Birmingham Evening Mail from Birmingham, West Midlands, England • 40

40 EVENING MAIL FRIDAY MARCH 17 1995 FILMS QUIZ FIX: Ralph Fiennes left with John Turturro right and Christopher McDonald in Quiz Show IMAGINE someone being discovered simultaneously cheating on Mastermind and the National Lottery and get some idea of the fuss caused when the 1950s gameshow Twenty One was FILMS found to be a fix Robert intelligent and articulate QUIZ SHOW (15) brilliantly recreates the scandal that By ALISON JONES RUSSELL RHODES Currently playing a convict in Shawshank Redemption and a journalist in Pret A Porter he now he turns up in IQ (U) as Ed a mechanic who falls for niece Meg Ryan already the dream date of Tom and Harry bypasses Dick to become the object of earnest affections The only scandal here is that Quiz Show got just four Oscar nominations compared to the marshmallow-centred Forrest Gump with 13 RATING: ACTOR Tim Robbins is going for the hat-trick by starring in three films doing the rounds at the same time next door charm while Tim Robbins combines sensitivity with street savvy and manages to make a science lecture sound like a love sonnet RATING: If droll wit and a tart tale of sex friendship terrorism and the aesthetics of shaving are what after then BARCELONA (12) is the place to be writes Russell Rhodes Written and directed by Whit Stillman a deadpan but sophisticated exploration of Americans abroad in this instance mid-1980s Spain where romantically disillusioned sales rep Ted finds himself saddled with Fred his extrovert loud-mouthed navy officer cousin smooth-tongued charm does wonders for their sex and social life but his outspoken patriotism proves tragically unwise amid the raging anti-Americanism The movie equivalent of sparkling after-dinner conversation a must for audiences who appreciate cultural observations and scintillating dialogue RATING: An absent-minded bottle blonde with a brain she looks like she could make the cheerleading squad and the University Challenge team Determined to marry a man with an IQ as large as he is tall she's engaged to a snobbish professor played by Stephen Fry However her soft-hearted Uncle Einstein (Walter Matthau) decides that the less cerebral but more romantic Ed is really her soul mate as opposed to her grey cell mate Correctly deducing that she would be unlikely to fall for a grease monkey the relativity theorist and his philosopher-turned-matchmaker friends try to pass him off as an egghead who is an expert at nuclear fusion IQ is a charming comedy with a wit that ranges from the dry in the case of Fry to the farcical as Matthau and his mates indulge in childish charades to help Robbins when he runs into intellectual trouble Meg Ryan exudes boffin turned out to be the Watergate of its day or Quizgate if you will In 1958 Twenty One ruled the ratings and was a national obsession Two contestants answered obscure general knowledge questions to be the first to earn 21 points National hero Herb Stempel (John Turturro) was reigning champion An abrasive Jew with perfect face for he was ordered to take a dive after the sponsors decided he was putting people off their product In his place came photogenic WASP intellectual Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes) The son of a Pulitzer prize winning poet (Paul Scofield) he became a national hero made the cover of Time and was held up as an example of the benefits of education The increasingly disgruntled and manic Herbie bitterly resentful at being forced to take a fall on a question about his favourite film pulled the plug and told ambitious congressional investigator (Rob Morrow doing his best Jimmy Stewart impersonation) that the contestants were given answers in advance The result was an Icarus-like tall from grace by Van Doren and a significant dent in the innocence of the American public There are superlative performances from Fiennes and the Oscar nominated Paul Scofield as the son still tied to his intellectual apron strings and who makes a bargain with the devil to achieve something in a field he knows his father would not stoop to conquer The tension is exquisite as they trade Shakespearean quotes across the dinner in quietly but passionately fought verbal duels Turturro goes into obnoxious overdrive as the pitiful anorak Herb clinging onto his last vestiges of pride and there is a scene-stealing cameo from Martin Scorsese as the sponsor APPLIANCE OF SCIENCE: Tim Robbins and Meg Ryan are an unlikely love match in 10 CINEMA AT A GLANCE 12-year-old when her family is killed by a crooked cop and teaches her