The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, February 23, 2001 Page: 18 of 28
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THE RICE THRESHER ARTS a
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, : 001
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Eastern philosophy and good acting can't save 'Spring Forward'
Dalton Tomlin
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
It's often the case that indepen-
dent films are almost all dialogue —
there's just not a whole lot of money
for anything else. The trick is to make
that dialogue interesting and believ-
able in its context, and Spring
Forward just doesn't get the job done.
'spring forward'
Opens today.
Rating: * +
(out of five)
The film is no more than a string
of scenes, less complicated than your
average play. There's nothing inher-
ently wrong with that, but eventually
you realize that once you get into a
scene, you're stuck in it for 15 to 20
minutes whether you like it or not.
This is the first major feature
written and directed by Tom Gilroy,
whose experience mostly consists
of acting in several indies over the
last few years, so it's no surprise that
his actors do their jobs satisfacto-
rily. Unfortunately, the material
they're working with is sub-par.
In the spring, Murphy (Ned
Beatty) and Paul (Liev Schreiber)
begin working together as park clean-
up workers in rural New England.
Murphy's been doing it for years;
Paul is sent to work there after get-
ting out of prison for armed robbery.
'{"he first scene sets up a blue
collar vs. while collar confrontation
as they pick up gardening compost
from a yuppie named Fredrickson
(Campbell Scott). The movie would
be better if this scene were omitted;
it might be easier to believe the deep,
meaningful conversations Murphy
and Paul have later if they weren't
mired in traditional lower-class ste-
reotypes. Paul curses like a sailor—
Murphy naturally disapproves.
They talk about Eastern philoso-
phy and how it applies to their lives,
going so far as to discuss the Dalai
Ixima ("the Pope of Buddhism").
This is just the beginning of the far-
fetched conversations that encom-
pass everything from the mundane
to the religious. •
Another scene has the two going
to the house of the cheerful Georgia
(Peri Gilpin from "Frasier"), who
breathes some much-needed energy
into the story. Unfortunately, the
scene heads into predictability when
she and Paul start flirting.
Even the scene in which Murphy
and Paul share a joint is disappoint-
ing. They keep talking about the
same things they always do, as if the
pot isn't affecting them at all. There
is a good joke (which would work
best if the movie were making fun of
its own pretentiousness) when
Murphy goes on a long philosophi-
cal rant and at the end. Paul says,
"You're stoned."
Finally there's a last, touching
scene between the pair—Paul pours
his heart out in a few sentimental
words, and the emotionally shy
Murphy responds, "Fuck you." It's a
nice finale, but it would be better if 1
had more of an emotional attach-
ment to the characters.
There will undoubtedly be some
Not just random splatterings
POLlX)CK, from Page
highly acclaimed and famous ac-
quaintances who surround him.
Whether he's urinating in Peggy
Guggenheim's living room or down-
Harris left me
awed by his
nuanced
performance of
Pollock.
ing beers with VVillem de Kooning,
Harris shields his character from
staged and superficial artistic en-
counters thai would detract from
the focus of the film.
Rather than settle for the stan-
dard observer position or merely
document an actor engrossed in his
character, Harris attempts to explain
Pollock's style and technique.
The audience is forced to accept
Pollock's motto — "I don't use the
accident, because I deny the acci-
dent" — and find its extension be-
yond Pollock's art and into his life
and legacy.
If you have an interest in Pollock
as an artist, this film will satisfy your
every desire. If you seek films pro-
duced out of creative passion, I
couldn't conceive of a cast and crew-
more personally attached to a
project.
And if you crave a film where
actors are actually forced to utilize
talent, empathy and intelligence,
Pollock will offer you proof that act-
ing still has the power to be consid-
ered a master craft.
Ned Beatty (left) plays Murphy, a man struggling with retirement and his future,
protege in Spring Forward.
hype about what a great job Beatty,
a well-known character actor, does
in this part. But he mostly plays it
straight and doesn't have as much
strength or subtlety as, say, Peter
Fonda in Ulee's Gold.
Schreiber, who's probably best
known for playing Cotton Weary in
the Scream series but has done more
impressive work, again delivers a
solid performance. In fact, he's the
one constant force that keeps the
plot mildly interesting.
The cinematography is pleasing,
although it's hard not to find beauty
in the woods of New England. The
slightly blurry film stock has a nice,
soft feel to it. Again, it's what you'd
VICTOR SIRA/IFC FILMS
and Paul (Liev Schreiber) is his young
expect from a first-time director.
