FILM REVIEW
EROTIC THRILLER
SHOWGIRLS ,
Playing on the puffed-up controversy of an American NC-l7 rating (usually reserved for porn films) is just about the only way this sad and desperate would-be blockbuster might hope to scrape together a decent opening weekend before killer word-of-mouth consigns it to the video shelves and the sticky hanky brigade. Quite miraculously. overpaid hack Joe
m 1 and adherence to the Eszterhas and dodgy auteur Paul l details of thc post,w0rtd Verhoeven have made Basic Instinct
A 5 war 1] setting remain in look like Jane Austen this ’1: . Carl Franklin's screen unbelievably crude ‘expose of Yegas ~' translation, With the added pond-life — a catalogue ofexplonatlon ‘ When Waller MOSlCY'S i hon.“ 0f. T31" Fulimmo's cliches. clunky raw dialogue and so I y ’ ‘ debutt) novel ofthle same . stytish Cinematography many bare female Chests you'll be t if i] rs onto: cscenc am asensuous , ~ ‘ . . t . t r t t $993 :1 was hailed as perfonnancc by Dem! sittfcrtng ‘fronil nipple fatigue long gt one of the freshest winds ‘ Washington. Closely b“ 9“ HR en ' .K it! to blow through the i following the success of E117“ch Berkelcyv PIUCkc‘J. ’ " v' detective genre in years. The Usual Suspects- and momentarily from the obscurity to . The plotting, smart 5 the re-release of The Big which she has since swiftly returned. is it - t dialogue and low-life LA : Sleep. Devil In A Blue the unfortunate lass who gets to play “is i almosphcre W35 very ; Dre” PUts thil'" "0” Nomi. an ambitious young thing who . lesbian overkill (Gina Gershon as our oA catalogue of muc.h.in the Chandler 1 back 0'.‘ the b'8 Screen ' sets out to escape the sordid bump 'n' lleroine's dyke rival) and stone-dead exploitation cnchés, .muilumnh‘ buttMOSICty gave LI tag/Tim sec grind of Robert Davi's lap-dancing dive . one-liners (Davi on Ms B's new clunky raw dialogue Iciyiicilstxii‘gfgyn::;:ing . pimp/1M mule Dress ([5) for the classy bump ’n' grind of top success; ‘Must be kinda funny not i and so many bate his hero — the reluctant (Carl Franklin. US, 1995) choreographer Kyle Macb’ichlan S liai'ing People some 0" you )- temale chests you’ll Etmy Rawttns _ a young Dense; mtslttngtont i casino revue. Doubtless Eszterhas and Mercifully, we've been spared a be suffering from black man who’s only Jennifer Beats. Tom i Verhoeven consider this an attack on hideously gratuitous rape scene that nipple fatigue long trying to make a buck .S‘izemore. 102 mills. From ; the hypocrisy that validates one of was in the US version. but the whole before the end} afler being laid Off- Fri ’25 E‘Ii’lburgh t thesejoints as s0phisticated sleazy affair is the sort of thing That same social realism Film/louse. ‘ wtcnaimmm white pouring momt everyone but the homicst thinccmycap getting wise to the fact opprob‘ri‘uiil but surely old can live without. Just don‘t let the that when a film anyone can see .t sJust a transparent hpr draw you in. (Trev or Johnston) distribution company 5 excuse for tits._tits and more tits. Showgirls (l8) (Punt yer/"mtg", 1995. refuses to show their : Characterisation throughout is , US) Elizabeth Berkeley. Kyle J v wares ‘0 the PFC“. it reduced to caitoon level. veering from liltlt'lxic/iltm. Gina (Jars/ion. Glenn usually means that turkey ‘ ludicrous sci-piece (poor Kyle gets Plummet: Robert Davi. I30 IlllItS. From ' ls "0t resumed [0 the l ground to orgasm) to lip-smacking Fri [2, General release,
Christmas table. Supennodel Cindy Crawford makes her debut
as a Miami attorney on the run from ex-KGB assassins — with Steven :
B ‘rkoffs‘ll'n ta a'l astute tea; [misfit] g " - At the centre at Mike Figgls’s neon-
‘ baddtc. 1 saw a clip 5 drenched movie is llicolas Cage’s recently on a Sky movie ‘ devastating portrayal of an alcoholic preview programme: 3 screenwriter sliding methodically into 1’3 Crawford was the best t sell-annihilating oblivion. Films \ t) ‘ actor in it. it’s your money
depicting alcoholism are as common
- but if Y0“ WHY "‘39" ‘0 as designer drink ads, yet tew have
Cindy Crawford outshines see a babe on screen. go
" ’4.
