Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 18, 1992 TAG: 9201180311
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
`GRAND CANYON' LEAVES YOU WITH WELL-REWARDED FEELING
Like "The Big Chill," Lawrence Kasdan's "Grand Canyon" is an ensemble film about friendship. But that's as far as the similarities go. This is a more ambitious film and, in the end, much more successful.It's a story of social differences, loneliness, change, despair and genuine optimism. Despite the violence and anger that he sees around him, Kasdan finds reasons to be hopeful.
The film begins with two basketball games, a pick-up game in a public park and a Lakers game in the Los Angeles Forum. In that opening, "Magic" Johnson provides an eerily prescient symbol of the social concerns that are about to be explored.
Also in that first scene, Kasdan establishes his deliberate, dreamlike pace. At key moments he uses slight slow motion to give everyday events a sense of heightened reality.
After the game, Mack (Kevin Kline), a fortysomething lawyer, gets lost in a rough neighborhood. Then his car breaks down. He's having a bad time with a carload of tough black teen-agers when Simon (Danny Glover) arrives with his tow truck. That's the beginning of an unlikely friendship that affects their families.
There's Simon's sister (Tina Lifford) and her kids who can find no escape from the gang violence around them. Mack's wife, Clair, (Mary McDonnell) is having trouble facing her soon-to-be empty nest when she finds a baby. Mack is considering an affair with his young secretary Dee (Mary-Louise Parker), and winds up arranging a date between her friend Jane (Alfre Woodard) and Simon.
At the same time, Mack's friend Davis (Steve Martin), a producer of violent exploitation films, finds out what real violence is all about.
The script by producer/director Kasdan and his wife, Meg, moves easily among these characters. Though there's not that much physical action in the film, it seems quickly paced because it's so unpredictable. Yes, it is talky, but these characters are saying interesting things. And the Kasdans have a sense of humor; the preachy moments aren't meant to be taken seriously.
Still, "Grand Canyon" won't appeal to everyone. It's so unusual that some viewers will be put off. Those who go into it looking for something substantial and out of the ordinary will be well rewarded. `Grand Canyon': 1/2 A 20th Century Fox release playing at the Tanglewood Mall 134 min. Rated R for strong language, violence, brief nudity.