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Show Hitmen dance a deadly tango in 'Prizzi' m e . i . i i r . e 4.1 i . Km ihIiapa Va loam. Video Views by Rick Brough and Robin Moench many oj ine jums you nave reaa about in the Quickies movie reviews now are available for home viewing on video cassettes. To refresh your memory of those movies. Record entertainment writers Rick Brough and Robin Moench have recycled their capsule summaries and list some current video offerings below. Prizzi's Honor Black comedy usually plays with death and horror, without ever letting it have the last word. "But why shouldn't it?" said director John Huston. The result is "Prizzi s Honor." The movie suggests that just because two people are ruthless killers, that doesn't mean they can't go in for some ail-American wooine. Charley Partanna (Jack Nicholson is smitten with California professional Irene Walker (Kathleen Turner) and is shocked to discover she does as many as four hits a year. "It's not so many when you consider the size of the population," she says. iui us mymoiogizing oi ine iviaua, this is it! RB 12 Mask One has vast admiration for the hero of "Mask" teenager Rocky Dennis, who struggled through life with a rare disease that distorted and enlarged his facial structure. (He died at 16 from the ailment.) One is also affected by the performances of Eric Stoltz and as Rocky and Cher as his mother, Rusty Dennis, whose rebel streak leads her to the outlaw life and drugs. But you come away from the picture with the nagging feeling that its a little superficial, from trying to tackle too much. Stoltz plays Rocky with a quiet, firm voice that suggests his underlying vulnerability. And Cher's commanding presence should have quieted questions about her acting ability long ago. After a while, you aren't repulsed by Rocky's face. What's painful is to see the frequent incidents when strangers see Rocky for the first time and wince. Every time he goes out in public, you dread the next wound struck at his emotions. The film gives the feeling it covered its story quickly. In one scene, we see the students at Rocky's school repulsed by his face. A few scenes later, they're won over by his kindness, intelligence and wit. What happened in between? In similar fashion, Rusty's addiction to drugs isn't shown in , much depth, except we see it's partly because she can't get along with her parents. Weakest of all, her outlaw friends, a motorcycle gang are presented as a cuddly extended family that wouldn't worry the meekest motorcycle cop. J don't want to over-emphasize my reservations too much. Rock" Dennis' story may look a bit too much like formula, but it is still a well-done film. RB y2American Ninja Michael Dudikoff plays a hero who really has forgotten more than most people will ever know. He's an amnesiac soldier on a U.S. army base in the Philippines who knows more moves than Bruce Lee, dui can i reiiiciiiuci wu-i coined coin-ed them, though he has dreams of learning as a child from an Oriental master. The nasty native Ninjas, who serve a weapon-smuggling ring, try in vain to kill him off. The less-talented less-talented G.I.s around him are bumped off in the crossfire. And in a knuckle-headed plot twist, he's blamed for their deaths and ostracized by the base. The standard Ninja action is spiced spic-ed up with some slam-bang direction. direc-tion. Best unintentional humor: The head villain speaks in a gargled French accent to his head Ninja, who responds in a gargled Oriental accent. Send out for subtitles! RB I TT L A Classic Recommended Good double feature material Time-killer For masochists . only Their marriage looks as if Don Corleone produced one of those "Hon, I'm home!" sit-coms for TV. Wifey comes up with a dandy plan for a kidnappingmurder over dinner, and hubby mumbles, a la Rtlph Kramden. that he doesn't ant her working anymore. Nicholson plays Charley with a ilese-dem-dose" Brooklyn accent that is ludicrous and right at he "me time. It sounds like enfor',or Charley spent so much time in the reptilian underside of the business, he never learned how the real world talks. And his curled lip may also be homage to Bogart, Huston's most frequently-used star. Turner gives another nice variation of her dazzlingly seductive blonde. And Anjelica Huston looks like the jrow of a ship as the Mafia daughter, once thrown over by Charley, who uses his marriage outside of the Family to avenge herself. You know, of course, that these two hit peoplelovers will have to take each other on, but the plot has to go through several twists and turns to set up this situation. The movie gets too heavy on story, though even here it has some cute moments. (When the old-stick Oodfather, played by William Hickey, forcibly retires one of his sons, he presents him with a bag of golf clubs at a dinner that is part Kiwanis luncheon, part "Let's Make aDeal." The ending of "Prizzi's Honor" is dark, but it's right for these romantic, lethal people. If you think "The Godfather" needs an antidote |
