players into caricatures like in the Charlie Sheen movie And for a TV movie on a limited budget its scope is amazing: The film was shot in real stadiums full of screaming fans expect a lot of originality in though There is the big build up to the Super Bowl and typical snags thrown in along the way Worst of all however is Voight an Oscar-winning actor who is too crusty and old-school to be believable So while the TNT publicist was stretching it in describing as some kind of Christmas movie it still has a lot of cheer to give Television columnist Vince Horiuchi appears Mondays Wednesdays and bYidays He can be reached at vince(ajsltrib com Brian Basset The HiuS of SHOW RED AND ROVER fpspi THE SUCWMJ ALNE AS He 03ULP PE CHIU304 He CCAlLP lAfJCiM plA tfisnue SeMEAsxj Amo Me TH'JMPnV I Thom? i THUMP ITHUMpenY THUMP THUMP Scott Bongman AHPWHEH ICAMKNIT lSSSS Julie Larson CLOSE TO HOME John McPherson DINETTE SET mm 'TlouiMS ITII HEARD tT'5 SROtoMR Took Timmy TD SEETHE NEW MW Potter mme ITKAS ALtW6HTy Too COULD TELL A LOT) Of IT WAS DOME OKti SPECIAL EFFECTS FOR BETTER OR WORSE Lynn Johnston we HAD you AND SOUR BROTHER tJUsr BEEN IMTTW PUCEP BUTTERSCOTCH EUy A SWEET UTTLE THINS? IF tD HAD MV WAV WE WOOU3 HAVE HAD A DOG OR TWO AND A CAT BUT MARIAN WAS ADAMANT AND GOT HER I'm so slap allowed VOOR CHILDREN THE OoyOF HAVING ANIMALS yOUR MOTHER FOND OF PETS AT ALL An exciting new educational product: US Senate Vitamin 4.