Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 22

48 DETROIT FREE PRESSWEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 1988 "A BARREL OF LAUGHS." Bill Dlehl, ABC RADIO NETWORK rnmmt I dudley moore liza 'Midnight Run9 walks slowly through its cross-county trip Oil THE ROCKS MIDNIGHT Run PGL WARNtR BROS 1IONS UMPMV All M.ft.n 4 1 '1, minnel'i OVER 5:10 7:25 9:45 5:35 8. 10:15 12:45 3.5 15 7:30 9:45 5,7:30 9:411 1Z JU i a iu 1 ILJUIiVim HELD Ermmimgq uuiiuu 12:45 3,5:15 7:45 9:55 12:30 2:45 12:30 2:45 5,7:35 9:50 12 50 3:15 12:30 2:45 5, 7:35 9:50 12:30 2:45 DRIVE-INS ,1 As a visiting New York cop, Bruce Bonnie Bedelia, from terrorists in Die Hard' "MURPHY'S MOST HILARIOUS IVIci EDDIE MURPHY COMING TO lie action movie scene la Tliis suiiimor, IrinwAkH'in disc Lscovcrs America. APmMouvTPirniKE NOW CALL FOR SHOWTIMES 1:455:00 7:30 9:55 12:45 3:00 12:30 2:45 5:00 7:30 9:65 12:15 2:40 Willis tries to save his wife, played by an LA high rise. recharges Die Hard Parental guide: Rated explicit profanity and violence. exploding windows and rooftops, from the domestic stress of the McClane family to the jurisdictional disputes between the LA Police and the FBI, this movie throws a hook a minute and embeds quite a few.

In the end, "Die Hard" may not be much more than a fast-paced, hightech jolt machine. But at least it's one that works. BY KATHY HUFFHINES Free Press Movie Critic It's not really fair, "Midnight Run" has an ingratiating performance by Robert De Niro, one of America's best actors; and "Die Hard" has a Bruce Willis performance that's best when he quits "acting" and just sits like a typical New Jersey driver in the movie's entertainment vehicle. Still, one works; the other doesn't. One zooms over the finish line with an audience full of shrieking action maniacs while the other chugs along with an audience full of people who will enjoy the dialogue and the spunky De Niro performance but may long to shorten the trip's ETA.

This should teach De Niro that even the best laid plans for selling out can go astray. Midnight Run should have added up to everything you'd need for a hit. It's a buddy movie and a CharlesGrodin cop movie irom director Martin Brest, who had a blockbuster hit on the same subject in "Beverly Hills Cop." Here, Jack Walsh (De Niro) is an ex-cop who's making his living nabbing bail jumpers. Jonathan Mardukas (Charles Grodin) is a mild-mannered accountant who embezzled $15 million from a Mafia account, posted bail, then went into hiding. Bondsman Eddie Moscone Qoe Pantoliano) will pay De Niro $100,000 if he delivers Grodin to a California courtroom.

But because Grodin is afraid of air travel, their cross-country trip is much more than "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." It is "747s, Biplanes, Freight Trains, Passenger Trains, Buses, Cars, Helicopters, Swimmers and Walkers." De Niro and Grodin aren't the only guys along for the ride. They're being Some guys get all the brakes. PG-13m rwtwrif th dNtUM rot 6,8,9:55 12:15 2:45 5:157:45 9:55 1,3,5,7:15 9:30 3 1:203:20 5:20 7:20 9:20 1:55 5:45 9:45 10.12:152:304:45 7159:45 10,12:15 2:45 5,7:30 9:45 1 NOW SHOWING 3:30 7:10 9:30 12:45 3, 6 Parental guide: Rated explicit profanity. pursued by Mafia kingpin Jimmy Serrano (Dennis Farina), who wants Grodin dead; FBI agent Alonzo Mosely (Ya-phet Kotto), who wants Grodin as an informer, and rival bounty hunter Mar vin Dorfler (John Ashton), who wants the price on Grodin's head. Though "Midnight Run" is supposed to be an action version of "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," its action is frenetic but flat not just boring, but exhausting-ly boring.

