Courtesyof MgM Pictures Renee Witherspoon and Jason London star in “The Man in the Moon,” a coming-of-age drama about teenage love. Movie overrates first love “The Man in the Moon” Mark Baldridge Staff Reporter What’s the biggest problem with “Romeo and Juliet”? Its biggest problem is that the ‘‘undying love” of two kids who hardly know each other is not really all that impor tant. Give them a day or two to gether and they’ll find reasons to hate one another. “The Man in the Moon” (Cin ema Twin) has the same problem. It tries to solve it in the same way, too: In order for the story to seem as important to adults as it does to the kids involved, someone has to die. ueam, u appears, is signmcani at any age. “Romeo and Juliet” has some pretty good writing going for it. “The Man in the Moon” doesn ’ t. What it does have is a lot of stuff happening at once. In one film you get first kiss, first love (three dif ferent times), first sexual experi ence, birth and death — the last three within in a couple of days. Sound exciting? It is. But it’s a little much. The movie offers high-quality performances and realistic, com plex family relationships. When it strays from that, it strays too far. The story follows the sexual awakening of Dani, a 14-year-old girl. She develops a crush on the new boy in town, Court, who’s 17. It seems inevitable that Court will, in turn, fall for Dani’s older sister, Maureen. He docs, in a scene full of goggle eyes and “love at first sight” glances. Dani is dis gusted, as we are. Anyone who’s had a friend (and Dani and Maureen have been friends till now) muscle in on his or her romantic territory will recognize immediately the feelings involved. suddenly everyone seems tar too happy. And it’s as if they pur chase their bliss at Dani’s expense. Court treats her as if she’s done something wrong, Maureen just acts guilty. It’s a terrible way to spend a summer. And maybe it’s not so great a way to spend two hours in the dark either. The setting is the indeterminate South of the 1950s. It’s hard to tell if we’re supposed to be in East Texas or somewhere in Georgia. Everyone talks with a different land of accent. Maybe they come from all over. There are all kinds of sub-plots going on — too many. There’s an awful lot of suppressed sex too, which is all right except it doesn’t explain how anything like “true love” could develop in this envi ronment. This film makes the familiar mistake of believing that because first love seems so pure and so life altering, it really is. But isn’t it hue, and don’t we all know, that love is rare? That it never “just happens?” Soapdish Continued from Page 12 romance he’s ever had. Ally Sheedy is the love interest, a creative mortu ary cosmetician. As appealing as Candy is, the real attraction of this film is Maureen O’Hara’s return to the big screen. She’s a scene stealer as Candy’s Irish mother, who wants nothing more than to keep her boy tied to her apron strings. Mama has a love interest of her own in Anthony Quinn, although it’s an uphill battle for him. “Only the Lonely” was produced by John Hughes, the creator of previ ous Candy vehicles “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”and “Uncle Buck.” As is typical in Hughes’ films, the setting is Chicago. James Belushi makes a cameo appearance. (Avail able tomorrow) “Toy Soldiers” (R) It’s odd that this week’s only film about teenagers is rated R, mostly for its violence. Similar to “Taps,” this one takes place in a military academy. The “Toy Soldiers” are students at the academy, whose school is taken over by terrorists. Louis Gossett Jr. is again in uni form as the headmaster. The toy sol diers include “Star Trek: The Next Generation’s” Wil Wheaton and teen heartthrobs Sean Astin and Keith Coogan. (Available tomorrow) jj u Selective Service Registration. .kb it's Quick. It's Easy. Ana It's The Law. U2 reverts to passions that captured college fans limy -M i Courtesy of Island Records “Achtung Baby” U2 Island Records On “Under A Blood Red Sky,” an aural postcard from their 1983 North American tour, it was evident that the Irish rock band U2 was on the verge of something big. Selling out arenas across the con tinent, U2 created a buzz of excite ment for its passionate music and the amazing release it provided band and fan alike. On that album, vocalist Bono would often scat and shout out, “One! Two! All right! Here we go!” during inap propriate times, countering against the cool detachment that was concert protocol during the 1980s. Somehow, the idea of these guys not really caring if they came off a bit uncool endeared them to audiences. At least 10 million people felt that way, and U2 is now one of the biggest bands on Earth. Along the way, this band has al ienated almost as many fans as they’ve won over, and for hard reasons: They were college darlings. It’s true that when something secret and personal is revealed to the world, it becomes less wonderful, and that’s what U2 experienced in the late 1980s. Longtime fans felt that U2 had Marines Tie few TktPnmL TbtHarme*. FOR OFFICER OPPORTUNITIES . CALL 1ST LT. DASILVA (402) 21-3400 become a parody of themselves, ca tering to what the world wanted in stead of following its own vision. In actuality, Bono, bassist Adam Clayton, guitarist Edge and drummer Larry Mullen pursued their collective passion all across the musical map. They found success, keeping a reluc tant eye on what their fans wanted — a difficult but inevitable passage. With “Achtung Baby,” they delib erately have relumed to the bleak, wintry imagery of their watershed LP, “War.” It’s a welcome change from their excellent but overtly Mes sianic records of late, where they danced dangerously close to the flame of self-righteousness. Instead of passionate, anthemic exercises in signature sound, U2 has opted for deeply personal, often twisted songs that purposefully undermine the mighty band-with-a-vision im age. \ . In particular, tracks like “Light My Way” and “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” use soaring melo dies subdued to restrict the majestic levels normally found in U2 songs. It is a relief that they can be humble in their instrumentation, and the songs still work beautifully. We now have Bono’s angelic, wounded-sounding voice floating about while Edge, Clayton and Mul len jam away like ex-Parliament Funkadelic members. A very telling song is the calm, steady “Ultraviolet (Light My Way),” one of the best love songs of the bunch. The song’s idea of a sensual, un seen force as a guide to salvation expressed with such happy resigna tion suggests both hope and hopeless ness. Much like the enigmatic band that wrote the song. U2 hasn’t found what it’s looking for. Still. But may they always be so happily, assuredly lost in their search. — Paul Winner NelSraSkan The Daily Nebraskan will hire next semester's staff report ers, artists, photographers and copy editors beginning Dec. 2. All staff positions are paid. Experience is preferred but not necessary. Applicants need not be journalism majors but must i be students taking at least six hours next semester. Pick up an application and sign up for an interview Dec. 2 in the Daily Nebraskan office, room 34 of the Nebraska Union. Positions will be posted by Dec. 13. UNL does no! discriminate in its academic, admissions or employment programs and abides by all federal regulations pertaining to same. 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