Common’s new CD has uncommon message
■ ‘Like Water for
Chocolate’ offers a
refreshing take on rap
Like Water for Chocolate
Common, MCA Records.
★★★★☆
By Jessica Blanchard
Oregon Daily Emerald
It’s definitely tough making it
in the mainstream rap scene, and
in his fourth album, Common
finds himself torn between his
artistic ideals and his need to
present the image of a hard-core
rapper to sell CDs.
In “Like Water for Chocolate,”
Common attempts to straddle the
line between being a rapper with
a heart and principles, and being
tough enough to convince people
that he’s no softy.
To that end, he’s recorded
some raw raps and laced the CD
with guest artists by the likes of
D’Angelo, MC Lyte and Mos Def.
On this album, he has mixed
results.
In “Dooinit,” for example,
Common takes a swipe at the rap
music industry, which he views
as having lost its creativity and
selling out, recording albums that
all sound the same just to make
more money. Other rappers are
“scared to take a chance in the
game/ you used to breakdance/
it’s a shame,” he says.
But it’s hypocritical of him to
criticize the rap industry for not
producing fresh music, when
he’s following in their footsteps:
sampling from other artists, using
as much profanity as possible
and compromising his personal
goals as an artist by modeling
himself after other hard-core rap
pers.
Despite his criticism of the in
dustry, Common pats himself on
the back for offering his latest al
bum, “a brainstorm that will
( Despite his criticism
of the industry, Common
pats himself on the back
for offereing his latest al
bum, “a brainstorm that
will make [people] dance
in the rain/9
l
make [people] dance in the rain.”
The end of “Dooinit” is marred
by some annoying mixing, but
overall, the song is catchy.
Other notable tracks include
“The Light,” which Common de
scribes as “an open love letter” to
an as-yet-unnamed girl. The
lyrics are romantic, and the song
is memorable despite its chorus,
which is vaguely reminiscent of a
sitcom theme song.
“There are times when I’m
lost, I try to find you/ you know
to give me space when it’s time
to/ my heart’s dictionary defines
you as love and happiness,” are
typical lyrics from the track,
which also deals with tough top
ics like abstinence and equality
between the sexes.
And in “Song to Assata,” Com
mon lends his voice to the move
ment to free Assata Shakur, a for
mer Black Panther and U.S.
political refugee living in Cuba.
Common’s graphic descrip
tions of violence, which paint a
vivid picture in the listener’s
mind, are coupled with a soaring
harmony in the chorus to make
this track one of the strongest on
the album.
Certain tracks on the album do
have some racist or homophobic
lyrics, but noticeably absent are
the usual misogynist lines. In
“The Light,” for example, he
raps, “I never call you my bitch/
or even my boo/ there’s so much
in a name/ and so much more in
you.”
Hearing a rapper who demon
strates actual respect for women
is a nice change, to say the least.
“Like Water for Chocolate”
does leave Common some room
to grow as an artist, but it is
nonetheless a valiant effort. It’s
refreshing to hear a rapper who
actually has a message, beyond
telling the world what a thug he
is.
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Shakespeare Festival’s 2000 production of William Shakespeare’s
Henry V. Directed by Libby Appel. Photo by Andree Lanthier.
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Return to Me’ has heart
■ Bonnie Hunt’s new film
struggles with a balance
between affection and wit
By Mark Caro
Chicago Tribune
Bonnie Hunt’s “Return to Me”
is a movie that does great honor
to its premise. A man loses his
wife in a car crash and a year lat
er falls for the young woman
who, unbeknownst to both of
them, had received the wife’s
heart in a transplant.
But how much reverence does
this premise deserve? The heart
switcheroo not only sets the
table, but it also provides the
film with its one and only con
flict.
When will she tell him about
her transplant? What will each of
their reactions be when they dis
cover whose heart she has?
An intuitive observer could
theorize how two thoughtful,
sympathetic characters such as
David Duchovny’s Bob and Min
nie Driver’s Grace might handle
such a situation.
My guess would have been
that both would be shocked and
flabbergasted but would try to
see God’s poetry somewhere in
the design. The wife’s heart lives
on, still beating for Bob, and for
that he and Grace could both be
grateful.
