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Show The Salt Lake Tribune Formulaic CALENDAR Charming Cast Keeps You At This Graduation Party ‘Six Days’ Lasts Forever Wore *e The fresh cast enlivens this goofy, predict able high-school comedy ‘Tiresomeromantic comedythat feels as long ‘asits title. BY SEAN P. MEANS BY SEAN P, MEANS THE ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE in “The Last Days of Disco” (re- rascal, ignoring the faithful dognext-door, Scottie. SALT LAKE eeae i! Sky"). But that scarcely matters, since director Ivan Reitman puppy — messy and energetic, butplayful andfriendly at heart This news is most important to Ford and Anne Heche stranded joke or plot point pops up, he on a tropical island without food, radio or a decent script. The princess is Heche’s charac- pounds it into the ground. Preston Meyers (Ethan Embr: who has harbored a four-year Days, Seven Nights,” a shallow romance that leaves Harrison ter, Robin Monroe, an editor for a tony fashion magazine on vacation at a South Pacific resort with her stuffy boyfriend, Frank (Da- vid Schwimmer). Her boss calls heraway fromparadise for a lastminute photoshootin Tahiti, and she charters a flight back with the trampish, semi-drunken pilot, Quinn Harris (Ford). Whenthe plane crashes on an uninhabited island, Michael Browning's script runs through the laundry list of romantic-comeji dy clichés. Quinn and Robin argue, get to know each other and survive a few scares (snakes, scorpionsand evena gangofpirates). whack-a-mole game: Everytime a Reitmanalso stacks blunt and humorless references to other, better movies. In general tone, of course, “Six Days, Seven Nights’ tries to emulate “The African Queen” and ‘‘Romancing the Stone.” Specifically, Reitman shoplifts the cliff-jumping scene in “Butch Cassidy and the Sun- dance Kid,” Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr's beach embrace in “From Here to Eternity,” and practically any “Gilligan's Island” episode. Even Ford is steal- ing from himself: His first appearance, repairing his rickety plane, is lifted almost directly from his scene alongside the Mil- lennium Falcon in “Star Wars.” “Six Days, Seven Nights (rat- in full lip-lock. Meanwhile, back ed PG-13 for language,sensuality and brief violence) does succeed ,,arms (and cleavage) of Quinn’s bimbo girlfriend, Angelica (Jac- in making the audience empathize with its characters’ plight. Before it's over, you too will feel strand- Before long, Quinn and Robin are at the resort, Frankfalls into the queline Obradors). ed and eagerto escape Green) hopes to score with some babes — if he canescapefromthe bathroom, whereheis lockedin with Preston's antisocial friend Denise Fleming (Lauren Am brose). Also, in an oddrunning gag, one Graduation day at Huntington Hills Highbrings twobig piecesof news: There’s a hot party that night, and prom queen Amanda (fresh off the debacle of ‘Fathers’ Day’) wouldn't know how to handle it anyway. Reitman directs without finesse, as if playing a That schematic is played out with depressing fidelity in “Six Beckett (Jennifer Love Hewitt) has broken up with football hero Mike Dexter (Peter Beastie Boys wannabe KennyFisher(Seth comedy with the personality ofa es: Harrison Ford and Anne Hecheshowlittle chemistry. grownup from his role as the Kid in “Dick Tracy”) employshis " Files’ -obsessed pals to exact revengeon Mikeforfour years of embarrassing pranks. TRIBUNE Generation Next gets its “American Graffiti’ with “Can't Hardly Wait,” a coming-of-age One of the sharpest exchanges Tramp.” That Disneyclassic, it is argued, is the prototype for most romantic comedies — a pampered princessfalls for an irresponsible changing events. Class geek Wil. liam Lichter (Charlie Korsmo. Can't Hardly Wait Six Days, Seven Nights viewedin this section) involves a deconstruction of “Lady and the Friday, June 12, 1998 Facinelli) crush on Amanda. Preston comes to the party in hopesofdelivering a heartfelt loveletter to Amanda. This party portends other life- student (Melissa Joan Hart, in an uncredited role) is hellbent on getting all 500 of her graduating as to sign her yearbook. (‘The mostly teen audience at ery time Hart got told off or pushed aside, which indicates a growing backlash against the s of “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. Co-writers and co-directors Deborah Kaplan and Harry El- font (whose credits include “A tot A Friend of the Deceased the Soviet Union, Anatoli (Alexander Lazarey) is having a bad week. He is broke An offbeat tale of hope and hopelessness in now-democratic