While there are a few enjoyable
and genuine moments in Spring For-
ward, there aren't enough to keep
the film afloat. And. for the most
part. it's all been done before. Gilroy's
instincts are heading in the right
direction, but he needs some guid-
ance to get to his destination.
PLEASE PAINT MY T-SHIRT
Before Night Falls' pretty but vacant
Kevin Cochrane
THRESHER STAFF
The title of Before Night Falls
refers to the plight of exiled Cu-
ban poet and novelist Reinaldo
Arenas (Javier Bardem. nominated
for the Best Actor Academy Award).
While hiding in the woods to avoid
police persecution. Arenas would
spend his daylight hours writing
prose, which the state deemed
inflammatory and counter to Fidel
Castro's principles.
'before night
falls'
Opens today.
Rating: * 1/2 (out of five)
The film, based on Arenas'
memoirs, tells of his time on the
oppressively communist island of
Cuba — smuggling his works out
of the country and having them
published abroad, living life be-
tween the harsh realism of his
surroundings and the wondrously
brushed canvas of his mind, and
being branded a homosexual dis-
sident by his own countrymen.
In the film's publicity material,
one passage, standing out from
the rest, rather effectively pegs
the theme of the movie: "There's
a touch of gay machismo swag-
gering through Arenas' prose; ev-
ery trip to the beach, every bus
ride, even a simple request for a
light from a stranger on the street
is an excuse for sex."
Screenwriter/director Julian
Schnabel and fellow writers
Cunningham O'Keefe and Lazaro
Gomez Carriles decided that
sexual identity should be the ba-
sis for a film about such a re
splendentfigure. In doing so, they
created a one-dimensional cari-
cature of Arenas, representinghim
as a man whose every motive is
guided by an underlying need for
ENIAC MARTINEZ/FINE LINE FEATURES
Javier Bardem stars as an
oppressed Cuban poet in Before
Night Falls.
sexual gratification.
And this is garishly shown on
the screen. In fact, it's depicted
in brash and graphic detail. There
is simulated sex of the most noto
rious variety, hordes of naked men
happily romping on the beaches
of Cuba, and close-up shots of
Johnny Depp caressing his appar-
ent Dirk Digglerish amount of
manhood while admiring an im
mense portrait of Fidel Castro.
These might have been events
written about in Arena's memoirs
and deserve to be included in a
movie about the individual behind
the elegant prose. However, the
filmmakers simply took these hap-
penings and callously threw them
onto the screen without finding
some common guiding premise
or establishing a structure to help
tie together 47 years of life.
For instance, in one scene, the
celluloid is permeated by the bliss-
ful heedlessness of two young lov
ers together on the beach. An
instant later. Arenas is arrested
and thrown into a concentration
camp for those Castro believes to
be dissidents or morally insolvent.
In Before Night Falls, wonder-
fully captured footage of nature
during the rainy season and im-
ages of Arenas' mother serve as
interludes between such diametri-
cally opposed scenes. It might
look pretty, but it still feels like it
was hurriedly slapped together.
Which leads directly to the end-
ing ofthe feature. Duringthe Mariel
boat lifts of 1980, when Cuba cast
the "riffraff" from the island. Are-
nas finds sanctuary by fleeing to
the relatively serene New York City.
The final 30 minutes of the picture
is devoted to his stay in America
and depicts Arenas as a shell of
his former self.
Once again, this era should be
included when retelling the sto-
ried life ofthe film's subject. How-
ever, Schnabel treats it merely as
an afterthought. The pace, the
feel and the manner in which the
ending of the movie is presented
are in stark contrast to Arenas'
life in Cuba.
A director could contrast the
two locales as an effective way to
leave a lasting impression with
the audience. Instead, the ending
just comes across as an extended
excerpt from a completely differ-
ent film.
I once heard a story about Are-
nas at a Harvard reception. When
a German professor audaciously
informed the poet that he believed
Castro had done great things for
Cuba, Arenas lashed back, telling
the ignorant professor that in Cuba,
only government officials ate as
well as they had that night at the
banquet. Arenas then picked up
the professor's plate and shat-
tered it against the wall.
Before Night Falls was sup-
posed to be an expository film
about a man who wrote with an
intense passion. It was supposed
to be about a man who lived with
the same passion that he spent
his life chronicling. Although beau-
tifully shot, Before Night Falls fails
to clearly depict the vivacious and
zealous soul of Reinaldo Arenas.
mm
1
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, February 23, 2001, newspaper, February 23, 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443011/m1/18/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.