Remake of ’50s classic not worth the bother

Born Yesterday * * (Hollywood
Pictures) Rated Mature (at the
Esplanade, Vancouver, Station
Square, Dunbar, Richmond
Centre, Guildford and Eagle
Ridge cinemas)

Tim Bell
FILM REVIEW

HEY SHOULD have

called this one Reborn

Yesterday since it's a
remake of a classic 1950
film starring Judy Holliday,
William Holden and.
Broderick Crawford. (And
before that it was a huge
Broadway hit that launched
Holliday’s career.)

This time around, though,
Hollywood gives us Melanie Grif-
fith, Don Johnson and John
Goodman in the starring roles.
This time around, it'won’t bea
classic. _ ‘

Billie Dawn (Griffith), ex-Vegas
showgirl, stereotypical “dumb
‘blond’ and mistress to wheeler-
dealer Harry Brock (Goodman),
needs to watch the TV show that
comes on between the daytime
soaps and Entertainment Tonight..
It’s called the news.

Why? Well, here’s an example.
Upon hearing about the collapse
of the Eastern Bloc countries, she
wondered how many people got
hurt when the block fell down.
(Ouch.) co ,

While lover-boy Harry is no
Einstein, he does know that if Billie
doesn’t smarten up, his foray into
the Washington, D.C. social circle
is doomed. And he needs those

Photo submitted

HARD ACT to follow: Melanie Griffith (shown with Don Johnson
and John Goodman) reprises Judy Holliday’s role in the remake

of Born Yesterday.

senators for his dirty little schemes.
With so much riding on Billie’s
“little grey cells,” Harry hires a
journalist, the bespectacled, meek
Paul Verrall (Johnson) to teach her
a thing or two.

The story was updated for the
‘90s, although the occasional
'50s-type phrase vets thrown in
(“you big ox’’), but the
characters aren’t very inspired.

And, oddly enough, the on-
screen chemistry between Griffith
and Johnson fizzles (and these two
are married in real life). John
Goodman does his bellowing/
blustering shtik that he does so
well on Roseanne but it’s getting a
bit worn, now on the big screen.

So what does that leave us?
Nothing really. The original is on
tape — try it, it's the real thing.
The Mambo Kings * (Warner
Home Video) Rated R

This rather sappy movie is about
two Cuban brothers (Armand
Assante and Antonio Banderas)
who try to hit pay dirt in 1950s
America with a Mambo band.

While the film’s Latin music

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5

really smokes, the melodrama puts
the fire out.

However, since it’s on tape, you
can fast forward through the bor-
ing bits to get to the salsa,

Showtime Hotline:
Famous Players 681-4255
Cineplex Odeon 687-1515

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