At the movies
'Round Midnight' offers
outstanding performances
Sometimes it feels good to
feel bad. Sometimes it’s good to
realize that it also takes pain to
balance out the pleasures of life.
Jazz aficionados too. will ap
preciate Bertrand Tavernier's
“Round Midnight.”
Amid the somber rains of
Review by
John Makosky
Paris in the late ’50s. the blues
emanate from the tenor sax
ophone of Dale Turner, an
American jazz expatriate. “Mv
life is music 24 hours a day.”
says Turner (played by the great
Dexter C.ordan).
Hut he still manages to spend
a few seconds of the day getting
drunk.
Turner lethargically sits with
his band shedding tears on his
faithful sax. The owner of The
Blue Note refuses to give him
any more drinks, his friends are
tired of caring for him, and any
money he earns is quickly
swallowed from a bottle of "vin
rouge.”
Meanwhile, outside the bar,
Francis (Francois Cluzet), a
young graphic artist, squats in
the rain trying to hear the blue
notes of a genius that has
always been his inspiration.
Francis buys Dale a beer, and
the two become friends. Francis
cannot believe he has finally
met his obsession; Dale just
wants to make sure Francis has
enough money for another beer.
Francis believes lu? would be
nowhere without Dale, and
gradually, Dale realizes he
would be nowhere without
Francis. Francis invites Dale to
share his flat, only wanting the
genius to “live decently” and to
begin composing again. Francis
waters down the wine, the two
take strolls through the Parisian
streets, and in one memorable
scene. Francis finds Dale sittiiiK
with some garbage in an
alley w a y a n d helps hi in
remember the words to a forgot
ten song.
Dale gets drunk again and
passes out in his new-found
bed. but not before seeing Fran
cis shed a tear. In the morning.
Dale fixes breakfast for Francis
and tells him to “never cry for
me.”
With the emotional bond
established, Turner promises to
stop drinking. When asked why
he never quit Indore he said.“I
never promised no one before.”
A triumphant moment comes
when Dale bums a few francs
from Francis to get some
cigarettes. Francis, suspicious
of Dale's real motivations,
follows him only to see Dale go
to a cafe and order Pall Malls
and orange juice.
With Francis’ care, Dale
begins to compose and record
again.
“Round Midnight” is an im
portant film for both ja/./. fans
and the uninitiated. The tunes
are often downbeat, but Herbie
Hancock’s Academy Award
winning score is flawless at in
stilling the pains of Dale Turner
into the viewer’s (and listener's)
heart. (Jordan holds his own on
sax, backed by a Who’s Who of
jazz greats including Ron
Carter, Freddie Hubbard, Hobby
1 lutcherson, Tony Williams and
John McLaughlin.
(Jordan, nominated for Rest
Actor, gives an outstanding per
formance. He is expertly cast as
the shuffling, sorrowful and
almost childlike drunk who is
“tired of everything except
music.”
(Jordan's Turner is a quite
lovable drunk, never mean
spirited.
Cluzet, looking like a young
Dustin Hoffman in “The
Graduate,” also turns in an ex
cellent performance.
'Police Academy 4' pokes fun
at neighborhood watch groups
The latest Police Academy sequel takes a
cracked look at neighborhood watch groups
Tailed "Police Academy A: Citizens on
Patrol." successful caricatures and good tim
ing make the sophomoric humor work In this
Review by
Jackie Marry
movie.
The returning academy goofballs humble
their way through implementing a Citizens on
Patrol program (COP), which is the dream
child of their commanding officer. Comman
dant l.assard, played by (Jeorge (iaynes (Punky
Mrewster’s father).
Dubbing it “The Lassard Method," he
figures if the police and civilians work
together, it will eliminate (lit* frustration th.it
comes from not being able to serve everyone.
"Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all be
friends?" tin; harebrained l.assard asks
dreamily.
Those supporting Lassard's method must
lock horns with the uptight Captain Harris
played by C W. Hailey (Mash's Riz/.o).
Harris speaks primarily through a
bullhorn and carries a Nazi like cane that he
uses to make his point. Details contributing to
Harris' negative, meticulous character include
a lunch sequence when he uses his
pocketknife to carefully spear well-spaced,
sliced apples and cheese from a paper-lined
tray
bobcat (ioldthwait also reappears as Zed.
the disheveled, unintelligible reformed gang
leader.
This film takes potshots at "Hill Street
Hines" in a bust sequence, and "Nightmare
On Klmstreet" when a masked creature chain
saws its way out of a body hag.
Crude elements of humor erupt in a few
places, hut not enough to he overused or
offensive.
Authenticity; intelligence of 'Tin Men' set it apart
Some days it just doesn’t pay to be a
door-to-door salesman.
Review by
Mary Courtis
Take poor B.B. (Richard Drey fuss). He
hasn’t been in his new, shiny blue
Cadillac 10 seconds when he collides
with Tilly (Danny DeVito), another "tin
man." or aluminum siding salesman.
The two salesmen exchange dents and
threats, and ultimately what began as a
fender-bender ends in all-out war. Deter
mined to "get that guy," B.B. succeeds
in seducing bis enemy’s wife, Nora (Bar
bara Hershey).
But his simple revenge backfires. Nora
moves in with B.B., a confirmed
bachelor, who must now cope with see
ing now and different items in the
bathroom and all tlx* other adjustments
associated with cohabitation, while sur
viving the taunts of a tickled Tilly.
What makes this sequence and others
in “Tin Men” so funny is that they art? so
real and human. Dreyfuss and DeVito do
<i fine jot) infusing pathos and appeal in
to their slightly shady roles. Kven when
they are manipulating other people, wo
cannot help but like them or hope they
escape the clutches of tin; infamous
Housing Commission, land on shutting
Ihn aluminum siding shysters down.
Hershey also shines as tin; woman-in
the middle Nora, who always has played
it safe and now wants some spice in her
lile. Itut what makes this movie more
than just another snappy comedy is the
careful and affectionate attention to
reconstructing and conveying context
and mood
Happy
Birthday
JIM SMITH
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