n Speed 2:
Cruise Control, the sequel to Speed, Jan De Bont (hot off Twister)
returns to the helm as director, coming up with the idea of placing his
spunky Annie (Sandra Bullock) once again in the hot seat, only this time
it's on a cruise ship headed for the Caribbean. He should have stuck to
the bus.
In the beginning, Annie informs us that she's ditched Jack (Keanu Reeves) for Alex (Jason Patric), a more romantic cop, who produces cruise tickets just at the right time. But, alas, it's timing that dooms them, taking the same boat designated for destruction by disgruntled, former cruise-line computer engineer Geiger (Willem Dafoe).
Using
a pair of laptops and a set of golf clubs, Geiger reroutes the ship, pointing
it straight into an oil tanker. (His point? He wants the cruise line to
suffer for dismissing him after he became ill from being in front of computers
too long.) So, Alex tries to stop the ship or at least slow it down, while
Annie helps him and keeps the passengers -- a deaf girl, a group of fat
people, honeymooners, etc. -- in line.
Like many sequels, Speed 2 doesn't veer much from the original. And like many sequels, it's something of a letdown. Though the setting has changed, the premise is duplicated exactly, and a key line from Speed and one of its smaller characters are reprised for good measure. But this time around, the formula fails. It fails chiefly because whatever grit and intensity Speed had is replaced by an unimpressive set of stunts that never really relay the sense of danger they're supposed to -- Geiger's frantic computer typing is hardly ominous. Taken with the flimsy plot, Speed 2 isn't able to grip the audience.
Bullock is likeable enough, and her chemistry with Patric is a marked improvement over what she had with Reeves. And Dafoe, too, has his moments, especially when he bugs his eyes to relay just how truly freaked he is. Too bad, really -- they all go down with the ship. -- Susan Ellis
ADD
ONE PART MANHATTAN Murder Mystery, one part Clerks, two parts
station wagon, a dash of angst, and voila! You have Daytrippers.
This low-budget trek explores the intrigue as well as the tedium of everyday life -- it's just the type of movie that mainstream Hollywood typically ruins. However, director Greg Mottola does a quite satisfactory job of amusing the audience while preserving the dignity and subtlety of the script and characters.
Eliza D'Amico, played by Hope Davis, is a happily married woman who finds a love note in her husband's pocket after he goes into the city for work one day. After going to her mother, Rita (Anne Meara), for advice, Eliza decides to go into New York City to confront her husband, played by Stanley Tucci. The entire family piles into the station wagon for a trip to the city and a little detective work.
Eliza's father Jim Malone (Pat McNamara), sister Jo (Parker Posey), and her sister's boyfriend Carl (Liev Schrieber) are along for the ride led by the crusading Rita, who proves herself to be the diva of snooping mothers. In addition to Rita's verbal oppression and general criticism of Jo, the car ride prominently features Carl's bold, definitive statements about the flaws of modern society. His description of his novel about a man who is born with the head of a German shorthaired pointer (and is later abused by the rigors of the talk-show circuit) is almost as amusing as his coffeehouse-style debate concerning the virtues of an aristocratic form of government. While he discusses the symbolism inherent in the choice of the type of dog-head for his novel, Eliza's overbearing mother sits in the front seat making inane comments like, "I love dogs." The insufferable banter is hilarious.
Though comic moments keep the film afloat, Daytrippers also features heavier moments when resentment inevitably rises to the surface. These moments, though incongruous with the film's upbeat and lighthearted start, are refreshingly honest. All the players successfully avoid melodramatics, adding to the film's charm and validity.
While the plot is not particularly involved (or even interesting), Daytrippers offers its audience a movie without the canned predictability that frequently plagues mainstream filmmaking. The fact that it manages to do so without being too pretentious or obscure is a reason to go to the movies again. -- Elizabeth Lemond
TWO
FILMS THAT OPENED THIS past weekend might have had you seeing red, as Russia's
tumultuous history figures in the very different A Chef in Love and
Children of the Revolution.
An Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign film, A Chef in Love revolves around eccentric French chef Pascal Ichac (Pierre Richard) and his Georgian lover Princess Cecilia Abachidze (Nino Kirtadze). As Cecilia's son reads from manuscripts left behind by Pascal, he learns how the two met and how the free-spirited chef finally settled in the Republic of Georgia to open his own restaurant during the 1920s, only to be abused and kept from Cecilia by the Red Army.
Directed by Nana Djordjadze and written by Irakli Kvirikadze, A Chef in Love presents a story of heartbreaking passion. Richard's lively performance and the grandness of the camerawork add to the film's allure. And though the pair suffer bitter consequences, in the end A Chef in Love is not a sad film. Ultimately, it's about joy.
On the other end of the spectrum is the black comedy Children of the Revolution starring Judy Davis as Joan, who is absolutely ga-ga over Communism. In her native Australia, Joan drums up support for the party and writes impassioned letters to Stalin (F. Murray Abraham). Stalin sees one of the letters and invites Joan to Moscow. When she returns, Joan is pregnant with what may or may not be Stalin's baby and the ruler is dead. What's not dead, however, are Joan's feelings for the cause, which she tries with all her might to instill in her son -- a plan that woefully backfires.
Davis delivers a smart, funny performance, as does Abraham, Sam Neill as a double-spy, and Geoffrey Rush as Joan's husband, who feigns enthusiasm for the party to please Joan. Director Peter Duncan's script is clever and the dialogue crackles with irony. Yet when the plot turns its focus away from Joan and onto her grown son (Richard Boxburgh), the fun of Children of the Revolution eventually falls away, just like Communism. -- S.E.