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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 1985)
-3. ■■Hi Movies Hutton and Penn outshine plot in ‘Falcon’ By MARCY BASILE Movie Reviewer “The Falcon and the Snow man” couldn’t have been more aptly named, considering the movie is airy and cold. Based on a true story, it tells the tale of two California rich kids who sell CIA secrets to the Soviets. Here’s the story. In 1977, Christopher Boyce and Daulton Lee were arrested and charged with espionage. Boyce, a semi nary drop-out, was the son of a former FBI agent and had a high CIA security clearance af ter working with the agency for only a short time. Lee dealt dope. How the two became in volved with espionage is the basis of the movie. Boyce (Timothy Hutton) masterminds the scheme. Iron ically, he had wanted to be a priest since the second grade, but as he matures he realizes that his ideaology comes before religion. While working for the CIA, he discovers what a farce the CIA is and becomes in creasingly cynical toward what people so eagerly accept to be for the “good of the country.”. You see, Boyce has found that the CIA was deliberately mes sing with Australian politics; basically, they were trying to get the liberal prime minister ousted before the upcoming election. Because of this, he tries to expose the CIA by sell Sean Penn (left) stars as Daulton Lee and Timothy Hutton stars as Christopher Boyce in “The Falcon and the Snowman.” The film is based on a true story. ing spy satellite info to the Rus sians. Lee (Sean Penn) has been dealing drugs since junior high school. After being charged with possession on three differ ent occasions, and getting off relatively scott-free, Lee messes up once too many times and sells dope to an undercover narcotics agent. Plea bargain ing leaves Lee with two op tions: jail or informant. Lee chooses neither. Instead he hotfoots it to Mexico where he becomes Boyce’s courier to the Soviets. Hutton and Penn are too good for “The Falcon and The Snowman.” They stand far above the rest of the cast, mak ing their characters appear un attached from the reality of the story. While Hutton and Penn strive for perfection and ulti mately reach it, everyone else seems to settle for mediocrity, which they attain with ease. Hutton shines as Boyce. His dramatization of a mixed-up rich kid falls in line with his previous works, most notably “Ordinary People” and “Taps.” Boyce is Hutton’s first actual- person portrayal. Even so, he makes character studies seem easy. Words cannot describe the emotion Penn puts into his portrayal of Lee. If you thought Penn was good in “Bad Boys,” you would be awed by his per formance in “The Falcon and the Snowman.” Penn is witty, dorky and an emotional wreck all at once. Never let it be said that the man can’t act. It makes you wonder though, that after all the roles Penn has played (“Taps”, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “Bad Boys”), if he acts relatively nor mal in his private life or if he brings his characters home. He’s that good. Other than Hutton and Penn, though, this movie is nothing new. It’s just one more spy movie too many. T Music By WALTER SMITH Movie Reviewer In a dimly lit club, the buz zing of a restless crowd min gles with the heavy smoke that fills the air. Suddenly a spot light floods the small stage near the bar and reveals a spiked-hair woman standing poised with microphone in hand. In the recessed shadows lurks the remainder of the band. The patrons ready them selves for a musical thrashing of the hardcore variety. In stead, they are treated to some of the best lounge music since the demise of the zoot suit. Such are the images con jured by Eveiything But The Girl, a London-based jazz out fit. Vocalist Tracey Thom, multi-talented Ben Watt, and a host of session musicians de liver a dozen songs on this self- titled debut. But one could listen to “Dia- EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL SIRE RECORDS mond Life,” the new release from another jazz group, Sade (that’s pronounced sha-day), and receive the same picture. The reason is hardly coinciden tal. Not only did the two bands share space at London’s Power- plant Studio, they both also re corded under the production guidance of Robin Millar. While a situation like this might be indicative of two bands with similiar sounds, such is not the case. The only things these bands’ LPs have in common are that they both are black and round. Sure, they both are fronted by female vo calists, but their musical styles are worlds apart. Eveiything But The Girl inte grates a pop methodology into their jazz sound. Whether they are singing an emotional la ment like “Tender Blue,” or they are hammering out an acoustical guitar/psychedelic organ combo like “Another Bridge,” they maintain a driv ing attitude that keeps things interesting. Other standouts on the album are “Each and Eveiy One” and “Fascination.” The songs are rather short — six SADE DIAMOND LIFE EPIC RECORDS per side — but if they were longer, they would start to get tedious. While Eveiything But The Girl likes to launch directly into the meat of their music, Sade prefers to introduce their songs in a more reserved mannner; they gradually build on a sparse beginning layer until the result is well-rounded and full- bodied. No, it’s not wine, but this music can be as pleasing to the palate as a 1984 Beaujolais Nouveau. With “When Am I Going To Make A Living,” an upbeat an them for the unemployed, and “Sally,” a ballad exalting the beneficial effects of a big-city whore on relationships of oth ers, Sade show their diverse creativity in both style and con tent. Style is the key word for both of these groups. Sade has a more intriguing formula than Eveiything But The Girl, whose formula is about as secret as generic cola’s. But just like vin tage wine, Sade may lack the mass market appeal. Now which would you consume to quench your musical thirst?