Violent ‘gangsia’ movie
offers fresh viewpoint

Fresh *x*1/2 (Alliance) Rated
14 years (at the Granville Cinema)
HE VIOLENT “gangsta”
world of living large and
dying small gets a new
angle as seen through the
eyes of a kid.

While his friends act like
sawed-off rap video stars, Michael
(a.k.a. “Fresh”) listens to his father
(Samuel L. Jackson), a chess mas-
ter who ekes out a living with two-
buck speed matches. An accom-
plished little player. himself,
Michael, dabbles in more than
chess.

The kid is a perfect courier for
the heroin and cocaine dealers —

_untouchable by the law, but
mature beyond his years. So
mature, in fact, that he plans to
retire at 18. A secret stash in the

Tim Bell
FILM REVIEW

thousands and tight lips seem to
guarantee security.

But a stray bullet and his sister's
addiction kill Fresh’s dreams.

What follows is a complex and
terrific revenge mystery, And
more. There are remarkable per-
formances from all, including a
juicy role for Jackson as the father
who claims he could beat a grand

master like Bobby Fisher “if the
clock was on.” However, the
show is carried by the young star,
Sean Nelson. This kid is a natural
born actor, who lets just the right
amount of a child’s vulnerability
crack his usual poker-faced indif-
ference.

The violence is startling, but
director/writer Boaz Yakin never
uses it to simply shock the audi-
ence. Most of it occurs off-screen
and it always advances the plot.
Everything, in fact, moves the plot
forward frorn Stewart Copeland’s
evocative score to the moody pho-
tography.

Fresh isn’t just the title for a
chilling street mystery. It’s also the
perfect one-word review.

SHOWTIME HOTLINE:
Famous Players ......... 681-4255
Cineplex Odeon ......... 687-1515

Let chance guide your footsteps

From page 26

Lorna Dunn's amusing The
Board of Examiners never quite
seemed to capture the terror that
must surely be implicit in the
response to a chillingly clever
sound score.

i have no idea whether Jean
Guy Cossette should be called a
choreographer, a performance
anist or a comedian. But his It’s
Okay fo! was unquestionably the
funniest 15 minutes of Thursday's

Fringe.
Ce The Betrothal. This coliabora-
tion between writer Elizabeth
Dancoes and choreographer/per-
former Barbara Bourget is inteliec-
tually and visually compelling.
Dancoes reads her own intelligent
synthesis of Lorca’s Once Five
Years Pass on tape while Bourget
explores longing, desire, leneli-
ness, pain and emancipation.
Despite the bleached-bone
clarity there are probably still too
many words.
% Sour Dough. \f you enjoy black

Presents
Cruising to

BERMUDA
TRAVEIOGUE FILM

narrated live in person
by Doug Jones

NORTH VAN CENTENNIAL
THEATRE

Tues. Sept. 20 - 6:00 & 8:30 pm |

| Reserved Single Tickets $12.75
plus service charge

% HONG KONG and Southern China

% VIETNAN/BURMA
The Bamboo Curtain Rises

* Darzin's PATAGONIA

x» The CRUSADES

* Exploring NEW GUINEA

* ANEW ENGLAND Sampler

% IRELAND - Poe's and Kings

% Amazing AUSTRALIA
Season Tickets $81.00
All tickets include GST!

TERE BST ly

1304 Hornby Street
Info & Ghargeline 280-4444

comedy this one’s for you. Then
again, if you also want a real play,
maybe it isn’t.

Wayne Ward and Christine
Brubaker are accomplished young
actors (particularly Brubaker) but
they cannot disguise the fact that
Sour Dough is three sketches that
feel as if they might have been
improvised before graduating from
The National Theatre School.

it’s interesting to speculate
what might have happened if
either of the first two pieces had
become plays. Both have a bleak-
ly bitter premise that is worth
exploring.

@ Service. Redder Than Red
Productions looks like it might
have some potential as a North
Shore-based young people's the-
atre company. This group of .

September 9-15 tua

Mo aNie

JU AU. sna Bee

Simon Fraser graduates is open,
warm and accessible on stage.

They say they are committed to
giving a voice to young and
emerging artists who’have some-
thing innovative to say on social
issues.So send them your scripts.
Please. Before next year’s Fringe.
® The Maenads. Bii} Roxborough
retells the story of Orpheus and
Eurydice jor a 20th-century audi-
ence, and in doing so succeeds in
offering several universal truths for
us to ponder.

Can we expect any more of
theatre?

Kathleen Duborg and
Christopher Robson shine in a
strong, if under-rehearsed, ensem-

. ble. Torn Jones’ naturalism is to

die for and Sarah Rodgers is just
outrageous.

MPAA
RATING

FE Aang Rtvart

THEME VIOLENCE COARSE SCX &
LANG. NUDITY

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2. Schindler's List

Prowse AX IDR Ty
pagers aothirvanis ee ie
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#4. Four Weddings and

Chios,
Ree.

atura!

FOOTLONG
PIZZA SUBS
. OR

HAM & CHEESE

99

+ 6ST

One counon per customer per vist
* Not valid with otne: offers
+ Not valld with SUPERS
* Coupon erpires Sept. 22, 1994

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Thriller

i Lots | Lots

Wednesday, September 14, 1994 — North Shore News - 29

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