4B
Friday, March 12, 1996
On the VERGE of the Weekend
Running-joke movie ‘Sgt. Bilko’ doesn’t work
By ADAM MCHUGH
Staff writer
play golf! And when he plays golf, he hits
troops participating in maneuvers! Gee,
haven’t I seen this played out before? Oh,
yeah, in 1978’s “Animal House,” Tim
Matheson and Peter Riegert hit a ROTC
leader’s horse. The only difference is
“Animal House” and its treatment of such
humor was funny.
Bilko also arranges betting pools, much
to the dislike of the stock, anal-retentive
superiors who seem to have jumped from
one pathetic army satire to another.
I never thought I’d compare Martin to
the demon-seed Pauly Shore (who disgraced screens in 1994’s “In the Army
Now”), but in this film, the juxtaposition
fits.
Have you ever been told a joke that just
kept going, proceeding through murky
subtexts and references, testing your
patience – and your only real reason for
continuing to listen to it was because your
ears were pleading for the payoff?
Well, that’s what it’s like to sit through
“Sgt. Bilko” (Universal, Rated PG), Steve
Martin’s latest film, which is a sad remake
of the 1950’s television series with Phil
Silvers.
Sgt. Ernie Bilko (Martin) is rebellion
personified, as he not only is disrespectful
to his superiors, but he has the audacity to
Primal Fear
Now playing at Showplace 8.
(Paramount, Rated R)
– Richard Gere, Laura Linney,
Edward Norton, John Mahoney,
Andre Braugher and Alfre
Woodard
A prominent Chicago attorney
(Gere) represents a young indigent (Norton) who is charged
with the murder of a Catholic
cleric.
Based on William Diehl’s series
of novels featuring defense
attorney Martin Vail, “Primal
Fear” focuses on ethical and
legal questions and the importance of image in a high-profile
court case.
The film marks Norton’s first
time on screen, and Gere’s first
work since last year’s ill-fated
“First Knight.”
The film also stars Laura Linney
(of last year’s critical bomb
“Congo”) and a host of television stars.
The picture is directed by
Gregory Hoblit, an executive
producer and director of such
television series as “NYPD Blue”
and “Hill Street Blues.” This is
his directorial debut. (Review
next week) Now playing at
Showplace 8.
Executive
Decision
Sgt. Bilko
(Universal, Rated PG)
– Steve Martin, Dan Ackroyd
and Phil Hartman
(See review)
Friday
(Warner Bros., Rated R)
- Kurt Russell, Steven Seagal,
Oliver Platt and David Suchet
Nothing more than another
ripoff of 1988’s “Die Hard.”
Intelligence expert David Grant
(Russell) must save people on a
plane stocked with nerve gas, as
well as the 40 million people
below who will die if the gas is
released.
The supporting cast is
reduced to sputtering technological lingo which no one
understands, and, amazingly
enough, the picture loses at least
a few mono-syllabic grunts from
Seagal, who gets sucked out of
the plane during turbulence.
While there is little substance
and the terrorists are cookiecutter bad guys, the film doesn’t
even pretend to have lofty goals
set by “Die Hard.” (Reviewed by
Adam McHugh)
Grade: C
Up Close and
Personal
(Touchstone, Rated PG-13)
– Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert
Redford and Stockard Channing
An amateurish glimpse into
the world of broadcast journalism and love as taught by Red-
Along with fellow “Saturday Night
Live” alums Dan Ackroyd and Phil
Hartman, Martin meanders through sight
gags and humorless-humor which no
longer carries the comedic punch it did in
the 1950s.
Silvers’ satire looked to indict the venerably tight-ass antics of the military in that
era. His comedy didn’t always rely on
mindless physical humor – which Martin is
one of the best at, mind you – but on a
whining voice and curling facial expressions.
With his incessant onslaught of physical
humor, Martin, and the film for that matter, are grossly out of context.
Even in 1970’s “M*A*S*H,” Elliot
ord to Pfeiffer.
