Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 5, 1994 TAG: 9402050067
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: C-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Mike Mayo
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Marriages don't get off to a much rockier start than they do in "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me." Before the wedding is over, Eli (Max Parrish) and Twinkle (Sean Young) are fighting. Things get out of hand and, well . . . he sort of shoots her and steals her Porsche and a sack of cash.
On the lam, Eli winds up in the El Monte Hide-Away trailer park where his life becomes hopelessly entangled with his neighbors Sable (Andrea Naschak), a voracious topless dancer, and Danny (Adrienne Shelly), her virginal younger sister. The rest of this loose comedy wanders into several unpredictable areas, and though it's not one hundred percent successful, it's still fun. Some of the comic bits work; others don't. Many of the characters are colorful; a few are extraordinarily irritating.
Overall, give writer-director Joel Hershman credit for originality and irreverence. And he got solid performances from a motley cast, particularly Andrea Naschak, a former porn star who makes a brassy debut on legitimate video.
"Linda" is a made-for-cable thriller based on a John D. MacDonald novella. If memory serves, it's not completely faithful to MacDonald's plot, particularly in the second half where there are some major credibility lapses. But it does retain MacDonald's characters and atmosphere, and, for fans, several references to other works in John D.'s canon.
The tight plot revolves around Paul Cowley (Richard Thomas), his wife Linda (Virginia Madsen) and their new neighbors (Ted McGinley and Laura Harrington). The four of them go off for a beach vacation - the film was made in North Carolina - where things quickly turn weird and nasty.
Though the going is a bit slow at first, director Nathanial Gutman picks up the pace soon enough. The acting is fine, and again the show is stolen by the bad girl. Virginia Madsen is one of the best in the business and she really gets a lot out of this role.
Virginia Madsen also shows up in another thriller that's cast in the MacDonald mold, "Caroline at Midnight." Her appearance as a cynical drug moll is little more than a cameo, but she makes the most of it.
The mystery has to do with a reporter (Clayton Rohner) who's uncovering police corruption.
Just as his story is opening up, he gets a telephone call from an old girlfriend who died in a mysterious car crash years before. That gets him hooked up with a vicious cop (Tim Daly) and his abused wife (Mia Sara). Travis Rink's script is unusually tight and complicated, and director Scott McGinnis did a lot with a limited budget. Despite some flaws, "Caroline at Midnight" is a solid sleeper.
"Dark Tide" is essentially "Straw Dogs" in the tropics. Tim (Chris Sarandon) and Andi (Brigitte Bako) are involved in a shaky relationship. They harvest sea snakes for venom until their boat captain (Richard Tyson) falls for her. The location shooting is effective, but the film is curiously put together. The first half is sexy and romantic, but it abruptly shifts gears and becomes graphically violent and ugly. Perhaps director Luca Bercovici outraged her own feminist sensibilities and decided to make amends. In any case, the two sides of the film aren't properly balanced, making this one less than it could have been.
"Jailbait" suffers from a similar split identity. It concerns a teen-aged girl (Renee Humphrey) who runs away to the mean streets of Los Angeles, and the young vice cop (C. Thomas Howell) who tries to save her from herself. Half the story is about a poorly defined "white slave" operation. It's too ridiculous to comment on. But the film also takes a coldly realistic look at a kid's life on the streets - eating out of dumpsters, women urinating on the sidewalk. That part is meant to be frightening and it is.
The Essentials: Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me. ***
LIVE. 93 min. R-rated and unrated for sexual humor, strong language, violence, brief nudity.
Linda. ***
Paramount. 88 min. Rated PG-13 for violence, subject matter.
Caroline at Midnight. ***
New Horizons. 92 min. Rated R for violence, strong language, drug use, sexual content, nudity.
Dark Tide. **
Vidmark. 92 min. R-rated and unrated for violence, sexual content, strong language, brief nudity.
Jailbait. ** 1/2
Paramount. 103 min. R-rated and unrated for subject matter, sexual content, strong language, brief nudity, mild violence.
New Releases This Week:
In the Line of Fire: ***
Starring Clint Eastwood, Rene Russo, John Malkovich. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen. Columbia/Tristar. 123 min. Rated R for violence, strong language.
This suspense movie is so well made in almost every respect - writing, acting, characters, tension - that it rises above the level of the genre. It's a first rate Eastwood thriller about a Secret Service agent and a half mad assassin (Malkovich). The sparks really fly between those two. Despite cliches, the movie delivers.
The Real McCoy: BOMB
Starring Kim Basinger, Val Kilmer, Terrence Stamp. Directed by Russell Mulcahy. MCA/Universal. 106 min. Rated PG-13 for strong language and violence.
This slow, simple caper movie is never believable on any level. Neither the technical details of the heist itself nor the characters - particularly Basinger as the allegedly brilliant cat burglar - are remotely realistic. From the overly tricky introduction to the confusing finish, this one's a stinker.
by CNB