From their dancing together
at the fund raiser to a bloody Bob
dashing alongside Elizabeth as
she’s wheeled through the hospi
tal on a gurney.
On one hand, Hunt’s restraint
is admirable; she has spared us
the cliched, manipulative shots
of the car driving home, the on
coming headlights, the horrible
crash noise and fade-to-black.
Yet the cut doesn’t hammer
home the suddenness of death’s
arrival as much as it throws the
viewer off, probably because
Hunt has chosen to keep a per
formance of the Dean Martin
standard "Return to Me” playing
on the soundtrack as the action
moves from the dance floor to
the hospital. The tone can’t be
shatteringly tragic and wistful at
the same time.
Often you sense Hunt and co
writer Don Lake struggling to
find the right balance — how to
avoid being manipulative with
out cheating the audience out of
honest emotional reactions.
They need to convey Bob’s
grief, yet the repeated shots of
Duchovny huddled on his hall
way floor sobbing still feel like a
bit much, especially when he’s
telling the big family dog still ea
gerly awaiting Elizabeth’s arrival,
“She's not coming home.” True,
Hunt and Lake could have gotten
even more mileage out of the
cute dog and gorilla, yet their rel
ative restraint doesn’t change the
fact that this remains one of
those movies featuring a cute dog
and gorilla.
Grace starts out as a sickly
young woman in the hospital
surrounded by her loving family
and friends, who also are essen
tial parts of her life when she’s
healthy and rosy cheeked. She
lives upstairs from O’Reilly’s Ital
ian restaurant, which is owned
by her doting grandfather played,
( C The leads have a nice
chemistry together—
you root for them —
though Duchovny is not
an actor who becomes
larger than life on the big
screen. yy
with a rather thick Irish brogue,
by Carroll O’Connor in his first
film role in 25 years.
O’Reilly’s is the friendly neigh
borhood hangout for the grandfa
ther and three of his fellow wid
ower friends — it’s like Archie
Bunker’s Place without the prej
udice.
The friends, including Robert
Loggia as the Italian chef, play
low-stakes poker and engage in
some cutesy, “High Fidelity”-for
older-folks-type arguments, like
whether the best singers are Ital
ian or Irish.
As she showed on her two
short-lived television series,
“The Building” and “The Bonnie
Hunt Show,” Hunt is a funny,
smart writer who respects her au
dience and creates supporting
characters that she loves.
The endearing “Return to Me”
ensemble also includes the
writer-director in one of her
patented quick-witted-best
friend roles as Grace’s pal Megan;
Jim Belushi, appealing for the
first time in ages as Megan’s
coarse firefighter husband;
Hunt’s longtime buddy and TV
co-star Holly Wortell in a scene
stealing turn as a Bob’s blabby,
snobby blind date; Lake in a less
original bit involving hair plugs;
and Dick Cusack as a zoo patron
who loves to tout his generous
“strictly anonymous” donations.
Hunt even gives Bob’s teenage
housesitter a moment to shine as
he bravely struggles with his in
line skates.
The leads have a nice chem
istry together — you root for
them — though Duchovny is not
an actor who becomes larger
than life on the big screen.
His lack of presence, in a
sense, helps him appear more
vulnerable, but his range remains
limited; he’s got a wicked dead
pan and conveys simmering frus
tration well, but when the script
calls on him to grin giddily, you
can feel the strain.
If anything, the movie suffers
from a surfeit of affection. Hunt
is a favorite talk-show guest, par
ticularly of David Letterman, be
cause she mixes her warm pres
ence with a razor-sharp wit. But
here almost all of the swords re
main sheathed.
To drum up conflict, Grace
and everyone around her be
haves as if she were driving the
car that killed Elizabeth; then, at
least, her guilty feelings would
have some practical basis.
The actual predicament is
worthy of the “Mama mia” that
one character exclaims, but it
never feels like a situation that
these sensible characters could
n’t handle without going through
the predictable romantic-comedy
motions.
Yet the two funniest lines, de
livered by the grandfather and
Megan, are also the bluntest —
and truest.
We get Italy. We get cute old
nuns. But all we really care about
are the characters’ hearts.
© Chicago Tribune, 2000
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