While chemistr y exists
between the two leads, the
story is too fragmented and
sappy to become likable.
The film, which has clear parallels to the true stor y of
anchorwoman Jessica Savitch,
who died in 1983 after a tragic
life of drug abuse and infidelity.
The best performance comes
from Channing (“Six Degrees of
Separation”), who plays Pfeiffer’s
rival at one of the stations.
(Reviewed by Jennifer Stranger)
Now playing at Will Rogers.
Grade: C
Down Periscope
(New Line, Rated PG 13)
-Kelsy Grammer, Lorine Holly
and Rob Schnieder
Slapstick comedy about a crew
of misfits on a Navy submarine.
Oliver and
Company
(Walt Disney, Rated G)
Animated. Basically a bunch of
pets walking around the big city.
Much like the “Homeward
Bound” series of films except
animated. Good fun for kids. (To
be reviewed) Now playing at
Showplace 8.
1
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Homeward
Bound 2: Lost in
San Francisco
(Walt Disney, Rated G)
- Robert Hays
Sequel to marginally popular
1993 film about two dogs and a
cat and their ensuing hijinks.
We Deliver or
We Serve it at Stix Banquet Facility
Call 232-9232 for orders.
The cost is $3.00 per meal which includes a
huge serving of spaghetti, and two pieces of
garlic bread.
The funds go to the charitable projects of Rotaract.
9
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50¢ Brats
(Disney, Rated PG-13)
Animated story of young boy
and Reese Witherspoon
Film about teenager (Witherspoon, of 1991’s underrated
“The Man in the Moon”) who
starts dating Spasmanian Devil
Wahlberg (you remember New
Kids on the Block?).
Petersen really has to be
ashamed of himself, though, as
he has starred in some of the
best films of the 1980s in “To
Live and Die in L.A.” and 1986’s
“Manhunter,” the brilliant prelude to “The Silence of the
Lambs.”
With this flick and the upcoming role in “The Beast” on NBC,
is career is really on the flag. (To
be reviewed) Now playing at
Showplace 8.
20”
4 Large
Large
1 topping 1 topping 1 topping
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the
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Grill!
James and the
Giant Peach
- Mark Wahlberg, William Petersen
Sunday, April 14 • 4:00 - 8:00 pm
GOOD CAUSE
$
(United Artists, Rated R)
-Robin Williams, Nathan Lane
and Hank Azaria
Lovers (Williams and Lane)
must convince the soon-to-bein-laws of their straight son they
are a normal family in this hysterical adaptation of stage hit “La
Caux Au Folles.”
The film centers around an
engagement dinner party which
powers the film with constant
laughs. While Williams is brilliant
in his milieu, Lane steals the
show with his outrageous getups and hysterics. (To be
reviewed) Now playing at
Showplace 8.
Fear
(Universal, Rated R)
Rotaract
9:30 - 12 P.M.
00
The Birdcage
and his storied relationship with
a larger-than-life peach. (To be
reviewed) Now playing at
Showplace 8.
Spaghetti Dinner / Fundraiser
w/ the Jayme Barnard Quintet
$
(Rated PG)
- Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Pullman
DeGeneres (of television’s
“Ellen”) meets borderline psycho Pullman (“Casper,” “While
You were Sleeping”) and spends
much of the film running from
him.
Pullman fails to solidify his
leading man potential, which we
saw glimpses of in “While You
were Sleeping” with Sandra
Bullock. (To be reviewed) Now
playing at Showplace 8.
Mr. Wrong
Friends
&Co
Gould, Donald Sutherland and Sally
Kellerman did a better job at making fun
of the military than “Bilko,” through solid,
biting satire.
Martin, whose comedic brilliance in
1987’s “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles”
and even his subdued performance in
1990’s underrated “L.A. Story,” offer
proof he is one of the best comic a ctors
out there and has just made a major misstep by parlaying a popular television character into a film.
With its incessant sight gags on humorless punches at an already humorous government and its officials, “Sgt. Bilko” is
likely one joke you just won’t get.
Grade: D
TM
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