Ukraine BY SEAN P, MEANS and unemployed, and his wife, Katya (Angelica Nevolina), has stoppedtrying to hideher extramarital affair. So when a friend, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE GODTILLA (76-49) 125 415 740 950 THE HORSE WHISPERERS (ro) 90 430 www 1eetinectre.com son’s life or a nation’s, is never but it’s all done with humor What YouDid Last Summer i next in line to be America sweet heart. Even when Cant Hard! Preston is a direct descendent of Richard Dreyfuss’ “American Graffiti” character, right down to the hairent. Both are aspiring writers who drive old cars, hang out at drive-ins and seek divine “Party of Five” and gets annoying, the charmi young cast keeps it watchable comedy- in the aftermath of the collapse of friendships,” Dima says mourn fully to Anatoli, “only business relations.”” But, as Anatoli discovers to Director Vyacheslav Krishtofovich shows Anatoli as a casualty and harsh consequences behind by economic uncertainty and shifting morality. He quickly learns that in post-Soviet Ukraine, people once trusted as emotional journey, from despair through cynicism and finally into hope, demonstrates that — no matter the political or economic turmoil — life stubbornly goes on He pro- But when the moment of truth comes and goes with Anatoli still Ukrainian bitions. “Today, there are no a contract on himself. ceased,” a to watch in “A Friend of the De- comrades now havetheir own am ward the end of “A Friend of the Deceased” (rated R for nudity, someviolence and language; with vides the hitman with a time and a location to do the deed. drama about one man's troubles He befriends a spunky little prostitute, Lena (Tatiana Krivitskaya), and starts getting his life back on track. Thenhegets call from the hitman, apologizing for the delay and promising to carry out the contract in the next day or two, Dima tells Anatoli, quite alive, he feels a new loveoflife. FROM THE CREATORS OF INDEPENDENCE DAY subtitles), there are human faces. of communism's fall — castadrift those businessrelations. Anatoli’s BREWVIESLOTETENGT) HOW Tie ro 21 677 S 200W Must 66 *INFO 355+5500°| MOVIES + FOOD + BEER THE BORROWERS PG 7:15 U.S. MARSHALS PG-13 9:25 MY GIANT PG 7:05 ODD COUPLE I PG-13 9:15 THE WEDDING SINGER PG-13 6:55 AS GOOD IT GETS PG-13 8:50 VOTED #1 HYPNOTIST SHOW1 SYRSe enema .cag (Come Tsien i738 TTT : SALT LAKE - CINEMAS 9 2ND EAST & 33RD SOUTH 486-9653 iy 21 cenit 22-23 « CANT HAROLY WATT 195255007908 + DIRTYWORK 100310815) 720935 RU y LOSI e Le + SU DAYS. SEVEN NIGHTS, + THE TRUMAN SHOW "PRETTY WOMAN'!" WUE + A PERFECT MURDER ON THE AIR. UNAWARE. SeUTie Ba CUCU a Tee) LLL LUT LUNI bad BEFORE 6PM DAILY CEPARnRL DME TMMAX OW oer (sk 2 0a Fe te TM TIMAN SHOW Po om BAA. a hak 1 OPT HAROUYcs Om A PY WOR OAT 9.0: 90UT OMA. om mom te OPT OATS (0 XY ORI ot hat Aa D8 KU Pct eco ‘ 2 OAT SIN MOT pc OE.Om omen 1 BAYS SON ONT GS A 82 a at Aa eno om ane COT OF ALS RY OA a A Peer samc a be oa tote A PRY MONE eee MAYAN\GS SEVEN NIGHTS JIM CARREY TeNE (oD ohad SUN cr m4 CHECK THEATRE DIRECTORY FORSHOWTIMES! STARTS TODAY! ‘ss “1 Kn Wait” (rated PG-12 for te drinking, sexuality and languaye) Nae2 HILARIOUS SPENCER Ambrose smartly cynical, and Hewit! (from grimly, “Onceyouhire a killer, “TITANIC” (PG-43) Fri 7:45 Sat at 2:00 6:30 ASTI meETT i sweetly likable, Theyrelyheavily on eerie coincidence and fateful intervention, someonehastodie.” fun to experience but always interesting to watch. Thereis plenty So. Open 7.00 STATE. Ck loved Sunday RON A 266.0258 The New & Most Popular Show HYPNOTIST poeta wisdom fromthe radio. Embry(the bass player in Tom Hanks’ “That Thing You No!) decidesto endit all by putting out 3,800 Clossics & 46mm Flims for Rent of Sale TRUMAN BHOW (a) 400 390 420730 bas 4 SOX DAYS SEVEN MOHTS (0-3) e288 308 540 745 628, HOPE RLOATS (rs)5 430 7:20 0 typed characters have fun in a about a hitmanhe knows, Anatoli Dima (Yevgeni Pashin), tells him Upheaval, whether in one per- Ford and Heche, try as they might, have almost no chemistry ara Pee STN Very Brady Sequel” and “Jingle All the Way”) let their stereolighthearted, predictable fashion Cynicism and Despair Turn to Hopefor ‘Friendof the Deceased’ — whichis too bad anda bit sur- prising, considering both stars have been charming in romantic films before (Ford in “Witness” and ‘Working Girl,” Hechein independent films like “Walking and Talking” and “Pie in the the screening I attended howled ev- Preston Meyers (Ethan Embry) makes a play for Amanda Beck ett (Jennifer Love Hewitt) at their high school graduation par y Century Theatre |