the tricks of his trade SupertJ performances all round THE LION KING (U): Disney cartoon crowd puller about a young Lion growing up in Africa and being deprived of his throne by his evil uncle silkily voiced by Jeremy Irons Matthew Broderick Whoopi Goldberg James Earl Jones and Rowan Atkinson provide vocal talents NATURAL BORN KILLERS (18): Oliver Stone's infamous bloodfest about two serial killers in love anr on the loose An unsubtie attac on the media exploitation violence NELL (12): Moving story jf waiflike Jodie Foster discovered completely cu off from the world after the death of her mother Local doctor Liam Neeson champions her cause in a well-acted weepie THE PAGEMASTER (U): Superwimp Macaulay Cuikin finds his courage and his imagination after getting trapped in a magical library and transferred into a cartoon PRET A PORTER (15): Robert messy model-filled satire of the fashion industry set at the Paris shows The roster of star names make up for the waif of a plot ANDRE (U): Mushy Free Willy story on a smaller scale A lonely eight year-old befriends a raspberry-blowing seal who becomes a media celebrity BARCELONA (12): See review BLACK BEAUTY (U): A faithful remake of the equine classic Beautifully shot but not as involving as it could be DISCLOSURE (18): Demi Moore and Michael Douglas in a cat and mouse game of sexual harassment with a role reversal twist Steamy scenes get the hype but still a good stab in the back thriller THE EXORCIST (18): Cult classic still showing at the Odeon illustrates how horror should be done The devil takes possession of a young girl and turns her into a fiend Take a pillow to hide behind as two priests do battle with the Anti-Christ- FORREST GUMP (12): Laden with Oscar nominations the story of gentle idiot Tom Hanks who has an irrevocable effect on America history INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (18): Newly-blonded Tom Cruise sucks blood as a charismatic vampire in the lavish production A po-faced Brad Pitt is his unwilling proteqe IQ(U): See review THE JUNGLE BOOK (PG): A gym-honed Jason Scott Lee stars as the jungle boy who can talk to the animals in this Raiders Of The Lost Ark style romp LEON (18): Visually and emotionally stunning story about a childlike hitman who a PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT (15): Terence Stamp turns in an Oscar-nominated performance as the cynical yet sensitive third of a drag act travelling across Australia by coach PULP FICTION (18): Quentin dazzling follow-up to Reservoir Dogs is a mix of black humour violence and bad language Three stories of LA low-lifes are married together by a blend of hip dialogue and 1970s music QUIZ SHOW (15): See review RESERVOIR DOGS (18): Brilliant but bloody first feature from director Tarantino about a robbery which goes wrong Harvey Keitel Tim Roth and Michael Madsen star as some of the low-lifes involved in a deadly dissection of its failure THE RIVER WILD (12): Meryl Streep gets her feet wet in a thriller as a white water rafter forced to act as getaway rower for two robbers when they kidnap her family Exciting action sequences make up for a soggy plot ROAD TO WELLVILLE (18): Bizarre take on food faddism set in the turn of the century sanitarium run by the eccentric John Harvey Kellogg inventor of the breakfast cereal A star-studded Carry On Cornflake caper SHALLOW GRAVE (18): Deliciously dark comedy about three flatmates who find a body in their spare room and decide to keep the cash hidden in a suitcase under the bed THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (15): Excellent prison drama starring Tim Robbins as an inmate who refuses to be broken by the beatings and degradation Uplifting stuff it also stars Oscar-nominated Morgan Freeman THE SPECIALIST (15): The combination of Stallone the Bomber and Stone the Body prevent co-star James Woods hijacking the entire movie a flashy thriller about a woman who hires a hit man to blow away her killers and the effects make up for the lack of depth STARGATE (PG): Kurt Russell and James Spader are flung across the galaxy after passing through a mysterious Stargate and discover who really built the pyramids in this enjoyable sci-fi adventure STAR TREK GENERATIONS (PG): Kirk meets Picard in a story which unites the Old and New Generation crews of the USS Enterprise Fair entertainment but not as bold as some of the previous films WAGONS EAST (PG): Dire western spoof a woeful tribute to John Candy who actually died on the set of his last movie STAR RATING DISAPPOINTING DON'T EXPECT TOO MUCH WELL WORTH SEEING EXCELLENT.