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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 2000)
‘Gossip’ leads to disappointing, unconvincing end By Samuel McKewon Senior editor “Gossip” is a fairly iultelligent movie until the last three minutes, when it figures it’d be cool to tack on “The Usual Suspects” ending and make the whole proceeding one big trick. How clever! How stupid. What, exactly, was director Davis Guggenheim intending to accom plish with the ending? I know what particular series of scenes it spawns from, or, at least, I hope I do. Because there is a stilted mono logue right at the beginning from the main character, Jones (Lena Headley), and because the end is so insipid I cannot be sure if this is where the charade begins or if it begins in its more logical place: after a series of important discoveries are made. If the whole movie is meant as a sleight of hand, screw it. I couldn’t handle the idea that 40 minutes of reasonable suspense was for the sake of tricky fabrication. I’m going to operate on the premise that it did not. Even so, the ending is a joke, both literally and figuratively, one ■j' ' ^1^1^___ 1 254 Wings Tap Beer at Happ) lour Prices * All Nignt Long! g Monday - Tuesday Nights a E6:30 pm to 11:30 pm ^ 70th & A Street * 483-7855 ^ ASSIST rTOTHffg MEDICAL ■■■■^RESEARCH B^^H EARN UP TO $1,510 Call 474-PAYS that serves no purpose for anyone outside the writer, director and actors. Sorta like reading an author who writes about lying while he or she lies. What’s the point, really? It all starts clear enough, as loft mates Jones, Derrick (James Marsden) and Travis (Norman Reedus) hatch a plan to start a nasty rumor for research in a class. The rumor involves the chaste Naomi Preston (Kate Hudson) and whether or not she had sex with her beau, Beau (Joshua Jackson, acting like a matinee idol). Jones begins to balk at the rumor once it gets construed into date rape. But Derrick, a real charmer of a rich boy, wants it to grow without bounds. And grow it will, until Naomi heads off the police to report a crime no one committed. It’s about then that Jones uncov ers a connection between Derrick and Naomi that may shed light on why the rumor continues to spread and why it has evolved into rape. These developments I accept, and the performances have enough to them for “Gossip” to carry some weight. Marsden works the juicy role of a pretty boy capable of talking himself in and out of trouble, while Hudson, the daughter of Goldie Hawn, finally gets a role where her porcelain look can stand for some thing. Do not expect to see the mop headed Headley in any more glam our roles; she’s more Helen Mirren than Helena Bonham Carter with zero sex appeal. Still, her perform ance gets to the ethical pulp of the story before it turns into an unworthy creation. ^Gossip STARS: Lena Headly, James Marsden, Kate Hudson, Norman Reedus DIRECTOR: Davis Guggenheim RATING: R (language) GRADE: C FIVE WORDS: Cheap ending to first degree. The problem is this: “Gossip,” or at least its ending, plays upon the assumption that we greatly dislike one character and hold the others up as icons, thereby making the finale a due justice we’ve all been waiting for, which simply doesn’t happen. Even worse, by keeping in doubt what we ought to know (a bedroom confession is handled ridiculously), the movie has essentially undersold its whole game. Wouldn’t it have been better to exact actual consequences? Are the consequences that one character suf fers anywhere near what he or she has already suffered? “Gossip” is constructed to elicit a confession for a crime for which this character has already been punished, at least as much the character ever will be punished. The movie doesn’t even have the gumption to enact legal recourse. Is that why I thought the loser still won? Maybe. For all its moraliz ing, “Gossip” would rather we take pleasure in a smarmy battle of egos than face a reality that tells us people have been scarred by this action. What a cheap way to discard a seri ous story line. Log on to start/stop your electric service and you could win a $50 gift certificate. Before you head home for the summer or move within Lincoln, you need to start or stop your electric service. Every stu dent that starts/stops service on our website from April 19-May 7, will have their name put into a drawing for one of six $50 gift certificates to the Nebraska Bookstore and University Bookstore. Just go to our web site at www.les.com, click on the Starting & Stopping Service light, go to the "I'm a student and I'm moving" section, click the appropriate option for you, fill out the simple form, submit it, and you're done. LINCOLN ELECTRIC SYSTEM wMrw.les.com To be eligible for the drawing, entrants must be students who use the LES web service for stop ping/starting service between April 19 and May 7, 2000. Landlords, realtors, title companies, and apartment managers are not eligible. Winners will be drawn on May a 2000, and notified via mail.