It's the talk that's fun. If you could imagine a Johnny Carson show with De Niro as a host who's a cross between John Ashton Streets' Johnny Boy and "Taxi Driver's" Travis Bickle, that's what the best parts of the movie are like. De Niro's Walsh is an easy-to-take mainstream combination of his New York wild man and New York tough guy personas. Grodin's Mardukas is, in thin disguise, the Grodin persona of talk shows. He's a biofeedback nut, nagging De Niro about smoking, cho-lestrol and family responsibilities.

It's significant that the movie's best interchanges aren't between Walsh and Mardukas but between Walsh and his ex-wife (Wendy Phillips) and his daughter (Danielle DuClos). They share only one short scene but it's a stunner. That's the problem, exactly. A De Niro movie makes you crave acting, not action, Especially when the action can't act. Call theatre lor ihowtlmet 1:30 1:30 4:30 7:10 9:50 1:15 10.

12:15 12,2:305, 7:3010 mum lite, 12,2:30 1:30 3:30 5:50 7:50 9:50 1, 3:15 5:30 7:30 9:30 12:30 2:30 4:30 6:30 8:30 10:30 10, 12. 2:15 4:30 7, 9:15 8 iv. Are people tired of action pix? As Pundits Ponder Poor Performance at the box office of movies like Sly Stallone's "Rambo III" and Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Red Heat," there's one thing the analysts haven't consid Xsthy Edflilncs navies ered. Neither movie works as an action picture. Without the Vietnam hook, "Rambo Ill's" comic book battles lost their grip.

And though John Belushi's Chicago cop and Schwarzenegger's Moscow cop were a fun pair in "Red Heat," the action scenes were nothing but recyclings, with bus chases replacing car chases. It takes awhile before "Die Hard" hooks you. But when the hook's in, it's During the last one-third of the movie, there was more wall-to-wall screaming and cheering than there's been for anything since Glenn Close iose out of "Fatal Attraction's" bathtub and got drilled by Anne Archer. The title graphics give you an idea of what you're in for. D-I-E comes at you from the left, and H-A-R-D comes at you from the right like two elevator doors slamming closed.

This movie means business. It wants to seal you up in its skyscraper's 40 stories of excitement from the moment John McClane (Bruce Willis) arrives to visit his estranged wife in the high rise where she's an executive working for the akatomi Corp. Also paying a visit are Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his henchmen. They're terrorists after $650 million worth of bonds hidden in the Nakatomi safe. Washing up in the executive bathroom when he discovers the arrival of I lie terrorists, New York cop McClane runs off to hide in the innards of the building.

He's barefoot wearing only his trousers and tank-top shirt and carrying only his police handgun. Flexing pecs that are beefy yet pudgy, he's no Rambo. His first move is to radio for backup. As he rushes around the building, trying to pick off terrorists, he keeps stepping on the high-rise glass that peppers the floor after the windows have been blasted. This comic book action movie's most wrenching scene happens when Willis pulls a shard of glass from one of those bare feet.

At the beginning of the film, there's oo much of David Addison's smirk and Moonlighting's" one-liners. "Now I know what a TV dinner feels like," comments McClane from inside a heating duct. Willis is better later when he forgets the smirk and the one-liners and strips down to his own New Jersey working-class background. I preferred his "Hi, Honey," when, covered with sweat and blood, he re-encounters his wife. lionnie Bedelia shows the kind of strength and warmth fans of her performance in "Heart Like a Wheel" will i member.

Stage actor Rickman Liaison is excellent as the witty, clever Hans. The performances anchored the movie, but that's not what grabs you. What grabs you is the gonzo, go-for-broke action. If director John "Predator" was a brutal jungle kill-fest, "Die Hard" is a calculating, edge-of-your-seat, roller coaster ride. As Bruce battles the building while battling the baddies, McTiernan's quick cutting takes advantage of the story's multiple suspense elements.

