26 ~ Wednesday, May 13, 1992 - Nerth Shore News

4

Leaving Normal on a trip to now

Leaving Normal * ¥% (Universal)
Rated Mature (at the Park &
Tilford, Granville and Oakridge
cinemas}

HEY LEFT to find their

dreams. Along the

way, they found
themselves. And each
other.’’

Tim Beil
FILM REVIEW

leaving Normal doesn’t use this
sales pitch, but considering the
hokey sentimentality and contriv-
ed drama, it probably should
have. ° : :

In the big box-office wake of _.
Thelma ard Louise, this gal-pai

- toad movie plunks two rootless

strangers next to each other while
travelling from some god-forsaken

From traditional
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southern town to some god-for-
saken northern town.

En route they meet an obese
waitress (Patrika Darbo) heavily
into self-approval and chintz; a
trucker-poet who weeps over
Steinbeck; a yuppie family from
the domain of the anti-Christ; and
a host of other colorful characters
— at least Hollywood's version of
color.

The leads are just as poorly writ-
ten. Marianne (Meg Tilly) is a
child/woman, blindly optimistic in
the face of a life of bad choices
{abusive marriage/no skills).

Of course, her companion must
be the yang to her yin.

Darly (Christine Lahti), a bar-
maid and ex-stripper, hoots and
howls her cynicism with the accu-
racy of a spitting camel.

Where they go. why they go,
doesn’t really matter. The movie
wants to create the illusion that
fate deals the cards and there’s no
planning required.

Things just happen, jike magic.
And somehow it will all work out.
A few people can carry it off.

Woody Allen (Shadow & Fog.
Stardust Memories, amongst
others) or Percy Aldon (Baghdad
Cafe}, but Ed Zwick is no Allen or
Aldon.

And what is with Meg Tilly? For

10 years she’s been acting like a
deer caught in the headlights —
vacant, stunned. It’s a sad, boring
routine.

Lahti, on the other hand, is ter-
rific. She takes thin material and
weaves a whole tapestry. Despite
being hostile for two hours, she
doesn’t alienate the audience, her
pain seems real. Now, that’s ac-
ting.

Thanks to her, the film almost
holds together. But Leaving Nor-
mal doesn't go anywhere.
Frankenweenie * * * (Disney
Home Video) Rated G

Most grieving 10-year-olds
would simply bury their pet after a

road accident, but then Victor isn’t
exactly average.

His last name — Frankenstein —
says it all. A midnight visit to the
local pet cemetery, a
thunderstorm and some laboratory
in the attic is all he needs to resur-
rect his faithful Sparky.

Tim Burton's trademark art di-
rection and macabre subject mat-
ter is already evident in this early
effort, an apprenticeship to Beetle-
juice and Batman, Charming and
funny, but young ones might be
upset by the dead pet part.

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