BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB--Broadway Market
ETERNITY AND A DAY--Grand Illusion
THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER--Factoria, Meridian
16, Metro, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center, South-
center
THE RED VIOLIN--Guild 45th
TARZAN--Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16,
Metro, Redmond Town Center
CANDOR--Union Garage
THE CENTER FOR LAND USE INTERPRETATION--
911 Media Arts
CHILDREN'S CINEMA--Grand Illusion
FREMONT CINEMA WEEKEND--Fremont Outdoor
Cinema
HITCHCOCK CELEBRATION--Egyptian
THE ITALIAN STRAW HAT--Grand Illusion
JULIETTE OF THE HERBS--Grand Illusion
LATE-NIGHT SEX & RELIGION--Grand Illusion
LOCAL SIGHTINGS--Little Theater
MARGARET MEAD FILM FESTIVAL--Henry Art
Gallery
MEETING PEOPLE IS EASY--Egyptian
THE NOMAD VIDEOFILM FESTIVAL--The 911
Media Arts
SILENT MOVIE MONDAYS--Paramount Theater
THIS FAR BY FAITH--Seattle Musicians' Union Hall
June 25--Big Daddy, An Ideal Husband, Run Lola Run, Desert Blue
June 30--The Loss of Sexual Innocence, South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut
July 2--The Wild Wild West, My Son the Fanatic, The Wall, Tamas and Juli
ALASKA: SPIRIT OF THE WILD--More of a nature documentary than a ghost story. Omnidome
AMAZON--Follow an ethnobotanist through the lush rainforests of the Andes and along the rough-and-tumble Amazon River! Learn about exotic animals, medicinal plants, and Indian shamanism! Amazon's IMAX quality and the Omnidome screen vs. a back issue of National Geographic...you decide. Omnidome
*AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME--I have to admit, this movie cracked me up. A big, sloppy comedy chock full of nonsense jokes, sexual innuendo, and scatological humor, The Spy Who Shagged Me was obviously edited to keep in the favorite bits of Mike Myers and director Jay Roach. The story? Dr. Evil and his feral, midget clone, "Mini-Me," go back in time to steal Austin's libidinous power source, his mojo. A mojo-less Austin also goes back in time, where he meets American CIA agent Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham, in a performance more sexy than inspired). Meanwhile, Scott Evil continues to search for approval from a father who doesn't believe he's evil enough. Plot is not the point, however--surreal comedy is. Biggest surprise: Rob Lowe, as the young Number Two, does a great Robert Wagner impersonation. (Andy Spletzer) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center
*BESIEGED--Driven from her African home while her husband's still in prison, Shandurai (Thandie Newton) is in Rome studying to be a doctor, employed as a maid by Mr. Kinsky (David Thewlis), a pianist/composer of no import living comfortably off his large inheritance. Though Shandurai has her own story and life separate from Kinsky, the camera consistently gazes at her with such naked lust that it borders on the shameful. The last time Bernardo Bertolucci made a film, he was similarly fixated on a young lovely; but Stealing Beauty must rank as one of the most godawful movies ever put out by a director who has claims to greatness. Here he shows us what the world looks like from the perspective of someone deep in the midst of obsession. Everything is seen with the nervous, jumpy energy of a man who can't think of anything but the woman he loves. He eventually tries to buy her respect by working to get her husband out of prison, with mixed results. Though small-scale, this is a greatly effective and even beautiful film. (Bruce Reid) Seven Gables, Uptown
BLACK MASK--Jet Li stars in this wacky, action romp. Pacific Place 11
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB--The enigmatic Ry Cooder and his impassioned collaborations with the Cuban all-star band, The Buena Vista Social Club, take center stage in this sweet documentary from living master Wim Wenders. Reviewed this issue. Broadway Market
CANDOR--Candor, Brad Cook's new indie film, features local talent and locale while telling the story of a small town bursting with secrets and ugly realities. Sun June 20 at 5, 7, 9; $7.50. Union Garage
THE CENTER FOR LAND USE INTERPRETATION--Through lecture, slides, and video, Matthew Coolidge of The Center for Land Use Interpretation will share his findings on natural landscapes that have been altered by different ways of industrial, artistic, and commercial human interaction. Thurs June 17 at 8, $4. 911 Media Arts
*CHILDREN'S CINEMA--Charlie Chaplin is the first entertainer in line for the Grand Illusion's summer film series for kids. Tear your kids away from their video games and give 'em a little culture with silent classics like The Tramp, Knockout, and The Im-migrant. A hip alternative to the requisite Disney summer extravaganza. Sun June 20 at 1, 3. $3.50 children/$5 grown-ups. Grand Illusion
