Newsday from New York, New York • 93

B10 Part 2002 5, APRIL FRIDAY, NEWSDAY, 'TWO THUMBS ROEPER WAY UP!" "ONE David OF 2002's NEWSWEEK Gone Seymour, NEWSDAY Jami Bernard, N.V. DAILY NEWS MAMA FASTFUNNY OF BLOODED MEN YORK S3WIL WINNER VENICE FILM FESTIVAL GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEE BUNT NIN FILM OFFICIAL SELECTION FILM. FESTIVAL: TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2002 THIS FILM IS NOT RATED BUT CONTAINS STRONG STARTS TODAY AT NASSAU NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS GREEN ACRES CINEMAS VALLEY STREAM 561-2100 LESSER CINEMA 4 MALVERNE 599-6966 CLEARVIEW CINEMAS MANHASSET TRIPLEX MANHASSET 777-FILM UNITED ARTISTS MEADOWBROOK EAST MEADOW 777-FILM 4 PRODUCED BEST RON TAMBIEN: him day ALFONSO CUARON MARIBEL VERDU GAEL DIEGO LUNA KRIS a JORCE VERGARA TRU MANA MARREL VERDO CAEL CARCA BERML: MEDO TER: GABRIELA ANNETTE NE VICIEL IN PER DO SANDRA SOURES ISO PIANO AGRERO BAND AMT KAUFMAN A JORGE, VERGARA CARL OS CUADOR ALFONSO ANNELO IFCFilms www.ytumamatambien.com SEXUAL CONTENT AND LANGUAGE. NO ONE UNDER 18 WILL BE ADMITTED. A SELECT THEATRE NEAR YOU! NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS AMUSEMENTS FARMINGDALE CINEMAS MULTIPLEX RT.

110 CONKLIN FARMINGDALE 462-6953 777-8080 UNITED ARTISTS PATCHOGUE PATCHOGUE 777-FILM UNITED ARTISTS SOUTHAMPTON SOUTHAMPTON 777-FILM LESSER KEW GARDENS CINEMAS KEW GARDENS 441-9835 WINNER PICTURE BRIAN GRAZER RON HOWARD BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS JENNIFER CONNELLY BEST SCREENPLAY BASED ON MATERIAL PREVIOUSLY PRODUCED OR PUBLISHED AKIVA GOLDSMAN A PICTURES AND DREAMWORKS LEC IMAGINE PG-13 2008 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS UNIVERSAL NASSAU SUFFOLK NAT'L AMUSEMENTS LOEWS THEATRES NAT'L AMUSEMENTS BROADWAY METROPLEX BROOKHAVEN MULTIPLEX CINEMAS LEVITTOWN 1-800-555-TELL MULTIPLEX CINEMAS HICKSVILLE 935-5599 LOEWS THEATRES MEDFORD 289-8900 CINEPLEX ODEON RACEWAY THEATRE NAT'L AMUSEMENTS FANTASY CINEMAS WESTBURY COMMACK MULTIPLEX ROCKVILLE CTR. 1-800-555-TELL 462-6953 1-800-555-TELL CLEARVIEW CINEMAS SOUNDVIEW CINEMAS UNITED ARTISTS THEATRES CINEPLEX ODEON GLEN COVE CINEMAS PORT WASHINGTON FARMINGDALE 1-800-555-TELL 777-FILM STADIUM 10 RTE. 110 AND MICHAEL AVE. NAT'L AMUSEMENTS CLEARVIEW CINEMAS 777-FILM GREEN ACRES CINEMAS SQUIRE SEVENPLEX VALLEY STREAM 561-2100 GT. NECK 777-FILM FLORIN CREATIVE UNITED ARTISTS THEATRES LINDENHURST CLEARVIEW CINEMAS WESTBURY STADIUM 12 957-5400 HERRICKS CINEMAS NEW HYDE PK.

WESTBURY LESSER 777-FILM 777-FILM MATTITUCK CINEMAS 298-SHOW QUEENS UNITED ARTISTS THEATRES CINEPLEX ODEON UNITED ARTISTS THEATRES 777-FILM 'FRESH MEADOWS MOVIEWORLD AT CINEMAS 1-800-555-TELL DOUGLASTON CINEPLEX ODEON UNITED ARTISTS THEATRES 777-FILM SHORE 8 CINEMAS LESSER HUNTINGTON STUDIOS NORTH SHORE TOWER 1-800-555-TELL STADIUM 14 35TH AVE. 38TH ST. CINEMA LOEWS THEATRES 777 FILM LITTLE NECK 229-7702 BROOK UNITED ARTISTS THEATRES PROSENTED IN 1-800-555-TELL DIGITAL IN FOREST MIDWAY HILLS 777-FILM STADIUM 9 dis DIS STEREO DO DOLEY Sony Dynamic SOUND DIGITAL Digital Sound a Hip-Hopping Onto Broadway DEF from B3 and "Black on Both Sides" (both Rawkus), he is building a lengthy acting resume. He had supporting roles in "Showtime," "Monster's Ball," the upcoming "Brown Sugar," MTV's "Carmen" and more than a dozen other film and TV roles. He auditioned for Wolfe's "Jelly's Last Jam" and won the role of Buddy Bolden during an ill-fated attempt at an HBO production.

