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22 - Wednesday, June 20, 1990 - North Shore News

entertainment | ow |

Tracy movie doesn’t rise above comic stri|

BUT MADONNA COOS CONVINCINGLY
DESPITE THE FILM’S THIN PLOT LINE

Dick Tracy ** (Touchstone) Rated
Mature (at the Park Royal, Capital
6, Richmond Sq., Lougheed,
Dunbar, Eagle Ridge 6,
Willowbrook and Guildford
cinemas)

‘To goou news is — there’s no product placement in
Dick Tracy.

That’s because Warren
Beatty has remained true to the
style of the comic strip and a can
of chili is labelled simply “chili”

film review

and a diner is just a diner. As a
further tribute to th. Sunday com-
ics page, the sets and costumes are
restricted to six colors.

The bad news is — a movie is
not a comic strip.

Brain Dead show is

The thin storyline (even by com-
ic book standards) revolves around
Big Boy Caprice’s attempts to con-
trol the city and Tracy’s deter-
mination to uphold the law. This
leads to repetitions of the detec-
tive spying on the gangsters, get-
ting caught and being rescued. For
some variety, there’s a long-stan-
ding romance with Tess Trueheart
(Glenne Headley) that stands a lit-
tle longer each time the Dickster is
paged on his two-way wrist radio.
Rounding out the family unit is the
Kid (Charlie Korsmos), a street-
wise orphan turned pint-sized
partner.

The only other wrinkle is a
mysterious no-faced hood with
unclear but deadly motivations.

Al Pacino as Big Boy Caprice

billed ‘high energy’

From page 21

For Brandolini, who is best
described as a petite powerhouse
of a woman — your classic in-
genue — the part couldn't have
come at a better time.

With the kids out of the house
(ner daughter was recently mar-
ried) she now has few domestic
distractions, and that’s left plenty
of time for the theatre.

She recently wowed audiences
with Noel and Cole, a dinner
theatre revue that she co-wrote
with R. and R. Productions, and
the comedy | Love My Wife with
Donny Most from Happy Days.

And together with husband
director-choreographer Jim Hib-
berd, the two run their own pro-
duction company called Garbo
Productions, named after the fami-
ly cocker spaniel.

All the work seems to suit Bran-
dolini just fine; the theatre, at least
for now, is where she wants to be.
And that’s good news for Van-
couver, because there was a time
when the dark-haired, saucer-eyed
trouper had decided to quit the
theatre for good.

After the birth of her daughter in
the late ‘60s and later her son,
Brandolini dropped out of the
public eye for six years.

A

“In my mind I'd given it (the
theatre) up,”’ she says. ‘I was
happy being at home. But | never
gave up singing. | took fessons
throughout. One day my teacher
said, ‘Charlene, why are you do-
ing this? Why aren‘t you perform-
ing?’

Despite a successful relationship
with TUTS — she appeared in Cail
Me Madam, The King and | and
The Chocolate Soldier ~ and a
strong performance as Rosalie in
West Side Story — Brandolini had
her mind made up. She wasn’t go-
ing back.

{It was Hibberd, in fact, who
pleaded with his wife to return to
the stage. (The two met during
West Side Story and were married
after seven short weeks).

Bill Millerd invited Hibberd to
direct Dames At Sea, and, as it
turned out, he had trouble filling
one of the roles.

“tim came home one night and
looked at me and said, ‘You have
to do it.’ And | said, ‘You're out
of your mind!’

But Brandolini gave in, and
Vancouver audiences have en-
joyed watching the couple’s
journey from “‘out of your mind”
to brain death ever since.

EER COLLEGE |

and Madonna as Breathless
Mahoney easily take the acting
honors (yes, Madonna!). The pop
singer warbles a few nice tunes
penned by Steven Sondheim,
which, unfortunately, act like
speed bumps to the film’s pacing.
Dressed in contour-caressing
evening wear (she’s not bad, she’s
just dressed that way), Madonna is
a live action version of Jessica
Rabbit. When Tracy threatens to
make her sweat under the lights,
she coos seductively, ‘1 sweat
better in the dark.”

Pacino hams it up outrageously,
attributing his mangled
philosophies to Plato or chastising
his clumsy hitmen for not taking

pride in their work,

All the bad guys get the action,
catchy lines and grotesque
make-up to match their names
(Flattop, Prune Face, Lips). In con-
trast, the soft-boiled detective’s
most colorful characteristic is his
yellow trenchcoat and matching
fedora.

Beatty (who also directed)
shouldn't have allowed his ward-
robe to upstage his acting.

Dollars *** (RCA/Columbia
Home Video) Rated R

Warren Beatty was always more
interesting playing the villain/
anti-hero such as Clyde Barrow in
his career-making film, Bonnie and
Clyde. Here’s a fast-paced film

* “excluding Laurentien grandfathers .

e Triple Chime
e Imported West
German Movement

eS) NY

For a lifetime
together give
gift of time.

“msr. $3,099.

e Bevelled Glass

e Available in Oak
and/or Cherry

» the

from the early seventies that
showed Beatty on the wrong side
of the law. He plays a bank securi-
ty expert who plans the perfect
heist with the ditzy assistance of
Goldie Hawn. Director Richard
Brooks starts the story with a series
of seemingly unconnected
episodes, which lead to one of the
longest chase sequences in movie
history.

NORTH SHORE VIEWS
West Van Odeon: Cadillac Man,
Bird on a Wire, Nuns on the Run.
Park Royal: Dick Tracy, Total
Recall, Gremlins 2.
Park & Tilfard: Back to the Future
Il, Cadiflac Man, Gods Must be
Crazy li, Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles, Miami Blues, Wild Orchid,
Bird on a Wire.
Showtime Hotlines: Cineplex
Odeon 687-1515, Famous Players
681-4255

Guildford Town Centre
§84-2729

Lansdowne Park
278-1631

Eaton Centre Metrotown
435-1607

Park Royal Shopping Centre 8266 - Oak
926-2036