April2\ fuesday • April 25, 1995
The Battalion • Page 3
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By Amber Clark
The Battalion
While You Were Sleeping
Starring Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman,
Peter Gallagher and Jack ’Warden
Directed by Jon Turteltaub
Rated PG
Playing at Hollywood 16
★★★★ (out of five)
If life was simple, it certainly wouldn’t be
much fun.
Lucy (Sandra Bullock) often finds herself
trapped in complex situations, but nothing
can compare to what she is destined to expert -
ence.
For Lucy, life couldn’t be more predictable.
She has a cat, an apartment, a job in a Chica
go Transit Authority token booth and a gut
feeling that something is missing from her life.
The single highlight in her life is her love
for the handsome man she sees every day at
work. The only problem is — they’ve never
met. When the stranger is mugged and falls in
front of an oncoming train, Lucy saves his life.
Her fiasco begins.
Rumors fly of Lucy being engaged to the
stranger. When she finally gets to see her co
matose beloved, Lucy learns the man’s name
is Peter (Peter Gallagher).
Since Peter is in a coma and cannot tell the
family that Lucy has fabricated the engage
ment, Lucy never tells anyone the truth. As
Lucy and the family grow closer, she finds
herself even more reluctant to notify the fami
ly of her true identity. To complicate matters
even more, Lucy finds herself falling in love
with Peter’s brother. Jack (Bill Pullman).
The characters’ imperfections make the
Peter Gallagher and Sandra Bullock
film quirky and down to earth. Bullock’s
narrative is filled with flaws, sounding
much more like natural conversation than
lines read from a script. The female audi
ence may find it easy to identify with Lucy,
who wears big sweaters, has messy hair
and complains that most men are too busy
looking for perfect women.
Anyone with a few odd family members
can relate to Lucy’s family. Mom is weepy,
dad is too proud, auntie is crazy, and little
sister seems trapped in the wrong person
ality pool. Lucy’s weirdness is what makes
the whole group come together as one
bizarre, campy family.
Even more refreshing is the lack of
cussing, violence and sex. The most sexual
encounter in the film is a kiss shared be
tween Lucy and one of the men she loves.
Overall the film is enjoyable, different
and a definite twist in typical Hollywood
film production. It gives hope to all those
who think they may never find love in such
a seemingly predictable world.
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Rob Roy falls short of expectations
By Wes Swift
The Battalion
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Starring Liam Neeson, Jessica Lange
1 Directed by Michael Caton-Jones
| Rated R
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■ *** 1/2 (out of five)
Ifeoh Roy suffers from the same disease
that has struck many recent films like Mary
Shelley’s Frankenstein, Interview with the
'Vampire and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It falls
flat after larger-than-life trailers and adver-
psements.
llRoh Roy is the legendary story of Robert
Roy McGregor, played by Liam Neeson
{Schindler’s List, Leap of Faith). McGregor
is; a Scottish highlander caught between a
corrupt nobility and a decaying society. The
Bin focuses on McGregor’s quest to retain
Bis honor in a time when honor has mean
ing.
||The film starts as McGregor receives a
loan from his lord, the Marquis of Montrose.
But McGregor never gets the money, thanks
»o Archibald Cunningham (played by Tim
Roth), a young English aristocrat visiting
;he Montrose’s estate who steals the money.
■McGregor makes the situation worse by
'efusing to settle to Montrose’s terms, and is
branded an outlaw. McGregor takes to the
Bills to protect his family until everything
blows over.
HThe film follows the McGregor’s conflict
with Cunningham and his quest to regain
the' honor of his name, his wife and his
friend.
■.Rob Roy is filled with superb actors.
Ifeeson’s McGregor is believable, even if his
torical inaccuracies exist (The real Rob Roy
Nts 5-feet-6 inches tall with flaming red
hair; Neeson is 6-feet-5 inches tall with
black hair). Oscar-winner Jessica Lange de
livers the film’s best performance as McGre
gor’s wife, and Roth’s Cunningham is an
nice change of pace from his previous efforts
hi Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.
■The cinematography is a character in it
self. The vivid landscapes that fill each
Rne are powerful, making the production
more genuine. The audience actually seems
to be more preoccupied with the wonderful
settings and forgets what is going on in the
hory.
The major problem with Roh Roy is in its
plot. At times the plot sags, drawn out with
a sparse dialogue and little action. Trailers
for the movie seem to indicate that the film
is action-packed, yet the small scraps of ac
tion are separated by vast seas of dialogue
and landscape shots.