*ELECTION--A brilliant dark comedy about an unctuous overachiever's campaign for Student Council President, and the high school teacher determined to foil her. Election's style serves to plunge us completely into its characters' tiny, highly-charged world, rendering pathetic human pettiness on a nearly operatic scale. Director/co-writer Alexander Payne has infused his miniature world with enormous creativity and meticulous attention to detail: every character is unnervingly humane, the supporting cast is uniformly perfect, and you've never seen a contemporary high school so uncannily rendered. As the charmingly atrocious Tracy Flick, Reese Witherspoon gives an indelible performance; finally she has a role to compete with her star-making turn in the little-seen Freeway. And Matthew Broderick lays the ghost of Ferris Bueller to rest once and for all with his lovely portrayal of Tracy's beleaguered, would-be nemesis. (David Schmader) Grand Alderwood, Uptown, Varsity
THE ERUPTION OF MOUNT ST. HELENS--The mountain blew up in 1980, and has been blowing up on film ever since. Omnidome
*ETERNITY AND A DAY--Greek director Theo Angelopoulos' Eternity and a Day looks at regret, redemption, lost moments, and obtaining true happiness through the eyes of a terminally ill man trying to help a young Albanian refugee. Fri-Thurs June 18-24 at (Sat 12:30, 3), 5:30, 8. Reviewed this issue. Grand Illusion
EVEREST--The first IMAX footage ever shot on top of the world. Pacific Science Center
*EXISTENZ--Cronenberg's is a world where virtual reality games have become so commonplace that most people think nothing of drilling a "bioport" directly into their spine in order to plug in. Once a game starts, the player becomes a cast member in an artificial world where everything looks and feels "real," where some actions are preprogrammed and others are not. The biggest celebrities of the day are game designers, and none is bigger or more brilliant than the reclusive Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh), whose latest, greatest achievement, eXistenZ, has inspired somebody to put a death sentence on her head. David Cronenberg is working from his first original script since Videodrome, and what he's come up with is, in some ways, a revisitation to that movie's themes, and this is one of the wittiest, most perceptive movies about movies and how we think they affect us since Videodrome. (Bruce Reid) Pacific Place 11
FREMONT CINEMA WEEKEND--Do the retro-disco thing on Friday night with a screening of Thank God It's Friday (with Donna Summer and a danceable soundtrack), and a performance from the Dudley Manlove Quartet (June 18 at 7, $8). Rat Pack Night (Sat June 19 at 7, FREE) will feature the swingin' sounds of The Molestics, and a screening of Robin and His Seven Hoods (with Frank, Dean, Sammy and the Gang). Fremont Outdoor Cinema
THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER--I hereby present the Joe Ezterhas Award for Masturbatory Misogyny to... The General's Daughter! Always a competitive category when Sean Connery has a release, Simon "Con Air" West's new "thriller" struts away with the prize for a film that pretends to be about the importance of women to the armed forces. It features the graphic rape of a female captain, a brutal, fetishistic murder, and the idea that anything outside the missionary position can only be the result of emotional scarring. John Travolta spends his time questioning the kind of suspects who spill the beans after five minutes of scrutiny, and Madeleine Stowe is around to assure us that Travolta is heterosexual. James Woods, one of the only signs of life in this mire, plays a homosexual colonel. This is supposed to be a surprise, but we quickly discern that he's a homosexual because he's slightly oily, enjoys classical music, and knows how to prepare a casserole. Travolta proves once again that he can carry a film, but why he's chosen to cart this offensive stinker around is the film's most compelling mystery. (Steve Wiecking) Factoria, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center, Southcenter
