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Film Clips
MARCH 8, 1999:
 JAWBREAKER. An 87-minute rock video, replete with teenage
girls in skin-tight clothes, hot cars, cute boys and a prom scene.
Or maybe it's a parable for the image-over-substance, ends-justify-the-means,
murder-with-a-smile Reagan administration and the society of shallowness
and hypocrisy that it fed upon and encouraged. Or maybe it's just
a collection of scenes from Heathers and Carrie
strung together over a throbbing rock soundtrack. Or maybe not.
--DiGiovanna
OFFICE SPACE. Mike Judge's first non-animated feature makes
an ideal, male-populated companion piece to the female-centered
Clockwatchers. Like its prececessor, many of Office
Space's laughs come from the thrill of seeing the banal frustrations
of work life amplified larger than life--there's a hearty sense
of release. Our hero, Ron Livingston (a cool young actor we'll
likely be seeing a lot more of), is yet another desk drone workin'
for the man at a cubicled company called Initech, which has an
environment just real enough to believe and just cartoony enough
to be hilarious. "The man" turns out to be Gary Cole
(last seen as Mike Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie), easily
the most hideous incarnation of a "polite" boss ever
conceived. Office Space has a story similar to that episode
of Seinfeld in which George Costanza decides to do everything
the opposite of how he would normally do it--a darned funny episode,
so we can forgive Mike Judge his easy plot. Not to mention that
the smaller characters, like the computer programmer with a perpetual
paper jam, generate enough interest to keep the movie alive even
without a plot. Surprisingly, after twisted office logic has been
successfully manipulated and anarchy satisfyingly reigns, Judge
gets a pang of conscience and horseshoes the story back onto itself.
Because it avoids condescending to its characters (something Clockwatchers
could have learned from), Office Space's extra dose of
reality works, leaving it far better than anyone could have expected
from the creator of Beavis and Butthead. --Woodruff
THE OTHER SISTER. A mentally retarded woman (Juliette Lewis)
tries to liberate herself from her emotionally retarded, overprotective
WASP of a rich mother (Diane Keaton). Well, that's what it's supposed
to be about; but in spite of having legitimate concerns, Keaton's
character is just too bitchy to be sympathetic. Casting Tom Skerritt
as her nobly whipped husband, and giving Keaton a lesbian daughter
whom she refuses to accept, pretty well stacks the deck against
her. The Other Sister is really only about laughing and
"awww"-ing at the sweet, childlike antics of the mentally
retarded. Lewis plays the cutest, most well-adjusted and capable
retarded person in the world, and she falls in wuv with Giovanni
Ribisi, who is apparently the only other 'tard in San Francisco,
and also a cutie. The movie turns surreal as these two fit, attractive,
intelligent actors take turns grunting at each other for two hours.
(As a reviewer on NPR said, The Other Sister makes retarded
people seem like really fun pets.) Technically, Lewis' performance
is amazing, but you can only take so much accomplished fakery
before the twinkly eyes and bad enunciation send your senses into
space. This may be the role Lewis was born to play, but that's
not necessarily a compliment. After inhabiting semi-retarded characters
in previous films (Cape Fear, Kalifornia), the arc
of her career suggests that a Broadway production called Retard!
The Musical is just around the corner. --Woodruff
VELVET GOLDMINE. Most teenagers, whether they recognize
it or not, are sexually empowered by the rock stars they're into.
Todd Haynes (Superstar, Poison, Safe) offers an
incredibly fun and thought-provoking look at the seemingly superficial
era of glitter rock from just such a personal perspective by examining
the careers of the Iggy Pop-ish Curt Wild (Ewan McGregor) and
David Bowie-like Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) via gay-curious
Arthur (Christian Bale). As usual, the director uses a number
of stylistic devices, such as voice-overs, fantasy sequences and
amazing costumes, to create an otherworldly realm that is nonetheless
incredibly tangible. Haynes calls this film a "valentine"
to glam rock, and it certainly looks tenderly at a time when androgyny,
high heels and all things pretty led to questions about sexual
identity and a lot of great music. Put on your platforms and vinyl
and go see Velvet Goldmine before you lose the chance to
see it on a big screen; it's definitely one of the year's best.
--Higgins
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