tas@ariel.UUCP (06/27/83)
Trading Places had some funny bits, but it didn't live up to my expectations. Aykroyd's Ivy League mannerisms quickly became tedious, and Murphy just seemed to mug his way through half of his scenes. The plot had "formula" written all over it: you just *knew* that it would have an obligatory drunk scene, an obligatory costume scene, etc. But, at the same time, it didn't know what it was about: it went to great lengths to show how boorish and silly uppercrust types were, then gave us an "aah, this is the life" ending. All in all, probably worth seeing if you're into light comedy and/or Aykroyd/Murphy, but not the start of a new golden age of comedy. By the way, where have I seen Denholm Elliot (the butler) before? Twilight Zone had four distinct episodes, and the quality varied considerably from one to the next. The first, with Vic Morrow learning some lessons about bigotry, was dreadful. This ain't 1960 no more: we're ready to hear about some of the evils of prejudice that are a little more subtle than the Klan and the Nazis. (And to old COMBAT! fans: it's depressing to see Sarge playing the wimpy dude with a bunch of Krauts.) The second episode, about some old folks learning how to be young again, was nice, but also dated. One wonders why it is that movie producers think that transferring something from television to the movies somehow makes it better. T.Z. perhaps is better as faded memories and midnight reruns: the innocence of 20 years ago cannot easily be recaptured, and repackaging it as something new may only put a bad taste into our mouths (and that's kind of the point of the second story, too). The third and fourth episodes, about a boy with an eerie power over his family and about a man with a possibly irrational fear of flying, respectively, were quite good, well directed and acted. Having William Schallert of the old Patty Duke Show was a nice touch in the family story. Decent rabbit, too. The ending of the flying story was a little corny, but in the T.Z. tradition. $8.00 poorer once again, Tom Skrobala ariel!tas
pennie@uicsl.UUCP (07/12/83)
#R:ariel:-37800:uicsl:7600010:000:327
uicsl!pennie Jul 11 22:15:00 1983
You might have seen Denholm Elliott in 1982's BRIMSTONE AND TREACLE. It was a
British film which also starred the lead singer of the rock group the Police.
Perhaps you have heard of Sting?
D.K.
University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign