moonspinner55

Two-part miniseries for television starring Shirley MacLaine is an extremely talky dramatization of her late-1970s spiritual awakening chronicled in her 1983 autobiography "Out on a Limb" (in essence, it's Shirley recreating the past while playing herself). While having an affair with a married British socialist in line to become the next Prime Minister of England, Shirley--always one to question the universe and her place in it--delves into the Indian philosophy of karma and reincarnation. Meeting a mysterious young artist (for the second time, as it turns out) in Malibu, MacLaine eventually finds herself high above Peru in the Andes, where her companion has seen a 'flying disc" and believes his spirit guide is an alien female who has instructed him to relay all his metaphysical knowledge to Shirley MacLaine "because she writes". Actors know it's very difficult to play yourself on-screen, but MacLaine does a pretty good job of it here; she's perhaps more unaffected about her life and career than an actress of her caliber would be, but she's likably open-minded with a spontaneous-seeming personality. This well-made, globe-trotting production, directed by Robert Butler and adapted by MacLaine and Colin Higgins (who also co-produced), opens with the affair, which is the weakest part of Shirley's story (she tells us early on that this relationship would act as a connection to the following events which take place; however, since her lover is a non-believer, he just seems like a very rude abstraction). MacLaine's high-powered persona is often sugarcoated, sometimes for an unintentionally amusing, noodle-headed affect (when she's told at one point that happiness lies in her own backyard, Shirley takes the metaphor literally and laments, "My backyard is the Pacific Ocean!"). Her journey is a heartfelt one, and the mediums, psychics and channelers she encounters along the way are often interesting, but it's doubtful many lives will be changed by Shirley's incredible adventure. It's a very personal jaunt--as self-awareness stories usually are--but, as MacLaine claims, she's "not a teacher", she's "a learner", and what the actress has to tell us is only about the Self. The rest of us are gawkers at the gate. Three Emmy nominations: Outstanding Special, also for editing and sound mixing. **1/2 from ****

Ragtag comedy from flailing writer-director Buck Henry has President Bob Newhart, First Lady Madeline Kahn and First Daughter Gilda Radner inhabiting the White House. Sample 'funny' dialogue: "I wish Dad were a streetcar conductor or something!" .. "Millions of people do, dear, but he's not." Eccentric staff more amusing than the star trio, though after about 30mns everyone's jokes become increasingly desperate. Lensed by cinematographer Fred J. Koenekamp as if he were shooting a Burger King commercial. * from ****

Director Sidney Lumet received critical raves for what would turn out to be his swan song--unfortunately, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" is pitched way over-the top, and is illogical and anticlimactic when it's not downright ridiculous. Two brothers in New York, both floundering financially, conspire to have the family jewelry store robbed. Lumet gives us the robbery right up front, but then goes into flashback mode (two of them, to provide "background"). If this isn't enough of a nuisance, Kelly Masterson's F-bomb heavy screenplay then sends everything spinning by bringing up predicaments and characters that are not dealt with satisfactorily. As the father of the brothers, poor Albert Finney spends most of the third act following the two men all around New York City in his car (and always finding a convenient parking spot!). It's Lumet who must be blamed for much of this mess, particularly a climax that would have most certainly been called a cop-out by the critics if anyone else had directed the picture. The cast including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei and Michael Shannon is a good one...but I don't know which was more disturbing: the violent jewelry store robbery (in which the boys' elderly mother is shot) or the sex scene between struggling marrieds Hoffman and Tomei that opens the film. Carter Burwell composed the highly derivative score. AFI named the picture Movie of the Year (!), stating in part, "This is is a film that races with the pulse of a young filmmaker, but is constructed with the depth and maturity of an American master at the top of his game." *1/2 from ****