After Wolfe saw Mos Def repeatedly at the Public Theater run of "Topdog," he came to mind as a replacement for Don Cheadle, who had appeared at the Public, but whose schedule couldn't accommodate the Broadway run. "Mos impressed me right away as a very smart, hard-working actor with a lot of theatrical Wolfe said by phone the day after the preview. "He really burrows inside the language of the play and captures both the vaudeville side of the production and the street For the role of Booth, the Brooklyn native Dante Terrell Smith) said he drew on his experience as a student when he had performed other two-man plays such as Edward Albee's "Zoo Story" and Athol Fugard's "The Island." Although Booth is the younger, more roughneck brother, Mos Def was drawn to his vulnerability. "His weakness is what leads him to explode rather than respond to his circumstances. I wanted to bring out his sense of desperation and ineffectiveness, but I also wanted to show his sense of amazement about his brother." By now in the interview, Mos Def had settled in.

His deep-set eyes and what seem to be emotionally wrought features enhanced the sense that he thinks deeply before he speaks. But whether graciously autographing napkins for fans or talking with his manager, his words seemed to come from the side of his mouth, as if every comment is an aside, even when he's dead serious. "George has an interesting poster on his wall," he said. "It has this phrase repeated over and over: 'People are trapped in history, and history is trapped in I think it's very true for the characters in this play. They're struggling to get out; they want to defy history, and this play is about their struggle to do so." Mos Def's next musical act also will be a bit of a departure.

With what little time the acting career has left him, he's finishing a rock record with his group, the Black Jack Johnson Project, due out this summer. He also has remained involved in Nkiru Books, a Fort Greene-based bookshop that he owns with Newsday Photo Ari Mintz Mos Def as Booth in "Topdog Underdog" 1: 1 ca Kweli. "We shifted the focus from being a Borders to being a cultural center, making it more comprehensive," he said. "We have literacy and arts programs, and other programs in development. I'm really proud of it." In addition, he's the host for the upcoming HBO season's "Def Poetry Jam." Asked about other projects, Mos Def cites Danny DeVito as a role model.

"It's not just about him being in the film; it's about him being a part of the entire process of bringing it to fruition," he said. He also listed regional and smaller theater productions as aims. Then he smiled. "I like what I've been doing, it's going pretty well. I don't think I'm going to make too many adjustments to the wagon." Martin Johnson is a regular contributor to Newsday.

SUFFOLK. NATIONAL COMMACK COMMACK UNITED ARTISTS CORAM CORAM 777-FILM QUEENS ACADEMY BY DIRECTOR HOWARD WHEN "Topdog Underdog" is now in previews and opens Sunday at the Ambassador Theatre, 219 W. 49th Manhattan. Limited engagement through July 28. For ticket information and performance times, call 212-947-8844.

The Broadway 'Graduate' Flunks Out GRADUATE from B2 baked goods in "American Pie" as Benjamin Braddock, the role that identified both the youthful Dustin Hoffman and youthful alienation as marketable standards. Add Alicia Silverstone, the adorably petulant Cher in "Clueless," as Elaine Robinson and, at least on paper and paper money, "The Graduate" should not be so-last-century anymore. But what, then, is it? Try boring. And pointless. Johnson, plucking plot from the movie and Charles Webb's novel, jerks us around from farce to soaper to slapstick to romantic comedy until theatergoers with a weakness for coherence and consistency of style may justifiably sue for whiplash.

Rob Howell's minimilist set is a sophisticated concept involving double-decker blondwooden shutters, and his costumes, including hairstyles, avoid being '60s cartoons. For cartoons, we have the characters such chipper bubbleheads as Benjamin's mother (Kate Skinner), who squeaks, "I read in the Digest that young peo- ple are disillusioned." After Ben- her little fists and throws herself jamin's affair with his parents' on his bed as if told she couldn't friend is revealed, we get a family go to the prom. therapy session in which Ben- As anyone knows who saw jamin throws a bean bag chair on Turner in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" the head of the hippie shrink. or "Indiscretions" in the '90s, she You following this? After a is at least as much a Broadway while and the first act feels stage creature as a movie star. long enough to age a generation She has one of those look-at-me, we begin to recognize the ge- confident qualities that dares you nius of the Mike Nichols-Buck to doubt her.

We don't blame her Henry film, which told us for trying to find a Mrs. Robinson everything with just a few meticulously other than the slinky, elegant selected scenes. Johnson fills' in Bancroft, but this blowsy, comthe conversation and, surprise, mon version drains the liberating the people are not merely unbe- joy inappropriate affair. from the lievable but incredibly dull. And about that nudity.

If, inBiggs is an admirable combinadeed, it is essential to the verisimilitude of the material, then tion of nerdy and curious, but the world he rejects is not the rich, dershorts unwhy does Benjamin wear his sleek Los Angeles that nailed the who scenes during hot in the sheets? And hails a taxi in growing anti-materialistic senti- L.A.? And who needs other ment. These families are pretty songs when you have Simon and pop tacky in their luxuries, so pathet- Garfunkel? In 1967, it seemed ic that rebellion lacks gravity. "The Graduate" was about BenThere is SO little weight in the jamin. Years later, it was hard drama that Elaine and her moth- not to care more about Mrs. Robiner get cutesy drunk together after son's situation.

the revelation, and when Ben- But this thing on Broadway jamin tells Elaine that her moth- isn't about anybody or anything er actually seduced him, Silver- unless the box office counts. stone stomps her little feet, waves,.