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Show The Park Record C-6 Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, June 11-14, 2005 Smiths: marriage action flick presented By j Kicking off the ^ • 2 0 0 5 Park Cii Food (ind Vfei ^ assic By LISA KENNEDY MediaNews Group Wire Service Here's an exchange overheard after a preview screening of the wickedly entertaining "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. "Did you like it?" A father asked his pre-teen son. "Not really," the boy answered. This negative answer is actually a positive sign. Because what would it say about the state of our unions if a kid understood too well this tart, tasty, occasionally overly brutal parable about modern marriage wrapped in an action flick? As "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" opens, John and Jane Smith sit in chairs facing the camera. You would be forgiven if you imagine for a quick post-modern instant that Pitt, Jolie and director Doug Liman added an ironic prologue to the movie as a cheeky nod to all the tabloid reports about the stars' romance. But no. John and Jane Smith, five years (or is it six, they cant agree) into their relationship, are dipping into some much-needed couples therapy. On the surface, their problem points to the suburban-life blues: The same old routine of shopping and cooking for her and driving off to work for him; the neighbors who bore them both. The truth - a very relative term for the J. Smiths - is that unbeknownst to John or Jane, their mate is an assassin at the top of their pro- fession. They ply their lethal trade as familiar. Of course, given their clandestine work, theirs turn out to for rival government agencies. The foxy operatives met and fell be a bit more extreme. And when in love while in Latin America. Like they are finally getting to know each all the stories they tell the therapist, other - during a car chase, naturalthis is and isnt quite true. Once back ly - the list of lies has them (and us) in the United States, they confide wondering if anything in this mar^i their affection for the other to their riage was ever true. best friends and colleagues, played The external forces give the couby Vince Vaughn ("DodgeBall") ple a "me and you against the and Kerry Washington world" solidarity. The fact that Jane can give as ("Ray").Vaughn, who does his best work when chewing up scenes in a good as she gets has to be made concharacter role, is a hungry hoot as an vincingly, often and with humor. agency hit man who lives with his Otherwise Liman might lose a good portion of the audience when the mom. Over time, the Smiths' marriage couple has a to-the-death tango that goes from sexy affection to worka- leaves their perfect home in shamday ennui to positively endangered. bles. When an assignment to take out an As audiences watch Jane and improbable target goes awry, Jane John go at it, some will recall Danny and John are ordered by their shad- DeVito's "The War of the Roses." owy bosses to kill the other. The 1989 film starring Michael One of the many pleasures of Douglas and Kathleen TAirner as a "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is Jane's com- once-loving couple was an astonishpetitiveness. In their race to off the ingly violent comedy about what other, Jane's commitment con- happens to a couple when sweet founds John. She recalls their matrimony turns into savage acrianniversary with precision. But she's mony. Things ended badly for that hardly hampered by sentiment when battling couple. Director Liman, she tries to kill her husband. John screenwriter Simon Kinberg and the may not recall an important date, stars do a nice job of keeping it a but he at least seems emotionally movie-length mystery what sort of end their couple meets. conflicted by the assignment. "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" attests to the When it does come, it says somemany forces that can work to scuttle thing intriguing about the work of a marriage. The internal ones are modern marriage. And it says it with fairly commonplace. The weefar more panache and odd wisdom secrets and fibs that become than anything offered on "The immense over time will strike many Bachelor." A kind of boot camp at full \olume By MICHAEL BOOTH MediaNews Group Wire Service "Rock School" is the authentic "Kicking & Screaming," if what you're after is a warts-and-all portrayal of a crazed authority figure who believes mentoring grows more effective at volume. Paul Green as a real-life music teacher is far more engrossing than Will Ferrell as an absurd, made-up soccer coach. The organically fascinating documentary "Rock School" turns back into nonfiction the almost-true fictional turn of Jack Black in "School of Rock." Green and the film about his school wickedly test the audience's assumption about "appropriateness," and whether children can be improved through yelling. Green teaches three -chords-and-hate-yourparents rock to 120 students in Philadelphia. ,.. In a hovel o^rooms crowded by misfit deadbeats who love the backbeat, Green preaches his anti-gospel of rock. "Do you love Satan?" Green demands of his charges at one rehearsal, tongue only half in cheek. "Because Satan gives us hot women and rock." Also missing from Green's Teacher of the Year application are his brutally frank assessments of students. "Rock School" succeeds as a riveting movie because it doesn't try to lead us from verse to an obvious chorus about Green, or his uniquely abusive methods. The camera watches him alternate between friendly teasing and humiliating rant, and then lets us make our own decisions about his crass curriculum by showing how the kids respond. Green tells the camera and director Don Argott that he hates the evolution of all teaching into a form where students are never told they failed, or that another student is better than they are. He prides himself on employing his assistants in "a very sophisticated game of good cop, bad cop." Guess who is the bad cop? His assistants shake their heads, cringe at Green's rampages, soothe shattered emotions, yet they can't condemn the method. "He brings things out of kids I honestly don't see," said one colleague. We meet some truly amazing talents in "Rock School." most of whom have emerged toughened by Green's firebreathing, f-bomb-throwing rants. CJ. is a guitar prodigy whose personality is as sweet as his licks. "CJ. makes it hard for everybody else, he's so good," Green observes, correctly. Madi is a teenage folk singer struggling to find the stage confidence her golden voice deserves; a longtime Mennonite student, she is crestfallen when Green ridicules her attempts at friendly "Quaker rap" in front of the class. But she comes back for more. The best perspective on Green, though, is through the nearsighted eyes of the worst musician in the group, a young society reject named Will. Will tells everyone on first meeting he's tried to kill himself many times, but is so bored and unsure of himself he doesn't seem to have enough energy for a successful suicide. Will feeds off Greens energy, even when Green makes fun of him in public. And the Green charisma is there, when he straps on his own guitar and by moving one small finger, shows the kids how Jimi Hendrix switched back and forth between a "devil" chord and a "fairy" chord. But Will gets sick of Green's yelling, and by rejecting his teacher, becomes his own man. He comes out the other side articulate and selfaware, thankful for Rock School but admitting it might not work for everybody. As two groups of students train alternately for a Black Sabbath tribute and a Frank Zappa convention in Germany, "Rock School" boldly yet skillfully asks the right questions about Green: Is he teaching kids how to rock, or simply to imitate famous rockers? Is all his yelling part of an arrested adolescence, Peter Pan's evil twin who can't disT tinguish his emotions from those of a 12-year-old? Does Green revel in his kids' success for-their "sake, or td replace the potential stardom he gave up to become a teacher? Green saves himself, sometimes at least, by proving he has pondered the same questions: If Paul the Teacher succeeds, he says, smiling bemusedly, "I'm making guitar players who are better than me. And Paul the Guitar Player doesnt like that at all." "Rock School" builds steadily toward the tension of the concerts, and how the Mean Paul Green philosophy will play out on stage. It's no fun giving that away. Just know that it's no insult to anybody to say that Paul Green could play Jack Black in the movie. he Eccles Center -Bo .ECC& ARTTIX OUTLETS DEER VALLEY MAIN STREET SJGNJ i't v.. ' 'r t ': - • " • ' • • ; • ' ! # : $50 r The PoWmmm Performance is gcncrora||P)oiisorcd by Stcyc & Val Ghin,Tcrracc K. 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