From elevator shafts and heat ducts to IN TOWN: BELINDA BELINDA CARLISLE, 7:30 p.m., Pine Knob, Clarkston. 423-6666, 9-9 dally. "CATS," 8 p.m., Fisher Theatre. 872-1000, 9-5 weekdays. "LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR GRILL," 8 p.m., Attic Theatre.

875-8284, 11-5 weekdays. STACEY LATTISAW, 9 p.m., Taboo, 1940 Woodbridge. 423-6666, 9-9 daily. PLAYING 1:00 r.io 5:30 7:45 9:55 1:50 4:30 7:00 9:30 5:00 7:35 9:55 12:30 2:50 5:15 7 40 10:00 4:45 7:15 9 4012:30 2:45 5:00 720 9.40 8:00 7:15 830 945 12:20 2:40 5:00 740 10:00 I Mlili.Vi'li'illiW 1:45 4:30 7:15 9:55 1:004:157:009:40" I 0:45 12, 2:30 5, 7:3010 a 10, 12:15 2:30 4:45 7:15 9 45 12:00 2 20 12:00 2:25 4:45 7:15 9:40 H)0 715 330 445 DRIVEINS STARTS TODAY 1:20 3 30 5:30 7:35 10 12:55 3, 4:55 BMiiliM urn 12 IS 1 4'j 3 bW7Jh 1QO 3 OO 4 1 3 U) OO 7 00 8 30 1 15 3 15 i (vi o-Mn A-fui i rw i mundwifi vT j1 MCM1.XXXVI1 The rRTi iWM TI IX MY Hi 50 7:30 9:25 1:40 3:35 5:30 7:30 9:30 IiMHiMiIi i mmmm in mi 7:00 8:45 12:30 2:00 3:30 7:15 5 00 7:00 12:00 2:00 4 00 166 mil mo dR 1-m fi-firt 7,8:3010 12:101:60 3:20 4:50 6:20 8 1 S-if) i I Wall t)lney Company 111 1 4 i mi i i iihiw i'w wiinniinniiiii '111111111111 BLmmoMwutamaM Sl2l4fl 3:20 4 55 7 00 10. 12, 1 30 3 00 4 30 7O0 8 15 10, 12, 1 30 3O0 4 30 7O0 9O0 I bi wmw.fiij.' jj.t.t I 12:30 2:15 3:45 5:15 7:00 1.2:30 4:00 6:30 COMING NOVEMBER 18th OIlVER 6 CotHMMU.

FROM dtWWI PICTURES "THE BEST, PUREST MOTION PICTURE FANTASY SINCE Vincent Canhy, NKW YORK TIMKS mmvm 4 I The most highly acclaimed movie of the year! rmlm -fclAHifmMj 12, 2:45 5:15 7:4510:15 4:30 7:00 9:30 (BHB Toucfislont 1 0 4 AS 71h 3'30 4S 3 ()0 (o 2 30 (X) 7 9 0 00 2 15 5 1 10 3 15 5 7 25 9 35 12 00 2:05 4 10 6 10 2:30 4-4S Mb 12 00 2 30 4 55 5:30 7-3S 9:45 1 00 3 5 10 11 bll 20U 4 04 10 870 1030 DRIVE OO 00 IS ngum nd Amblln Entunalfimmt. Inc 7 45 9 55 12 00 2:15 4 45 7:16 9:30 7:15 9 30 12:00 2:30 6:00 7:30 9:45 8 20 10 30 12:30 2:45 4:55 7:20 9:30 7:30 10 00 1 00 3:10 5:20 7:26 9:45 7 15 9 20 1:00 3:05 5:10 7:16 9:20 rang V'V icj IN DRIVE-IN 4:30 7:159:55 12, 2:30 5,7:3010 2:35 4:50 7:15 9:45 10, 12:15 2:35 4:50 7:15 5,7:3010 1:154:00 7:009:45 SORRY. NO PRSSES RCCEPTEO FOR THIS ENGRCEMENT..