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Show Drunken poets, no; satire on rockers, si bing for the gold ring. Instability Insta-bility replaces chilly conformity. con-formity. Instead of KGB agents, you've got muggers. Williams gives a thoroughly credible performance, perfor-mance, and handles the pathos well. With his volatile comic style he can protray a character moving from one culture to another, as Vlad-mir Vlad-mir picks up the New York street jargon, and makes his debut in a fast-food restaurant. ("Come back McSoon," he tells a customer.) The trouble is that Paul Mazursky (co-writer and director) doesn't have much of a comic spin. He sets up jokes in a quiet workmanlike way that doesn't really carry you along. For instance, when Vladmir meets the family of his black buddy (Cleavant Derricks), the grandfather is a blunt, eccentric ec-centric character, just like Vladmir's own grandfather. But since neither old man projects a lot of warmth or spirit, the parallel doesn't matter much to you. Vladmir constantly meets characters of different nationalities, the melting pot come to life. But the picture J just presents them as a jum- ble of accents. It doesn't revel in the mixture of national personalities. "Moscow on the Hudson" is a well-meaning film. Its tone is almost flag-waving patriotism. And yet its humor seems to rely too much on tepid ironies. A Classic Recommended Good double-feature double-feature material Time-killer For masochists v only J Reuben, Reuben Gowan McGland is the familiar drunken poet, and his collection of quirks and character traits is not very interesting baggage. He is rude; saves money by stealing tips; calls himself his favorite author and says things like "Maturity is overrated;" looks askew at higher education, since he was kicked out of Oxford; and stumbles awkwardly into in-to bar fights. We follow McGland through his sojourn at a New England college town. The main point tc the picture is that he briefly glimpses redemption through an affair af-fair with Geneva (Kelly McGillis). She represents fresh hope because (a) she is younger than the middle-aged middle-aged women he usually seduces, and (b) she is enraptured by his droll monologues (more so than we are). Despite the script, Tom Conti has several good moments in the role. With shaggy hair and a perennial five-o'clock shadow, he shambles around as if he were wading up to his knees in alcohol. His usual expression ex-pression is a haggard look that breaks out into superficial super-ficial slyness. At his best, Conti shows the occasional moment when McGland realizes what a wreck he is his eyes look like windows into hell. And when he reflects re-flects on his new-found love, you can see the boyishness in him that's been mostly corroded. McGillis, the female lead, has a broad moony smile and attracts audience sympathy. The supporting cast has a number of good performances perfor-mances including E. Kather-ine Kather-ine Kerr and Cynthia Harris as married lovers and Joel Fabiani as the dentist-husband dentist-husband who takes revenge by treating Gowan's bad teeth. But Spofford (Robert Blossom), Geneva's grandfather, grand-father, is a horribly-written character who spouts aphorisms about the awfulness of condos and repressed emotion. Spof-ford's Spof-ford's sheepdog is Reuben, who plays a big part in the movie's climactic black joke. It's even more shocking than intended, after af-ter all the routine drama. This Is Spinal Tap Rob Reiner's fake "rock-umentary" "rock-umentary" hilariously punctures punc-tures the rock scenes, and bands." vites your sympathy for its target a fictional group, Spinal Tap, renowned as one of "England's loudest bands". The documentary by "Marty DiBergi" (Reiner) shows that the group, on its latest U.S. tour, is teetering on the fate that awaits most rock groups an overnight return to anonymity. They are dogged by accidents. Running out of their dressing room in one arena, they get lost in the basement. They're forced to take dinky bookings at military bases and children's amusement parks (at the latter, they get second billing to a puppet show). Their manager (Tony Hendra) explains that Tap is not losing the audience. "Their appeal is becoming more selective," he says. The group's leader, David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), reacts to setbacks by musing, "I'm sure I would be worse if I were not in such heavy sedation." We see Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), the other lead guitarist, tinkling at the piano on a lyrical theme he calls "Lick My Love Pump." And the third central character, Derek Falls (Harry Shearer), praises Nigel and David as "fire and ice." He says, "I see myself as lukewarm water." Reiner neatly imitates old TV footage (to show Spinal Tap in their mop-top and flower-power stages) and spoofs current concert movies. When Tap is on stage, a lurching camera focuses on their tight pants, crotches and wagging tongues. But the film is sympathetic sym-pathetic toward these puppy-dog-dumb musicians. And there's pathos in the sub-plot about David and Nigel, childhood friends who nearly break up over David's girlfriend. The film becomes a bit too much like a storytelling story-telling picture to show their reconciliation. But most of the time "This is Spinal Tap" makes the audience think it's eavesdropping on the jokes. Moscow on the Hudson Vladmir Ivanoff (Robin Williams) is a saxophonist with the Moscow Circus and he's nervous. During the circus' cir-cus' visit to New York, his closest comrade has confided con-fided that he's going to defect. When the crucial moment comes, his friend can't do it. But Vladmir, walking through the decadent charms of Bloomingdale's, defects instead. in-stead. He suddenly realizes he's exhausted with the drab apartments, intimidation, and long lines for toilet paper. Now Vladmir must contend, con-tend, not with long lines, but with crowds of people grab- |