______________ ^nnn j—»—ri37
: r S tage
■the world needed an updated version
■f Fame, here it is, with a dash of A
Khorus Line thrown in for good mea-
L Center Stage is a new film that foi
ls a group of young dance students
Jo have defied the odds to enter the
Stigious American Ballet Academy. If
r can survive love affairs, bulimia,
y bloodied toes and their own egos,
' may even learn to help each other
h their goal: the end-of-the-season
brkshop that will gain them entrance
> working ballet companies.
I Although the teachers include film
^Jirs Peter Gallagher and Donna Mur-
H by, the young cast of Center Stage is
V
H most entirely unknown outside the
Bullet world. Yet, despite their on-
fl imera inexperience, many of them
■ :quit themselves admirably in both
Mmce scenes and dramatics. Spotlit in
^ie film is sexy ballet superstar Ethan
teifel playing a teacher who sleeps
pith his students—but only to help
I lem reach their true potential.
Interestingly enough, with their
(air pulled back into tight buns and
1 dressed alike, it’s hard to tell the
ad white-girl characters apart, so it’s
propitious that one of the leads is a
I eisty African American named Eva
■ Zoe Saldana) whose attitude
I ¡oes against tradition. And,
■ nevitably, one of the
I nale dancers is gay:
■ vivacious Erik
■ (African American
■ dancer Shakiem
■ Evans), who
I enlivens each scene
he’s in.
Although pre
dictable, Center Stage
is an enjoyable mix of
ballet and teen drama.
Even without anybody
dancing on taxicabs.
—Andy Mangels
an angry D.J. for a week
end at their lakeside
cabin to “have a talk.”
I Unexpectedly, D.J.’s
younger brother,
Campbell (Jason
Behr), is already at the
cabin and is clearly
unhappy to see his fam
ily. There is tension
between the three; con
frontations break out.
There are flashbacks, accusa
tions and confessions, with each
fresh piece of cliched emotional bag
gage
furthering
the film’s insipidity.
R ites of P assage
After more than enough implausible emot
ing
from our dysfunctional protagonists, the
fter writer-director Victor Salva’s last film,
convicts from the beginning of the film turn up
Powder, was released through Disney in
at the cabin, and we realize that Campbell is in
1995, it was revealed that long prior to the
film’s release Salva had been convicted in an cahoots with them and that the cabin is their
meeting place, though he never suspected their
incident of child molestation. The press had a
scheme might involve his family. The story
field day, giving Salva’s sub-Spielbergian film
twists, turns, swerves and veers even more
(which did contain very mild undertones of
wildly
after that, all pointless complication and
teen-age male homosexuality) a loud round of
undeserved publicity. Needless to say, it wasn’t
needless “action.”
The overly obvious themes of Rites of Pas
good for his career, and he hasn’t been heard
sage
are dysfunctional families and the harm
from since. Until now.
that comes from an outmoded code of mas
His latest film, Rites of Passage, which
culinity
(one that, though certainly insidious,
recently surfaced on DVD and video, is not the
may no longer even be dominant). Video store
tortured, soul-searching work one might expect
shelves
offer plenty of Bergman and Woody
from someone who’s been in Salva’s position.
Allen dramas for acute portrayals of familial
Rather, it’s a conventional flick about an emo
strain,
and the films of Neil Labute for scathing
tionally unresponsive father, his two sons—the
visions of testosterone run amok, eliminating
older a lawyer who’s a sycophant for his father’s
any
excuses for renting the bland, tedious piece
love, the younger a gay man who doesn’t fit his
of work that is Rites of Passage.
father’s macho view of what a man should be—
—Christopher McQuam
and the events that occur during an impromp
tu weekend on the lake, bringing them to a
■ A ndy M angels is a longtime Portland enter
new appreciation of their family.
tainment writer with three books and hundreds of
At the beginning of the film, we see two
comic
books and magazine articles to his credit.
recently escaped convicts (James Remar and
You can write to him at AMangelsSW@aol.com.
Jaimz Wolvett) murder some campers in cold
Wood. Then, we’re introduced to D.J. Farrady
C hristopher M c Q uain is a Portland-based
(Robert Glenn Keith), a lawyer, who runs into
free-lance
water and tireless observer of pop cul
bis father, Del Farrady (Dean Stockwell), by
accident at a hotel and discovers that Del is
ture.
cheating on his mother. Del subsequently takes
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