Wednesday, April 1, 1987
Daily Nebraskan
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Unfunny script smothers the talent of Goldberg, Goldthwait
By Kevin Cowan
Staff Reviewer
I
t appears that the comerjydrama
narrative has nudged itself into
commercialized American cellu
loid. This newborn genre relies on
the comic attributes of one or more
"big names" and hopes that the
drama will carry its own weight.
"Burglar" is a weak attempt at
capturing this latest fashion. The
film could have pulled it off if the
dialogue had been up to par. As it
turns out, screenwriter Joseph Loeb
III and director Hugh Wilson throw
the main characters into a film full
of wooden and irrelevant dialogue
laden with fully worn-out cliches.
Movie Review
Unironically, the film places
Whoopi Goldberg (the burglar) and
Bob Goldthwait (Goldberg's irregu
lar cronie, of "Police Academy"
fame) into a typical West Coast set
ting trying to pass Goldberg off as a
cat burglar with a Robin Hood code
of ethics. The saintly thief gets
caught up in a load of murder and
counterfeit hoopla, forcing her to
turn detective.
The stage is set; the San Fran
cisco police force is working "dou
ble time" to try to apprehend the
would-be murderess at the same
time that she is looking for the real
killer. . .Of course, she's too quick
for the stereotypically dumbfounded
police force. I think the smart cop
dumb cop characters are due for a
much-needed rest. Although setting
the skeleton structure of this genre
aside wouldn't hurt either.
Goldberg and Goldthwait are,
oddly enough, comedians by trade.
Both have shown proficiency at pul
ling anything from a snicker to an
all-out belly laugh from their respec
tive audiences; Goldberg has also
shown the ability to pull tears, as
well as laughter, in her recent stage
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Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Whoopie Goldberg and director Hugh Vilson on the set of
"Burglar."
efforts.
The fatal flaw is that Loeb and
Wilson give her only a few scenes in
which she can put forth the comedic
babble that makes her funny. The
rest of the film is Goldberg's flip
side version of Eddie Murphy.
Out of context
Goldthwait's character, on the
other hand, is out of context. He's
shown one and only one character
since his exposure to public appeal.
While the half-retarded nerdloonie
portrayed by Goldthwait is seriously
humorous, the character cannot be
relied on to support a full-blown
dramacomedy. Again, Goldthwait
is only allowed to unleash his mono
logue in a couple of scenes. Thus,
since he is not really an actor but
the film relies on him as a co-star,
the comedy arrives with too little
frequency to yank the laughter from
the sedated audience.
Wilson tries to pad the cast with
big fish in an apparent effort to hide
the beastly dialogue. He gets a
seemingly out-of-work Lesley Ann
Warren to play the co-heavy. Warren
plays a greedy dentist who accepts
"tax-free" cash from Hispanic resi
dents for mediocre dental work. She
too appears as her normal character
of the bitch, coaxing Goldberg into
lifting the proverbial jewels from
her ex-husband. She is a potential
suspect in this whodunit, though
not a terribly convincing one. Her
snotty and whining monologue is
unnecessary and probably could have
been written out.
A happy ending
Fear not, however. As with every
American story, there is a happy
ending. And after paragraph after
paragraph of bad there has to be a
bit of good.
The good, in this case, is that the
film has its moments. And those
moments, though scarce, are truly
laughable. The point remains that
Goldberg and Goldthwait, given full
bridle, act as a powerful comic duo.
So if in throes of comedy with
drawal the need to laugh pay
two bucks and get a chuckle.
"Burglar" is playing at the
Plaza 4.
'Platoon, 'Newman win top Oscars
LOS ANGELES "Platoon," a grim
film about the brutalizing effects of the
Vietnam War, won top honors Monday
at Hollywood's glamour-filled 59th
annual Academy Awards, while Paul
Newman was a sentimental choice to
claim his first acting Oscar.
More than 300 diehard fans had
gathered outside the Music Center by
dawn to cheer their favorite stars when
they arrived later for the nationally
televised show, whose hosts this year
were Paul Hogan, Goldie Hawn and
Chevy Chase.
Early arrivals were in a festive mood,
despite the overnight ordeal in sleeping
bags. The most enthusiastic was Denise
Pfeiffer, 25, of Edison, NJ., who was the
first to establish her position Thurs
day morning. Why did she come so far
to witness the Oscar hoopla?
"Because I heard Tom Cruise was
going to be a presenter," she said.
"They lied. But I'm glad I came anyway.
Especially since I will see William
Shatner and Leonard Nimoy."
'Platoon" won best picture. A
placard promoted James Woods as best
actor for his role in "Salvador." One
maverick fan suggested evangelist Oral
Roberts for "Best Actor."
Oscars
"Platoon's" competition for best
picture of 1986 was Woody Allen's
"Hannah and Her Sisters," "A Room
With a View," "The Mission" and
"Children of a Lesser God."
Oliver Stone has already won the
Director's Guild prize for "Platoon,"
and that is almost always a precursor of
the Oscar for best director. Stone won
for "Best Director."