GET REAL--When two boys playfully wrestle in a gay film, you know it's not long before they both realize there's something else they'd rather be doing. In Get Real, warmly directed by Simon Shore, a heartfelt geek (Ben Silverstone) pursues the gorgeous class jock (Brad Gorton) and gains his self-respect. As a queer coming of age movie, this sweet British import doesn't really offer much of anything new, aside from fine acting (and respect for teenage girls, though they inevitably get lost in the dust). The film lacks momentum, and its stage origins are evident: Every conversation is layered and thoughtful to a fault; scenes lack the spontaneity of film dialogue, and suffer from a stillness that doesn't seem cinematic. Somehow, though, the same considerations that weigh everything down also contribute to a welcome gentleness. Unlike the trumpetings of its American counterparts, Get Real is smartly tender in conveying the idea that everybody is worthy of being loved. By the end, the film wins you over with that painful, universal longing that lies just beneath the surface of every slow dance. (Steve Wiecking) Harvard Exit
*HITCHCOCK CELEBRATION--To celebrate Alfred Hitchcock's 100th birthday, the Egyptian is showing new 35mm prints of his films. True Hitchcock fans will be relieved to know that besides the standard, obligatory classics--The Birds, Psycho, and Vertigo-- lesser-known treasures including Shadow of a Doubt, Torn Curtain (with foxy Paul Newman and Julie Andrews), and the murder mystery Frenzy will also have a chance on the big screen again. Egyptian
INSTINCT--A celebrated anthropologist (Sir Anthony Hopkins) studying a family of gorillas in a remote jungle in Rwanda decides to abandon civilization and enter the world of the apes: following them, eating with them, sitting in the heat and rain, absorbing their mysterious ways and grunts. All of this comes to a sudden end when, in defense of his adopted family, he brutally murders two park rangers and is returned to civilization (Miami, to be exact) to pay his debt to society. In Miami, he refuses to talk with anyone. It's up to a brilliant young psychologist (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) to restore not only his voice but his humanity. Despite the evident chemistry between Gooding and Hopkins, the film feels unreal, not because of the incredible premise (in fact, I accepted the whole idea of a man joining a family of apes), but because of the absence of a realistic race context within the structure of the plot; as with Gooding's lack of reaction to the irony of a white man telling him, a black man, that he is too civilized to understand Africa. Strange. (Charles Mudede) Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11
INTO THE DEEP--An IMAX film in 3-D, putting you right into the aquarium. Pacific Science Center
THE ITALIAN STRAW HAT--Amusement ensues when a horse eats a woman's hat in The Italian Straw Hat, a comic silent film by Rene Clair (France, 1927). Sat June 19 at 11. Grand Illusion
JULIETTE OF THE HERBS--Juliette de Bairacli Levy is a sprightly woman full of great stories about living with nomads and Gypsies, and she makes a good case for herbal medicines, mainly because she continues to be amazed by the healing power of the herbs. Thurs June 17 at 5:30, 7:15, 9. (Andy Spletzer) Grand Illusion
LATE-NIGHT SEX & RELIGION--Throughout June and July, Dennis Nyback will host the Grand Illusion's Sex and Religion Festival, which will include a wide range of arousing and divine cinema (from cartoons to silent films to stag films). This week, Mormons and morality, stag parties, Satanic animation, and delinquent sex will be in the spotlight with nightly collections of delightfully disturbing titles. Thurs-Fri June 17-18 at 11. Grand Illusion
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL--Like any good comedian, Roberto Benigni (and his co-writer Vincenzo Cerami) knows how to plant the seed for a gag early on, let it sit, then return to it much later for the payoff. The opening, which seems so frivolous, is all groundwork for what Benigni knows will be the toughest sell of his life: comedy in the Nazi camps. Employing the understatement and flamesair for timing that comedy requires, Benigni captures detail after detail in a far more devastating way than more earnest films on the subject could manage. (Bruce Reid) Harvard Exit
LIMBO--John Sayles has always been concerned primarily with the depiction of place in his films. In the best instances, his films seem to grow directly from the soil in which they take place, novelistic and natural, like a very old tree. Limbo, by comparison, seems transplanted and sickly, like an idea cast upon a barren field that has failed to take root. Sayles' place here is the last physical and emotional outpost of the American spirit: Alaska. Luminous cinematography by Haskell Wexler renders the land as a gilded promise, with golden light glancing in at acute angles, but the characterizations and heavy-handed plot fail to live up to this promise. This is the blunt and obvious Alaska of losers, dreamers, and schemers, peppered with a few de-facto modern appliances, like ex-Seattle lesbians and California tourism tycoons. The plot, which concerns ill-fated lovers on a ham-fisted backwoods adventure poorly extrapolated from Jack London's wastebasket, feels overworked and plodding. Moreover, this film is just too goddamn written: every word seems delivered in the death-throes of acting, like salmon at the end of their run. (Jamie Hook) Guild 45th
