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
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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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