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HOUSTON VOICE/ MAY31. 1996 21
in n □ r"j
TAKE ONE
(Movie Reviews)
■A □ □ O DOD D'O D
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Mission: Impossible (MI) kicked off the
summer season of high-profile films
slated to be released within Ihe nexl
month. With the phenomenal success
of Twister and the record breaking opening weekend tallies of MI. this could be a
record breaking year for filmdoms
annual revenues. Amidst all the hype
regarding big films, some of ihe smaller
independent movies and foreign/art
house films get losl in the melee for media
hyperbole to become king of the box-
office. One of those films is Nobody Loves
Me (German), a somewhat complex
slice of life dramedy that is certainly
unique. Both films exemplify the
strengths and weakness of their genre.
Looking For Love In All The
Wrong Places
Nobody Loves Me. a box-office hit in Germany will have it's Houston run, for one
week only, exclusively at ihe Landmark
Greenway Theatre. The film can best be
described as a black comedy. Maria Schrader portrays Fanny Fink, a 29 year old
woman who is obsessed with the notion that
if she does not find a husband before she's
thirty, she is more likely to gel hit by an
Aiom bomb. An airport security belt
operator, Fanny's job is frisking passengers as they travel.
Enter Orfeo de Altamar (Pierre San-
oussi-Bliss), a man covered in body paint
whom Fanny gets sluck on ihe elevator
with. Turns out Orfeo is a psychic and
palm reader who happens to moonlight as
a drag queen at a local gay bar. Orfeo is dating the local anchorman of ihe evening
news, One evening Fanny visits Orfeo to
determine her fate with men. Orfeo
informs thai she will meel someone special, but she must initiate the affair successfully because this is her last chance.
Orfeo describes ihe man m detail and says
n will relate somehow io (he number 23.
Meanwhile, a new building manager
arrives that matches Orfeo's description.
Fanny, of course, believes she musi do
everything and anything to succeed,
noi realizing lhat her efforts will most
likely have the opposite effect. The
building manager Loihar (Michael von
Au) is a heartless womanizer who has
managed io abduci all of the pets in the
building and brought them to the pound
because the leases stipulated no pels
allowed. Lothar also can't sleep alone
and has a harem of woman available to
sleep with him. Fanny goes to extraordinary lengths to appeal io ihis man including driving her car head on into his so that
she could end up lending him her car.
Finally, she just seduces him. Had she just
done thai in ihe beginning, il would have
saved her and us a considerable amount
of lime. Subsequently, Fanny—who
wants to surprise Lothar. dons a negligee, gets in the trunk of her car wilh bottle
of wine in tow and waits for him to go on his
daily drive lo a secluded area for relaxation. Prediclably. Fanny is the one who
gets the surprise of her life.
The problem with ihis film is thai ii makes
a mockery of women. The notion that a
woman can't get through life without a
man is prevalent in throughout the
movie. Il denigrates plausibility and
perpeluaies stereotypes. The film
does manage to convey some thought
provoking messages about love and
death. Throughout ihe film, Fanny is
enrolled in a class on how io die, not a suicide class, rather a class on Ihe preparation process for death. Fanny's mother is
[here for comic fodder. She writes novels and goes into tailspins when she comes
across negative reviews. The scenes
wilh Fanny and her mother are hilariously absurd, and very funny.
Fanny's friendship with Orfeo is the
core of Ihis film. Orfeo's anchorman
lover has left him for another man, Lothar
has evicted him because his rent is in
arrears, and he is dying. Orfeo is not dying
of AIDS, he is from another world and is
nearing for his departure to return. In
order to return, he must die first. Fanny
nurses and lakes care of Orfeo until his
death. Their friendship was as intimate
as any relationship between two people
could be wiihoul sex. Finally, Fanny
realizes something the audience knew
from ihe beginning. You can'l go looking for love, il will happen in due lime.
Nobody Loves Me is a complex and whimsical film that manages to frustrate and
enlighien you at the same time. At times
poignant, this ** film is a mixed bag of pop
psychology.
Mission: Impossible
Offe rs Unbelievable
Escapist Fun
Predictability is certainly not one of
Mission: Impossibles strong points.
The heavy plol iwists in this thriller border credibility. The movie opens with a
bang and manages to entertain throughout, despite some unbelievable scenes.
Tom Cruise is in fine shape in this, his latest blockbuster. Ml has a stellar casi.
including Emilio Estevez, Ion Voighl
and Vanessa Redgrave among others.
Redgrave is this films strongest point.
Her portrayal of Max. one of ihe movies
villains is brilliant. Redgrave is one of
the best actresses, if not the best, of our
generation. Redgrave's performance as the conniving, manipulative
and menacing Max is convincing.
chilling and devilishly delightful
Mission: Impossible is a fun movie.
The plot is thin, unbelievable and
somewhat ludicrous, yet the movie manages to move along ai rapid pace with its
special effects and stunts extraodin-
aire. Ii would be easy for a critic to tear this
movie aparl. but we would somehow be
missing the point. Some films are meant to
be pure escapist fun. Realism has nothing io do with it. The audience wants io be
taken on a thrilling exciting ride. This
film delivers the goods. There is a scene in
the film where Cruise and company have
lo break inlo CIA headquarters. While
the film manages to make Ihe task of infiltrating Ihe CIA seem relatively simple, it is the films most suspensful scene.
Another plus is ihe many plol twists that
titillate you and keep you guessing until
the end.
Mission: Impossible is a *** film that is
presold, has a great cast, and promises to
be one of the years biggest hits. Besides.
il has Tom Cruise, who seems to have been
working out lately. Ai any rale, ii is a fun
ride as long as you don'l lake il seriously.
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