Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 8, 1992 TAG: 9202080337
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
`MEDICINE MAN'S' STRONGEST FEATURE IS SEAN CONNERY
If nothing else, "Medicine Man" will qualify Sean Connery as the poster guy of the New Age, Iron John '90s.He plays Dr. Robert Campbell, a scientist who looks good in a gray ponytail. Who hangs out in the Brazilian rain forest dancing around a campfire in a bird suit. Who can draw well. And, oh, who finds the cure for cancer. Give him a goatskin drum and a 50-pound quartz crystal.
"Medicine Man," directed by John McTiernan from a screenplay by Tom Schulman and Sally Robinson, treats important issues superficially. No one except the developers involved can make a case for the wanton destruction of the rain forests and the displacement of their inhabitants.
But the story here takes the salvation of the lush wilderness where Dr. Campbell lives down to the 24-hour recovery of a lost cancer-cure formula. It's connect-the-dots plotting, the kind of calculated suspense that McTiernan brought to "Die Hard" and "The Hunt for Red October."
As the movie begins, Dr. Rae Crane (Lorraine Bracco) finds her way to Dr. Campbell's jungle lab. She works for the research institute that funds him and is sent to the jungle to decide whether he should continue his botanical research. For some reason, Campbell has not made those who support him aware of the nature of his work. You're not supposed to think about this. Nor are you supposed to wonder why there are English subtitles for Indians who speak English.
Crane also is supposed to work as Campbell's research assistant. And, of course, she's destined to fall in love with Campbell, whose wife left him more than three years before Dr. Crane arrives. This is one of those boy meets girl, boy and girl don't like each other, boy and girl fall in love stories.
The first half of the movie is kind of fun in a predictable, comfortable way. The scenery is great and Connery is in top form as the intelligent, ironic and cantankerous scientist. If movies gave out Most Valuable Player awards, Connery no doubt would hold the record.
Bracco is another matter. She begins by overacting, and it just intensifies as the picture progresses. Talk about chewing up the scenery. And believe me, there's a lot of scenery to chew up in a Brazilian rain forest.
`Medicine Man': ** A Cinergi release at Salem Valley 8 (389-0444) and Valley View Mall 6. Rated PG-13 for violence, nudity and language; 110 minutes.