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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1986)
R E V I E W A FINE MESS Ted Oanson (right) --* u-1 - M_-r-i WO rrOWIf MoOut! pisy lKtckicki down on their luck m A Fn* Mtm. i zany comedy rapeed by a dune Laurel and Hardy (tort Laurel and Hardy would he pleased The humbling silliness of the his toric comic duo is the inspiration for director Blake Edwards' new film. A Fine Mess, starring Ted Danson and Howie Mandel as two equally bum bling ne'er do wells laurel and Hardy would seem to be a natural for the director who, with IVter Sellers, created the modern master of bumble. Inspector Clouseau, in the /’ink Panther films Indeed, "They were Blake’s favorite comedy team,” com mented co star Mandel Although loosely based on a classic short by the comic legends, A Fine Mess, “Is more of an homage, ' said Mandel. “It was originally calk'd The Music Hux. which was ihc- famous laurel and Hardy short with them trying 10 gel a piano up a flight of stairs Bui this movie is a com pletely original story. It's very physical comedy, wacky, with chases I guess it has a little piece of every one of their movies in that sense " "I play Dennis Kiwell, a roller skating hamburger stand waiter who's been working his wh<>lc life to save up for his own fast food restaurant Ted Danson plays his buddy, a movie extra whose dream is to become a big star This st< iry is about the fine mess" he (Danson) gets us into when he sees something he's not supposed to see " Joist Carpenter tuns his weed sentdsMes to Cisnaiown at Btg Trouble m LMe Ctwit Kurt Russel (second from nght) stars as an adventurer wtto heipt a (hand (Dennis Dunn, second from left) find fas kidnapped wife BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA Welcome u> dinner in China town in John Carpenter's /Mg Trouble In I. title China Alter you finish the tea and the dim sum. how ahout a stroll through the tin derworid, with such exotic attractions as the Kixun of the Upside Down llell' the Honorable Hall ol the Internal Judge'" V«hj II know you're in big trouble when you iMimp into Jack burton (Kurt Kussell) and his pig hauling truck, the birk Chop Express Jack Is helping his friend Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) recover his lost green eyed brute kidnapped by Lo ban (James Hong) and his fiendish thugs Allied by Grade law, a sensuous attor iicy played by Kim Cattral, and Egg Shen (Victor Wong), a clairvoyant bus ilrlver. Jack and Wang enter an imaginary under world ruled by lo Pan Ai cording to leg end, lo Pan is a cold blooded spirit im prisoned in hell by the Eirst Emperor of China, who can only regain his virility by coupling with that one In a million green eyed woman Pretty kinky, huh'1' H«g Trouble starts off as an action adventure comedy, shifts into high gear as hi/arre circumstances mount and winds up as a kung fu mon ster ghost story Whew! "It's an ensemble piece, and It's very complex," says Carpenter, who Is famous for his low budget, gripping thrillers like llallou een and Christine However, /Mg 'Trouble is a million production, filmed mostly In I os Angeles with a great deal of special effects from fiery explosives to an H foot human skull which emits eerily colored smoke bui stripped of its haunting facade, the basu premise of /Mg Trouble is still good guys versus trad guys This ancient trail! lion of story telling goes back to the days of Ulysses and Shakespeare," Car pettier says And, though it may sound simplistic, Car|X‘ittcr believes that's the key to every one of his films sheer fun intertwined with subtle messages. Albert /Voig W4 Rodney 0»ng*rtt*td (Ml) finafly gel tome re spact? Maybe m hit new him, Back to School, where he pieyt • businessman who goet beck to BACK TO SCHOOl Hi §iH movie 's hard, says Hud MB iley Iiangerhcld, Ins long UM dolelul face looking mure ■Bl sorrowful than ever “When you're telling jokes to a camera, you don't get much of a response. Know what f mean?" It's not much solace to a man who's used to making millions laugh that the cameraman and the boom o|>era tor are trying to keep from falling down with laughter while filming Hat It to Si hoot, Dangerheld s latest movie "They're laughing because they weren't expecting that," says director Alan Metier Rodney makes up material all the time I leave at the end of the day, exhausted from shooting lie goes home to jMilish jokes and continue to work In Hath to School, Oangerfield |>lays a sell made millionaire who signs on as a freshman at college in order to help his shy son through a Ixtdtlmc It's a comedy ol errors with Dangcrlield triumphing in spite of himself amid the usual comple tnent ol rapid lire one liners Joan (wtHMiman (Summer Him 1‘rcilew continues on next /xrge) ►