At the
movies
Between laughs, 'Project X' full of deeper meaning
It’s a chimp's life!
Ask Virgil in the movie "Pro
ject X.” Abducted «is a baby
chimp from his mother in the
wilds of Africa. In; finds himself
Review by
Mary Courtis
consigned to a cage and then
the psychology lab of an
American university. Life looks
grim. Hut along comes Tori
{Helen ilunt). a bright graduate
student who m.ikes Virgil the
subject of her thesis. Over the
next three years, she teaches
Virgil sign language and other
practical tasks, essentially
becoming his surrogate mother.
Life looks great. Then the
government fails to renew
Teri's grant and Virgil's days at
the university are numbered.
Teri is told that he is being sold
to a children's /.ou in Houston.
Hut instead Virgil ends up in
the cluh lies of the Air force
and is forcibly indoctrinated in
to their "experimental pilot
program. ’'
YOU ARF INVITED TO ATTEND
AN INTERDISCIPLINARY SYMPOSIUM
REEVALUATING CLASSIC
PARADIGMS
where leading s< holars ex.imme m«ijor c (ranges
<aused !>y lemimsl t hallenges to
( I.issk .11 literature, mk ial s< lent e, and philosophy
sponsored by
THE CENTER FOR
THE STUDY OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY
at the
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
Gerlinger Lounge
April 23, 1987 9:30 to 5:00
10:00 Page DuBois, University of California, San
Diego, I em i nisi Kelli inking ot (.reek ( lassu s.
1 1:00 Mary Kay (.amel, University ot ( alilorm.i, Santa
( ru/, I his Day We Read further: Win feminist
Interpretation is Necessary.
12:00 I unt ii break.
1:10 ludith Statey, University of (*ililor nia, Davis,
( an I here Be A feminist I thnography^
2: to Naomi St heman, University ol Minnesota, I lie
I ngendermg ot Philosophical Problems.
4:00 Panel disc ussion with the above speakers.
__...._
I.iff looks grim again, until
Virgil meets Jimmy (Matthew
Broderick), a young pilot who
has borrowed one too many Air
Force planes and has been
grounded until he learns his
place.
Being in the same boat, so to
speak. Jimmy and Virgil are
swift to strike up a friendship
and soon become a formidable
team in the training room,
where chimps are taught to
operate Air Force planes and
take them on simulated flights
Fife is looking up. Then Jim
inv finds out what happens to
the chim p s w he n t h e v
“graduate" from the program;
they are taken to another flight
simulation chandler and sub
jei ted to massive doses of radia
tion The ohje< I of this cruel
scenario is to see if human
pilots would he able to fly long
enough to drop their bomb
loads on targets in the Soviet
l Inion.
These experiments are. in the
Air Force's eyes, “necessary
But to Jimmy, it is murder
Soon Virgil will “graduate."
Jimmy must choose between
sacrificing the chimp or trying
to save Virgil
Broderick gives a surprisingly
subdued and thoughtful perfor
mance as the cocky smart aleck,
ultimately forced to mature
through his contact with the
chimps, and Hunt is equally
fresh and convincing as the
warm hearted psychologist.
( ourli-sv Photo
Jimmy Garrett (Matthew Broderick), a young Air Force pilot,
becomes involved in a suspenseful adventure with a highly in
telligent chimpanzee named Virgil in ‘‘Project X.”
A lot of sex found in 'American Empire'
II you’re looking for it bawdy
oomt'dv to stimulate your men
tal erogenous /ones, see "The
Decline of the American Um
pire." a Krench-Canadiau
Don’t be confused
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Paid for by the UO Marching Band • No IFC funds used to pay for this ad
release.
This film depends primarily
on continuous explicit dialogue
by two groups of intellectuals
about their varied sex lives,
with detours into expressions of
their feedings and discussions of
their socio-historical interests.
Review hv
Jackie Barry
The story jumps back and
forth between a group of women
and a group of men, all friends,
who meet for dinner midway
through the film.
The women spend an after
noon at a health club working
out and talking about their sex
lives, past and present. Their
sexual niches range from the
masochistic Diane to the subser
vient Louise.
After Diane's friend, Domini
que. asks her about a series of
welts on her rear end, Diane
confides she has a new
boyfriend. Mario. She says she
fears her own newfound desires
more than Mario’s sadistic
behavior, because he will do
anything to her that she wants.
“The power of the victim is in
credible.” Diane says.
This is shown in contrast to
Louise, who's only sexual in
discretion throughout her 15
year marriage was to sleep with
a man at an orgy because it
made her husband, Remy,
happy.
The richly woven script
presents strong characters for
the audience to judge. One feels
a definite dislike for several of
the characters, something that
wouldn’t have been possible
without depth.
The filmmaker presents a
believable situation, often pok
ing fun at the love webs human
beings sometimes weave
around their lives, and
sometimes presenting poignant
realities of the h u ma n
condition.
The women complain of
men’s preoccupation with their
organs, the men complain that
trying to make a woman achieve
an orgasm is like “looking for a
needle in a haystack.’’ And
Pierre tells his friends In; can’t
fathom being married because
after two years “the com
promises begin.”
The photography is absorbing
and contributes to the medium
pace of the script by including
leisurely strolls into the en
vironment, which depict times
like sunrise anti winter in the
lives of the players.
The filmmaker makes com
pelling use of tracking, rack
focus and close-ups throughout
the movie.
After an opening sequence,
the credits are folded up over a
long tracking shot down an im
mense, tiled university
hallway. Later, the camera
focuses between Diane and
Dominique as they talk and
work out. Perpendicular close
ups reveal anxieties and reac
tions of the players.
People who find sex objec
tionable in films should avoid
“The Decline of the American
Umpire,” but those who don’t
mind it will probably enjoy this
witty romp into the mating
habits of a rather promiscuous
group.