*LOCAL SIGHTINGS--WigglyWorld's weekend of local talent pays tribute to the "Best of the Northwest." The itinerary includes short films made through WigglyWorld's "Out of the Can" grant (Thurs-Fri June 17-18), an Open House (Sat June 19, 3-5), selections from the 25th annual Northwest Film Festival (Sat June 19), as well as The Seven Mysteries of Life, a Gregg Lachow film from 1995 (Sun June 20). Reviewed this issue. The Little Theater
THE LOVE LETTER--An anonymous love letter to an anonymous recipient electrifies a sleepy New England town. Kate Capshaw becomes determined to find the letter's author. With Tom Selleck, Ellen DeGeneres, and Gwynneth Paltrow's mom. Pacific Place 11
MARGARET MEAD FILM FESTIVAL--Lithuanian bathhouses, albinos in Taiwan, and 1960s rural Poland are only a few of the topics that this collection of films explores. Organized by the American Museum of Natural History, this six-part series runs the gamut of cultural documentaries. All programs are followed by a panel discussion. Thurs-Sun June 24-27; times vary, call 543-2280 for more info. FREE. Henry Art Gallery
THE MATRIX--Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) has been searching for the One, a cyber-Christ who will destroy the Matrix and wake people out of their preprogrammed idea of life. He thinks he has found Him in Neo (Keanu Reeves). With the knowledge that the Matrix is a computer-created dream, Morpheus and his rebels (with equally stupid names: Trinity, Cypher, Switch, Apoc, etc.) can run and jump and fight with superhuman power, but are hunted down by super-agents who want to cleanse the system. Sure, the character names are stupid, the barroom metaphysics ("Hey, what if life is just a dream?") are simplistic, and the cyber-Christ story is predictable, but the action scenes--even the ones that use that 180 degree near-freeze frame--make this otherwise boring movie worth seeing. From the directors of Bound. (Andy Spletzer) City Center, Grand Alderwood, Varsity
*MEETING PEOPLE IS EASY--This movie functions as Radiohead version 3.5, as Radiohead '99, as soul food for all the empty, starving people out there. The visual equivalent of their album OK Computer, it utilizes the latest in technique and technology to construct a hymn to Thom York's personal depression. It's not a very nice film. It kills journalists, drunken clubgoers, fans, record companies, and rock stardom. It's preachy, uncomfortable, and un-pleasant. But that doesn't mean it isn't the best rock 'n' roll film of the '90s. Fri-Sat June 11-12 at midnight. (Philip Guichard) Egyptian
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM--Director and adapter Michael Hoffman has an intensely melancholy take on the material; his idea of whimsy is to have Puck take a piss against a cave like some mythical barfly. The rest of the great cast deliver uneven results. Following Hoffman's lead, Kevin Kline is too somber as Bottom. Michelle Pfeiffer's Titania is fine, if a bit too grand. Calista Flockhart as Helena is, surprisingly, the only actor who consistently manages to hit the right tone (despite some McBeal-type pouts); she's as airy and just as sweetly heartstricken as the rest of this well-intended but plodding film should be. (Steve Wiecking) Pacific Place 11, Varsity
THE MUMMY--Neither a horror film nor action epic, The Mummy is actually a flat-out comedy. This latest retread of a horror icon throws itself into its period (the '30s) with gusto, derring-do, screwball comedy, and wisecracking sexual flirtation among the leads, and even cheerful sexism and racism. Except for the special effects, this movie may as well have come out in 1935. The very things that make The Mummy initially entertaining, however, begin to grate as the movie goes on. When Imhotep the mummy finally appears, he starts as a dull computer-generated corpse and becomes the even duller Arnold Vosloo. Despite the lack of a good villain, or even a good heroine, The Mummy remains a perfect matinee. Directed by Stephen Sommers, creator of the vastly underrated Deep Rising. (Bruce Reid) City Center, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark
THE NOMAD VIDEOFILM FESTIVAL--This year's experimental video, film, and media festival is focusing on 16 "videopoems," short videofilms that incorporate poetry as narrative. The short works come from all around the world (including Seattle, with Brian C. Short's Bodies) and use music, animation, original or borrowed text, and computer media to get the point across. Fri June 18 at 8, $6. 911 Media Arts
