FILM LIST
I Family Business (Sidney Lumet. US. 1989) Sean Connery. Dustin Hoffman. Matthew Broderick. 110 mins. See review. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Grosvenor, Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr. Odeon Hamilton. UCI Clydebank. UCl East Kilbride. WMR Film Centre. I Fellow Traveller ( 15) 1? (Philip Saville. US/UK. 1989) Ron Silver. Hart Bochner. Imogen Stubbs. 97 mins. Intriguing big screen collaboration between the BBC and America‘s cable network HBO features Silver as a screenwriter who finds himself blacklisted by Joe McCarthy‘s House Unamerican Activities Committee. He flees to find work in fledgling British television. only to discover that one of his best friends back home. a major Hollywood star. has unaccountany committed suicide. Drawn from a brilliant screenplay by Michael Eaton which manages to bring ideas about Marxian and Freudian notions of political change. sketch effective pictures ofboth McCarthy-stalked Hollywood and drab Fifties London. and give an intriguing account of how personal obsession filters through into creative work as Silver‘s Robin Hood scripts become increasingly dominated by the tragic legacy of his dead friend. This is a British picture of rare intelligence and verve. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I The Fly ( 18) (David Cronenberg. US. 1986) Jeff Goldblum. Geena Davis. 100 mins. Brilliant reconceptualisation ofthe camp 1958 classic. with Goldblum highly effective as the scientist whose experiments in teleportation go disastroust wrong. and his wife Davis no less impressive as the love of hislife. Special effects superlativer revolting. tension sustained throughout. Edinburgh: Cameo. I The Fly 2(18) (Chris Walas.US.1989) Eric Stoltz. Daphne Zuniga. Lee Richardson. 105 mins. Despite the advances in contraception since the original 1958 Fly. insect-man Seth Brundle (1986 model) managed to sire a son before his sticky end. This is the tenuous pretext on which Walas (the man behind the mucus gore in Carpenter‘s remake) builds this poor shadow ofa sequel. Like father. like son. needless to say. and the blood-letting which results allows Walas more space than ever for his special talents. Subtle as a vindaloo curry and intelligent as a seedless grape. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Le Genou de Claire Claire 's Knee(PG) (Erich Rohmer. France. 1970) Jean-Claude Brialy. Aurora Cornu. Laurence De Monaghan. 106 mins. Partof Rohmer‘s celebrated Comedies e! proverbes series. this one follows the fortunes of diplomat Brialy as he takesa holiday before his impending marriage and finds himself infatuated with two sisters. As always. the dialogue is lucid and witty. but here as Brialy seeks to touch the eponymous object of desire there‘s a frisson oferoticism that‘s not always present in the Frenchman‘s work. Edinburgh Film Guild. I Ghostbusters 2 (PG) (lvan Reitman. US. 1989) Bill Murray. Dan Aykroyd. Harold Ramis. Sigourney Weaver. 108 mins. Need a sequel? Who you gonna call'.’ The down-at-heel and discredited slimefighters are back in business. after mayhem once more breaks out on the streets of New York. The effects look less cheap this time. and ifyou liked it first time round you are on a winner here; if you were less than convinced. stay at home — you‘ve seen this one already. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Edinburgh: Odeon. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride. I Le Grand Chemin (15) (Jean-Loup Hubert. France. 1987) Anemone. Richard Bohringer. Antoine Hubert. 107 mins. Nine year-old Parisien Louis is dumped on Anemone's turbulent Breton household
while his mother goes into hospital to have
FAMILY BUSINESS
Family Business (15) (Sidney Lumet, US, 1989) Sean Connery, Dustin Hoffman, Matthew Broderick, Rosana OeSoto. 100 mins. Big Sean McConnery is the incorrigible Scottish thief, still busting policemen's jaws at sixty something, disowned by his halt-Italian son, DiHoffman, but loved by his all-American grandson, Broderick Junior. 80 when Broderick suggests the safest of scams for the three generations of McMullens, guaranteed to generate a million bucks, Connery pricks his old ears up in delight. But boring old Hoffman is far too involved with legitimate tax evasion in the meat trade to get involved.
From the titles down this is very much Connery’s lilm. Jessie McMullen swears, drinks, womanises and gets to hang his arms out of police cells a lot. It is a role he looks good in, and the film succeeds largely because of it. Hoffman has a hardertime squeezing himself into what is ultimately a frightened and selfish role: Vito McMullen's had his fun, but is blind to the fact that the ambitions he has for his son are far from welcome.
Broderick stands up well to his elders and betters as Adam, the dewy-eyed and gifted academic, tired of intellectual pursuits, who wants some of the adventure his grandfather has to
ohen
‘Family Business“ is a well crafted story, professionaly acted, intelligently scripted and articulater shot, but it lacks substance. Lumet could have been making it lorTV. The real problem is that the central caper is not exciting, not adventurous enough. But this is a minor quibble with what is a funny and dramatic movie.
