TELLING LIES IN AMERICA. Here’s a surprise. Joe Eszterhas, the writer who inflicted ““Showgirls’’ and ““Basic Instinct’’ upon the world, redeems himself with this autobiographical tale of Hungarian-born teenager Karchy Jonas (Brad Renfro) struggling to decode the American way of life in early-’60s Cleveland. His mentor in mendacity is a slick, corrupt deejay named Billy Magic, a cynical hipster played to sleazy perfection by Kevin Bacon. While the elements in this coming-of-age saga may seem familiar–losing one’s virginity to a doo-wop beat, payola in the music biz–Eszterhas brings a fresh, immigrant’s-eye perspective to his tale. Sensitively directed by Guy Ferland, it features fine turns by Calista Flockhart as the grave, working-class girl Karchy desires and Maximilian Schell as Karchy’s father. ““Telling Lies’’ tells bittersweet truths about the moral cost of success in America.
title: “Film Clips” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-12” author: “Jennifer Butler”
THE JACKAL Bruce Willis tries on a lot of wigs playing the chameleon-like assassin known as the Jackal. Richard Gere tries on an Irish accent as the imprisoned terrorist cajoled by the FBI into helping it track down this nefarious killer before the Jackal bumps off a government bigwig. (Gere, you see, is the only one who knows what makes the guy tick. Heard that one before?) Though both stars have had better days, it’s not their fault that this loose remake of 1973’s ““The Day of the Jackal’’ is so unpardonably dull. Credit that to a script by Chuck Pfarrer that is at best generic and at worst nonsensical. Sidney Poitier as an FBI director and Diane Venora as a tough Russian cop do their best to liven things up, but the usually reliable director Michael Caton-Jones (““Scandal,’’ ““This Boy’s Life’’) hasn’t a clue how to freshen up such stale material. If you bite your fingernails, it will only be from boredom.
title: “Film Clips” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-11” author: “Mark Dettloff”
That’s typical of Joss Whedon’s tersely tongue-in-cheek script, which wisely doesn’t ask us to take anything too seriously. You really don’t need to be told the plot, other than to say that once again all yucky hell breaks loose in space. Among the potential alien hors d’oeuvres are Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman and Dan Hedaya. If this is your cup of slime, this jauntily gruesome installment won’t disappoint.
FLUBBER Phillip Brainard (Robin Williams) is a hapless professor who’s so obsessed with his inventions that he keeps forgetting to show up at his own wedding. Then he creates a hyperkinetic rubber called flubber and suddenly he’s thwarting villains, winning basketball games and saving his rinky-dinky college, as well as his love life. Les Mayfield’s ““Flubber’’–a remake of 1961’s ““The Absent-Minded Professor’’–is a cute, well-meaning, but ultimately disappointing movie. Williams, an enormously busy actor these days, seems tired here–and so does a lot of the slapstick. Having said all that, children will likely find the goo irresistible as it ricochets and mambos. If only the movie itself had so much spunk–““Flubber’’ bounces but it never flies.