NOTTING HILL--Chemistry this film has in spades: Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant can't appear onscreen together without firing off sparks of mutual attraction, despite the rumors of onset coldness to the contrary. What fails entirely here is any convincing reason for them to team up in the first place. He's a shy, burned-in-the-past seller of travel books; she's a universally acclaimed and desired actress. One brave scene even has him asking what on earth she sees in him, and her confessing utter confusion. I was confused the entire time on this score. As too often happens in modern day romantic comedies, the men have been thought out to the last detail, but on the female side motivations are left hanging. Add in two or three too many sentimental music-video interludes, and a propensity of obvious jokes, and the film ends up a disappointing mess, despite some sharply observed moments (especially about the movie business itself) and the aforementioned appeal of the stars. (Bruce Reid) Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center
THE RED VIOLIN--For their follow-up to the marvelous Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould director François Girard and his co-writer Don McKellar have fashioned another loosely structured ode to music, this time following a legendary violin as it passes through various (well, three or four) owners before it winds up in auction. Unfortunately, the stories shown (a miraculous prodigy, a fiery virtuoso's love woes, and a crackdown on western music during China's cultural revolution) aren't particularly interesting, and if you know any violin lore already you'll wish they'd included variations on some of the instrument's wilder histories. The same willingness to accept less than admirable behavior from their protagonists that distinguished Glenn Gould pops up here (especially in Samuel L. Jackson's arrogant violin expert), and John Corigliano has contributed a wonderful score, but the movie's so unromantic and prosaic, you'd think it was about a cornet. (Bruce Reid) Guild 45th
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE--Certainly the idea is appealing: one of history's immortals, shown in his still-struggling youth, with eye-catching period details and a cast uniformly professional enough to carry it off with whimsy. But the film strains too much to flatter and please the audience, setting up predictable conflicts and getting out of them through the easiest ways possible. It's clever in a very simple way, content to show its hero as a great-man-in-waiting and its heroine as so improbably perfect she could only be a muse. (Bruce Reid) Uptown
*SILENT MOVIE MONDAYS--The Seattle Landmark Association's "Silent Movie Mondays" returns this summer with a collection of comedies, mysteries, and adventures. Enjoy classic silent films, live organ accompaniment, and the gilded elegance of the Paramount. Seven Chances (1925), this week's comedy, presents a bachelor (Buster Keaton) with the challenge of getting married in seven hours to inherit a fortune. Mon June 21 at 7, $10. Paramount Theatre
STAR WARS: EPISODE I--What does it matter what we say? You'll see it anyway. The threadbare plot involves a trade dispute between the emperor-controlled "alliance" and the peaceful, enlightened Naboo people. The Jedi appear to negotiate a settlement, but alas, it won't be. And so the "drama" begins: the race to flee the planet; the crash-landing on Tattooine; the mystery-boy who joins the mission; the simmering Oedipal set-up as the Boy leaves his Mother and discovers, in her stead, Natalie Portman; and the inevitable 11th-hour solution to all problems. Lucas' obsessions with technology, with money, with salability and easy-access, too often overwhelm his abilities as a director. It is as if Lucas himself has been seduced by the Dark Side of CGI effects. Indeed, the young Darth Vader is merely a surrogate for Lucas the Director: a natural with great promise somehow given to the evil, inorganic pleasures of power and money for their sake alone. (Jamie Hook) Cinerama, Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Neptune, Northgate