Newman, who received his seventh
nomination this year for "The Color of
Money," won a special Oscar last year
for his career achievements. He was
one of the few top nominees who did
not plan to attend the ceremonies. He
won for "Best Actor."
Other winners include:
O Marlee Martin, awarded the "Best
Actress" Oscar for her performance in
"Children of a Lesser God."
O Dianne Wiest, awarded the "Best
Supporting Actress" Oscar for her per
formance in "Hannah and Her Sisters."
O Michael Caine, awarded the "Best
Supporting Actor" Oscar for "Hannah
and Her Sisters."
O "The Assault," a film from the
Netherlands, won an Oscar for "Best
Foreign Film."
O "Take My Breath Away" won for
"Best Song from a Film."
O Steven Spielberg won the Irving
Thalberg Oscar for his significant con
tribution to the fijm industry in the
past few years.
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in the April 2 and 3
Daily Nebraskan
UNL Division of Continuing Studies
1987 Surnmor lending
Couroo Prcgrcm Licking
Pick up the Daily Nebraskan Thursday or Friday
or call at 472-6255 for more information.
Austin's Wild Seeds
play progressive roots
By Stew Magnuson
Senior Reporter
Three or four years ago, American
music started returning to its roots;
Maybe because it had nowhere else to
go. That's a frightening and depressing
thought. But the movement is also an
exciting rediscovery of roots music by a
new generation of music fans, too
young to remember where the noise
coming from their Walkmans came
from.
Concert Preview
The problem is: How do we keep the
music progressive?
The Wild Seeds, playing tonight at
the Zoo Bar, are walking the tightrope
between their roots and the "cutting
edge." After a few listens to their latest
LP, "Brave, Clean, and Reverent," on
Jungle Records, I still can't figure out
which direction the band is going. All I
know is that I love the album. It's not
good to question things you love, just
accept them for what they are.
The Mid Seeds come from Austin,
Texas. So what, you might say, so does
everyone and their brother (the Vau
ghns, for example).
Being from Austin is becoming both
a blessing and a curse, Michael Hall,
lead singer-songwriter-guitarist, said
in a phone interview.
"Even whole bands are moving to
Austin now," Hall said. "The competi
tion is fierce. There aren't as many
clubs for a town of 500,000. Unless
you're the T-Birds or Timbuk 3, it's get
ting hard to scrape together a crowd
it's getting harder, to rise above the
pack.
Hall is also afraid of an Athens
backlash hitting Austin.
"For a while all the bands were
coming out of Athens, Ga., until every
one got tired of hearing about it. They
might say, let's give other places a
chance, like Lincoln, for example."
The Wild Seeds seem to combine
Athens' ear for progression with Austin's
ear for the best of the past. Whatever
the music is made of, it's still rock 'n'
roll. Songs like "Sharlene" and "I Work
Hard" are bouncy dance numbers with
mean sax solos. The highlight of the
album is the haunting "Heaven Bound,"
which tells the story of a poor family in
turmoil after the mother gives birth to
twins and dies. The narrator watches
his father under pressure to sell the
twins for adoption to a "rich man." The
whole scene takes place in a train
station.
4I was just over
come by the story.
It shows the truth
is stranger than
fiction.'
Hall
It's a true story, Hall said. The band
played in St. Louis and visited a re
novated train station. A local paper had
asked for people's memories of the sta-t
tion and had them displayed inside.
"I was just overcome by the story,"
Hall said, "It shows that truth is
stranger than fiction."
If you want to find out where Ameri
can music is going and where it's been
at the same time, the Wild Seeds play
tonight at the Zoo. Cover is $3 and the
show starts at 9 p.m.
ST. GEORGE'S UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
GRENADA
ST. VINCENT
Affiliated Hospitals in
New York Stale
New Jersey
United Kingdom
Approved February 4, 1987 by the New York Stale Education Department for the
purpose of conducting a clinical clerkship program in New York teaching hospitals.
St. George's received a similar approval in 1985 from the New Jersey Board of
Medical Examiners; this establishes St. George's as the only foreign medical school
with instruction in English that has state-approved campuses in both New York
and New Jersey.
Over 700 students have transferred to U.S. medical schools. St. George's has
graduated over 1,000 physicians:
They are licensed in 39 states;
They hold faculty positions in 20 U.S. medical schools 25 have been Chief
Residents in 119 U.S. hospitals (according to a 1986 survey).
St. George's is entering its second decade of medical education. In the first decade,
we were cited by The Journal of the American Medical Association (January 1985)
as ranking number one of all major foreign medical schools in the initial pass rate
on the ECFMG exam.
St. George's is one of the few foreign medical schools whose students qualify for
Guaranteed Student Loans. Our students also qualify for the PLUS ALAS loans
and, under certain conditions, VA loans. St. George's grants a limited number of
loans and scholarships to entering students.
For information
please contact
the Office of
Admissions
St. George's University School of Medicine 326
co The Foreign Medical School Services Corporation
One East Main Street Bay Shore, New York 11706
(516) 665-8500
nooRran
FOR WOMEN AND MEN
1219 Q STREET 477-0405
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