What is not a minor quibble, however, is the ending. As soon as Connery gets nicked, and get nicked he does forthis is a moral tale and a thief is a thief, the film justtips down the hill. Hoffman and Brodericktry their hardest to keep up the pace, with consistently able support from DeSoto, but even they cannot save the end from a shameful slide into sentimentality. lf
- Lumetthoughtwe should leave the cinema in tears, then be sadly misjudged his material. If laughter is what he wanted, then he gave it out in buckets. (Thorn Oibdin)
Preview, Tue 27 Feb. Edinburgh: Odeon.
From Fri 2. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge, Grosvenor, Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr, Odeon Hamilton, UCI Clydebank, UCI East Kilbride, WMR Film Centre.
another baby. and during his summer in the country is instructed by a village tomboy in the ways ofadults. Memorable evocation of childhood confusion about birth. sex and death. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Heathers ( 15) (Michael Lehman. US. 1989) Winona Ryder. Christian Slater. Lisanne Falk. 102 mins. An ultrablack parody of the high school teenflick. Lehman‘s first feature film manages to combine box office success with artistic merit. This cult hip hit of the year has Slater and Ryder starting a suicide craze to muscle in on the cliquey Heathers running the joint. Tune in. turn on. drop dead. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Central: MacRobcrt Arts Centre.
I Highlander(15) (UK. 1986)Christopher Lambert. Beatie Edney. Sean Connery.
l 11 mins. A handful ofimmortals battle through the centuries to win a mythical prize. A curious mixture of romance in 16th century heather and car chases in present day New York. the film isan inelegant. often ludicrous. but enjoyablv daffy adventure. Lambert seems more at home with the contemporary passages and
only the ever wonderful Connery hasthe requisite style for the kitsch Scottish scenes. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I High Society (Charles Walters. US.
: 195(1) Bing Crosby. Grace Kelly. Frank
Sinatra. Celeste llolm. 107 mins. Classic
3 musical entertainment from the MGM
studios. in which a rich bitch plays hard to get with a string ofsuitors. The plot of Philadelpia Story goes out the window. but with stars like these. style is everything. Strathclyde: Paisley Arts Centre.
2 I A High Wind in Jamaica (PG) (Alexander
Mackendrick. US. 1965) Anthony Quinn. James (‘oburn. Ben (‘arruthers 103 mins. Victorian children en route home from
Jamaica are ambushed by pirates but
come to exercise an influence over their sea-goinglife ofcrime. l’iquantand unsentimental adaptation of the Richard Hughes novel. in which Scots director Mackendrick ( The Sweet Smell of Success)
1 brings off the mixture ofbuccaneering
high-jinks and deep-rooted adult and childhood anxieties with some aplomb. lidinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Hitcher( 18) (Robert Mandel. US. 1986) Rutger 1 lauer. C. Thomas Howell.
Jennifer Jason Leigh. 98 mins. Drowsy driver Howell gets more than he bargained for when he picks up psycho-hitcher Hauer in this genuinely cdge-of-the-seat suspense thriller. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Honey I Shrunk The Kids (U) (Joe Johnston. US. 1989) Rick Moranis. Matt Frewer. Thomas Brown. Amy O‘Neill. Robert Oliveri. Jared Rushton. 92 mins. Hapless father and would-be inventor (Moranis) does just what the title suggests. The kids find themselves cut down to size (a quarter of an inch) and swept out with the trash. Their mission: to escape from the garbage bag and somehow attract their father‘s attention to their height problem. Well. we might think it‘s old hat but Walt Disnae. Showing with the excellent new Roger Rabbit short. Tummy Trouble. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road. Cannon The Forge. Odeon. Salon. Edinburgh: Odeon. Central: Allanpark. Caledonian. Cannon. Regal. Strathclyde: Cannon. Kelburne. Odeon Ayr, Odeon Hamilton. La Scala. UCI Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride. WMR Film Centre. I Hope and Glory (15) (John Boorman. UK. 1987) Sarah Miles. David Hayman. lan Bannen. Susan Wooldridge. 112 mins. A deceptively simple but perfectly crafted slice ofwartime nostalgia that paints a warm and witty portrait ofthe adventurous childhood of the young Boorman. The film gained five Oscar nominations. Edinburgh: National Museum. I The House Of Bemarda Alba (15) e (Mario Camus. Spain. 1988) Irene Guitierrez Caba. Ana Belen, Florinda Chico. 104 mins. See review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I How To Get Ahead In Advertising ( 15) (Bruce Robinson. UK. 1989) Richard E. Grant. Rachel Ward. Richard Wilson. 94
mins. The Wirhnuil team ofwriter/dircctor
Robinson and goggle-eyed actor Grant return with an even blacker exercise in
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Now Showing : Donald Sutherland, Janet Suzman and
Marlon Brando in A OHY WHITE SEASON (15) 2.30, 4.40, 6.50, 9PM.
1. Late Nights
at 11.15pm 22.80/22
Fri 23 : WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (15)
& SOMETHING With (15) Sat 24 : THE m (18) & rue FLY 2 (18)
Fri 2: eerrv BLUE (18) & ewe VELVET (18)
Sat 3 : HIGHLANOER (15) & THE HITCHER (18)
Sun Performances: All tickets £2.
The List 23 February- 8 March 19901
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