Berton In Falr Game for the one with the pig §ucceeded in capturing the u 3 instead. t AM) irresponsible euphoria and mental They did it with The Fair Game (15) (Andrew pain irom a sublective point of view. ' . " Scarlet Letter. they did it Sipes. US. 1995) Cindy v "are we see a man who, even when r - ’ with Four Rooms; now Crawford, William ialling-down-drunk, can reach for his they‘re doing it again with Baldwin. Steven Berkojf. lighter and ignite it with one deft flick Fair Game. But cinema 96 mills. From Fri [9. 0‘ the "fist For Ben, is not a audiences seem to be General release. pastime or a problem, “as a way 0' lite.
DRAMA . “me dirfcmr) mid. "‘8 . Sacked irom his iob, Ben (Cage) lntemational Critics Prize
THE WHITE at Cam“ km year burns all his worldly possessions,
. ‘ . ' . closes his bank account and drives to
R l . h . d l d
“3,511,113;1 bl: em c [as Vegas, where the bars never close, '
everyoncvs idea of fun. with the express intention of drinking novel by Hollywood screenwriter John ' ‘the astonishing It sounds like the ultimate but there's an undeniable himself to death. ltot even his asexual O’Brien, this may sound like a performances by arthouse hard sell: an air of tension that evolves relationship with vulnerable hooker t depressing chronicle of selt- Cage and Shue tuse iranlan mowe about a kid slowly from the sera (finsabeth snug), herself a t desuuctton. at" the astonishth wt"! thgtsts $105033? :‘ebmal’ke‘ ‘0 5 58mm?” rim] 9m?“ fugitive lost soul, can seduce him i peflon‘nances by Cage and Sims fuse . passionate virtuosity herymgney theuivgses ' r2113?” mm "‘5 chm" “am °' 58'“ | W" “99'3’5 9889008“ "ruins"! it) to transcend the Only the foolish would viewer to reassess not just desuucuon' Bound in“ vmenne I "anscend "‘9 surface taw‘mness and surface tatfllfllloss dismiss The White the outside world, but also WBSNW' “sum and teetering delve deep into the underlying and delve deep into Balloon.hhowiver. Cn'tical human nature. from a mound 0: :imPOSSibIV “Slugger. sdera' ggotionsl.‘ It :oubIIydllrlor‘i‘iaithat" N the “during reviews ave een child's point of view. See seems, a mes, armour-p 8 an , a r en s on age a msg a 9mm onsr “n'vima'li m is favour: preview; (AM) others. desperately fragile. Despite weeks after signing the ilim deal, ' gut?“ .Wotd °Lf "mm. The White 341100" i U) their clinging to the wreckage of one because it is films like this that make 1 0° 2:11"?! 'ffw and? gjglfl‘kpj'w’“ "a", ’995) another’s wasted lives, an idyllic lite worth living. (lligel Floyd) i kpzmirgl . .ee 5 “80' ‘ a. " "”"”."“l “W” break at a desert motel ends badly, Leaving Las Vegas (13) (Mike Huts, ' . y posulve. and Mohsen Kuflli, Fereshteh , l the film also has the Sadr OIfani. 84 mins. . and Ben s ensuing physmal couapse us! 1995) "190,35 039‘: Elisabeth g prestige of winning both Front Fri 12: Edinburgh i beams the beginnlng 0' "'9 ond’ 8mm: JW’a” sands- "0 mms- Fm”, F” l the Camera D‘Or (first I Cameo. 1 Based on the semi-autobiographical 19. Limited general release. I
28 The List l2-25 Jan 1996