A description of mouvies wich shortly were playing at the theaters.
They don't make films like THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE anymore. Well, maybe just this once. Instead of a moralistic but exploitative courtroom/lawyer dramas à la John Grisham, this "Let's kill the lawyers first" film has a decidedly supernatural twist. Just when you expect special effects, fire and brimstone at the end, you get a long scene in which the devil delivers a hilarious series of Shakespearean monologues, topped off by a boffo double twist. I staggered out of the theater going "Wow, no way, outtasite, BINGO!" True, Advocate is too long (what movie isn't these days?) and it sags in the middle. You might get annoyed with the Rosemary's Baby-like aspects of the plot and a bit too much blood and gore, but stick it out. When it gets to its grand finale, this is one of the wittiest most adult fantasy films around. (P.S. Leave the kids under 15 at home.) Keanu Reeves plays a Southern Lawyer who has never lost a case, thus attracting the attention of a high powered New York law firm run by Al Pacino, who, as we quickly ascertain, may or may not literally be the devil. The problem with Keanu Reeves practice is that he specializes in brutalizing witnesses and getting a series of sleaze-bag clients off the hook. He's proud of his record but his latest case - a teacher-molester who sticks even in Keanu's craw - has made him think about what he's doing. Not to worry. The New York firm beckons. Keanu's frizz-haired, bubble headed wife (the delectable Charlize Theron) says, "go for it babe!" and before you can say "Beelzebub," the couple is installed in a Dakota-like high-rise with more perks than your average coffee maker. Keanu is quickly plugged into the firm's nefarious doings. He defends a Trump-like real estate tycoon who quite obviously would murder anything that stood in his way. He neglects his wife, casting long looks at the firm's hot-bodied Italian avvocata. Pretty soon Charlize is seeing death's heads on her friend's faces. Pacino seduces her at a party. Things go from bad to worse, culminating in the grand showdown where Keanu tries to get his soul back, but Pacino won't shut up. Maybe it's too talky for the action crowd, but Al Pacino is America's finest stage and screen actor and listening to him spout is one of the great pleasures in the world of entertainment. Accused by his peers and critics of a teenaged mentality, Steven Spielberg has fought back with a pair of "adult issues" movies. Yet even those who loved all of Schindler's list (and only I liked parts of it) may have trouble swallowing AMISTAD whole. It is very long, very turgid, very serious, and very "liberal" in the worst possible way. This means illustrated lectures, complete with graphic whippings, drownings, etc. on the shipping of African slaves to the Americas. The rest is filled with laborious courtroom sequences, during which the slaves who mutilated and murdered slave ship personnel in the 18th century are tried for their "crimes." Eventually John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins) argues for their freedom. He's helped here by Morgan Freeman and Matthew McConaughey. The only charismatic figure in this film is the African Djimon Hounsou, who plays Cinque, the leader of the revolt. He speaks no English, however, and is merely a cipher. Spielberg's brave thesis - slavery is evil (duh!)-may win him a few Oscars. Also Oscar bound is WELCOME TO SARAJEVO, a quasi-documentary about journalists covering the dreadful Balkan war. Stephen Dillane, an excellent British actor, plays a real-life journalist who rescued a young child from war-torn Sarajevo and brought her to England. Woody Harrelson plays a "typical" American newsman - his mind is in the gutter watching the booze broads and drugs float by. His own government and bosses are corrupt, so why shouldn't he be? High powered if somewhat maudlin filmmaking will make this flick a favorite with the easy sentiment crowd. Another "lets kill the journalists first" film is MAD CITY in which John "Overexposed" Travolta plays a security guard fired by a local museum. Aggrieved but inarticulate, he takes hostages and threatens lives. Dustin Hoffman plays a down-on-his -luck newsman who happens onto the story and manipulates the dumb guard for maximum national coverage. Frankly, Scarlet, this movie made me want to throw up. Ditto KISS THE GIRLS, in which Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, both superb actors are wasted in yet another serial killer movie. To judge by the number of serial killers in films, there must be one living on every block. Pfui. If, however, you like something benign and silly, try GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE with well informed Brendan Fraser under the leopard skin loin cloth. The gimmick is that this hunky Tarzan type is a no-brainer who constantly bumps his head on tree branches and whaps face-first into trees trunks. It's utter slapstick, but funny, and most kids like watching grown ups slip on banana peels. Keep the little ones away from STARSHIP TROOPERS. This is a jingoistic, rah-rah Earth, fascist training film about a bunch of buff TV studs and dudettes joining the military to save our planet from alien bugs. They could just was well be aliens from Mexico, Turkey or Vietnam. Boycott this kind of bilge-especially since it is ultra violent and gory.