TARZAN--Oddly enough, there's never been a cartoon feature film about the Lord of the Apes. Leave it to Disney to fill the gap. Initially, the film has an awkward start. Young Tarzan's friends are the usual too-cutesy comic sidekicks, and the father/son conflict is a bit too obvious--and trite. The adult Tarzan is another matter entirely. Tarzan's flights through the trees are an astonishing display of state-of-the-art animation; he doesn't so much swing through as surf the forest. When other humans enter the story, there's further emotional depth, and rather than bogging the whole thing down with numerous musical numbers, the characters hardly sing at all. The songs are largely performed by an off-screen narrator, Phil Collins. (Gillian G. Gaar) Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Metro, Redmond Town Center
TEA WITH MUSSOLINI--Franco Zeffirelli's autobiographical film, set in Florence on the brink of WWII, is about a little Italian boy who was born out of wedlock. A bastard. His father doesn't want him, so he ends up adopted by his father's English secretary, who shares babysitting duties with her female friends, also English. The ladies don't want to leave Florence, even after the war breaks out, thinking Mussolini won't want to hurt them. Turns out (surprise, surprise) that Mussolini doesn't care about them. Zeffirelli has never been a subtle filmmaker, but here he is so enthusiastic about stereotypes and manipulating emotions that the film is interesting until it becomes tiresome. Tea With Mussolini sentimentalizes the war years in much the same way as Life Is Beautiful did, never really acknowledging the atrocities of that--or any--war. As the wealthy American debutante, Cher sings one song. (Andy Spletzer) Grand Alderwood, Metro, Pacific Place 11
THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR--A $2 billion dollar corporation runs tests on a virtual video game that allows a person to travel to different periods in history and play out their fantasies. Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl), designed the program, owns the company, and enjoys traveling back to 1937 to sleep with a beautiful young woman in a glamorous hotel, all of which he created. One night he is stabbed to death in an alley, and the primary suspect is Fuller's protégé (Craig Bierko). Soon, a femme fatale (Gretchen Mol) enters the plot, claiming to be the daughter of the dead boss. The biggest error in this flawed film was to release this film so soon after The Matrix. Thematically, the films are too close. Then again, what do you expect when producer Roland Emmerich, director Josef Rusnak, and a crew full of Germans try to make a purely "American" entertainment. (Charles Mudede) Uptown
THIS FAR BY FAITH--The Seattle Musicians' Association and the Seattle Labor Party's Labor Video Series continues with This Far By Faith, a documentary about the trials and tribulations of the Delta Pride catfish workers. Narrated by Alfre Woodard. Fri June 18 at 7, FREE. Seattle Musicians' Union Hall
THREE SEASONS--This movie interweaves four thin short stories: a flower picker who meets her leperous master; a cyclo driver and deluded prostitute; an American ex-soldier (Harvey Keitel) looking for his long-lost daughter; and the last, the meanderings of a little boy who peddles cigarettes and lighters at local night clubs for his father. Why has this film been popular at festivals? Because it is virtually content-free. There's no action, no hunks, one prostitute with a heart of gold, no sex, and above all no plot. Tony Bui's film is not about the "new" Vietnam (as is supposed), but instead glorifies Vietnam's poverty from the point of view of an American tourist. (Charles Mudede) Broadway Market
TWICE UPON A YESTERDAY--An English romantic comedy in the vein of Sliding Doors. A guy who looks like Eric Stoltz pines for his ex-girlfriend on the eve of her wedding, even though their break up was his fault (he was seeing another woman). Thanks to some magical garbage men, he's transported back in time to right before he broke up with her and tries to make things right. This time through, the relationship falls apart for different reasons. I hated Sliding Doors. This movie is better, for what that's worth. (Andy Spletzer) Broadway Market
THE WINSLOW BOY--David Mamet adapts a play for the screen that was written long before cursing tirades were acceptable, and does an "okay" job with it. A young boy gets kicked out of military school when he's accused of stealing. We never really know if the boy, this "Winslow" boy, did it or not, but the boy maintains his innocence. The father decides to trust the boy and sue the school, causing a big public uproar in a case that nearly sinks them financially. Mamet tones down the actors' deliveries to such a point that it seems everybody is speaking in a monotone; that wouldn't be so bad if the underlying emotions were strong enough to make up for it. Ah well, it's a diverting and often dull time in the theater--kind of like seeing a play! (Andy Spletzer) Broadway Market
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