Let him dangle

British cinema produces masterful re-telling
of the notorious execution of Derek Bentley

Let Him Have It * x *& % (Alliance) Rated R (at the Royal Centre

Cinema)

n 1941, eight-year-old Derek Bentley was buried alive
when his home was blitzed. It was an omen.

Eleven years later, Bentley,
(Chris Eccleston) would be can-
victed of murdering a policeman,
although he was already under ar-
rest, didn’t pull the trigger and had
a mental age of eleven.

Like his juvenile scrapes with the
law, his involvement was the result
of a tow IQ, not malice.

His father (Tom Courtney) tried
to keep a firm grip on his easily in-
fluenced son. Still, Derek
befriended Chris Craig (Paul
Reynolds), a 16 year-old illiterate
schooled in Hollywood violence
and nursing an adolescent fascina-
tion with guns.

That dangerous combination
exploded on a rooftop when Craig
shat two officers, one fatally, dur-
ing a spur-of-the-moment burglary.

What damned Derek was his
plea before the bullets started fly-
ing to ‘‘Let him have it, Chris’’
(meaning give him the gun). But
the prosecution viewed it as an

- incitement to blast away, thus
making him an accessory to
murder.

Director Peter Medak wrings
maximum emotion from the real-
life case with powerful restraint.
Even the actual culprit, Craig, is
nat simply a cold-blooded killer.

He's a pathetic, sneering little .
punk reduced to tears when his
older brother is arrested.

The movie is a tremendous ac-

Tim Bell
FILM REVIEW

complishment, and not just
because of the superb acting and
excellent script. Let Him Have It is
an emotional heartbreaker that
forced an inquiry into the case, 40
years after Derek's execution.
White Men Can’t Jump * x
(20th Century Fox) Rated 14
years (at the Park & Tilford,
Granville, Coquitlam, Clear-
brook, Scott and Station Square
Cinemas)

Maybe white men can’t jump,
but they can sure be jerks.

Billy Hoyle (Woody Harrelson)
cons East L.A. blacks into assum-
ing he’s an average high-fivin’
white guy, by wearing his baseball
cap backwards and dressing like a
chump.

Naturally, once the bets are laid
down for a little basketball, Billy
suddenly begins slam-dunking
with Harlem globetrotter preci-

“Bentley said to Craig

‘Let him have it, Chris?
they still don’t know teday
what he meant by this
Craig fired the pistol

but was too young to swing
so the police took Bentley
and the very next thing

.. Let him dangle”

- Elvis Costello

sion. Latest victim Sydney Deane
(Wesley Snipes) teams up with him
for some ebony and ivory hustles.

But Billy’s shrill Puerto Rican
gitlfriend Gloria (Rosie Perez) sees
a flaw that eludes her lover — you
can’t hustle with people who are
dishonest.

Two weak story elements hurt
the film — the well-trodden device
of mobsters pursuing Billy and a
strange, almost surreal bit as Rosie
grabs her 15 minutes of fame on
the TV game show, Jeopardy. The
basketball action is handled much
better, with a perfect duet of hook
shots and colorful insults.

Ron Shelton has a great ear for
dialogue and keeps events light,
funny, and occasionally surprising.
Still, one night tater, it’s rapidly
dribbling away frony memory.

Children’s summer music camp
returning to Shawnigan Lake

IT’S TIME again for North Shore
families to begin ‘considering
enrolling in the Shawnigan Lake
summer music camp.

The week-long event, sponsored
by the non-profit group West
Coast Amateur Musicians Society,
offers instruction in vocal tech-
nique, madrigals, handbell ringing,
human tune-up, computer music,
vocal jazz and more.

For children aged six-12, there
are programs in drama, music, arts
and crafts and swimming, which
leave parents free to enrol in the
adult sessions.

For the first time, the West Coast
Amateur Musicians will perform a
new composition commissioned
for chorus and orchestra, Gloria,
written by Vernon com-
poser-violinist Imant Raminsh, on

EASTER IS
COMING
_SUN. APRIL 19th

Inn
St 985-3111

July 25.

For a free brochure, write to
Shawnigan Lake Music Holiday,

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