Rob Roy seems to be the victim of an
overaggressive ad campaign. Rob Roy is her
alded as a breathtaking film, but falls a few
breaths short.
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Susan Werner croons away in Last of the Good Straight Girls.
Opera training evident in Werner’s soulful debut
Jessica Lange stars with Liam Neeson in
Rob Roy.
By Erin Hill
The Battalion
Susan Werner
Lost of the Good Straight Girls
Private Music
★ ★★ 1/2 (out of five)
Oh the chance of this happening.
To meet an artist destined for
success before that success arrives.
To say “I knew of Susan Werner be
fore all her Grammy Awards, before
the sold-out performances, before
the gold albums.” It is a rare thing
to intercept an artist before the big-
time hits, and recognize the poten
tial success.
Werner, with her classically
trained voice and music degrees
from University of Iowa and Temple
University, sings like a house of fire.
Her voice alone could send her to
stardom. Armed with a guitar and
her inventive songs, she just might
be unstoppable.
The 29-year-old was training for a
career in opera, but didn’t feel satis
fied, and kept turning to her guitar
for solace. Finally, it hit her that her
calling was with her acoustic rock
songs, not Wagner or Puccini.
Though the classical music world
may have lost big when Werner de
fected, the pop music business
scored the coup of the year. Her de
but album seems nearly flawless,
and in many moments brilliant.
Take the torch song “St. Mary’s of
Regret.” With insightful lyrics re
garding the pain of relationships,
like “You’re married by now / She’s
kind, I suppose ... do you wonder
why passion’s always half impossi
bility / But lovers that we lose we
never dare forget?”
But the song isn’t just about good
lyrics. Werner’s voice is controlled,
but soulful. She croons, just as you
would expect someone with classical
training, but adds some life as well.
The title track is a form of healing
for Werner — similar to Tori Amos’
“Me and a Gun,” but without the
overt angst. Werner sings about “A
man she never planned to meet,” a
man who molests the subject of the
song.
“Still Believe” tells the sad story
of a marriage breaking up, and illu
sions being lost. But through it all,
hope remains. No matter what, she
still believes. And she still sings
well, despite the pain. This voice just
doesn’t give out.
It’s easy to imagine that Werner
would be great to see playing in a
dark coffeehouse, with just a few
feet between the audience and the
stage.
Just like Annie Lennox on her
new album Medusa, Werner covers
Paul Simon’s “Something So Right,”
though with a definite folksy flair
versus Lennox’s more techno sound.
Werner is another contemporary
woman artist who is proudly picking
up the banner of folk singer and car
rying it with honor. Like Shawn
Colvin, Nanci Griffith, Rickie Lee
Jones and the ever-commanding
Joni Mitchell, Werner isn’t afraid to
show her emotions, wear her heart
on her sleeve or bare her soul
through her music.
And like the folk act Indigo Girls,
she isn’t afraid to rock a little, even
when she’s acoustic.
In the title track, she sings, “And
you say, ‘Oh, where did the gentle
women go?”’
Her career seems to answer that
question, in part. She’s one of those
gentle women, but she’s entering the
music biz with a bang that’s any
thing but.
Catherine Wheel revolves around disturbing distortion in latest release
By Erin Hill
Be Battalion
■ Catherine Wheel
gf Happy Days
11 Mercury Records
H ** 1/2 (out of five)
■ A Catherine wheel is a firework, of the hand
held variety, that spins rapidly before burning
out. This particular type of firework was named
tfter St. Catherine of Alexandria, who was an es
pecially successful missionary among the Greeks
luring the third century.
■ There are three bands out right now with the
lame Catherine Wheel.
The one to be taken seriously hails from the
England, and has been around the longest, and
deserves the most attention. Happy Days is its
third album, following the well-crafted Ferment
and Chrome.
They play a curious brand of rock ’n’ roll, a
mix of heavy metal, alternative rock and
U.K. blues. Throughout the album they
remain edgy in their lyrics, singing and
instrumentation.
Rob Dickinson is the lead vocalist and
is also first cousin of Bruce Dickinson, ex
lead singer of Iron Maiden. The heavy metal
connection isn’t too difficult to imagine. Dickin
son, though he can match angst for angst with
Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, has a hard quality that
lifts him out of the ’90s sensitive male category
and into the hard rock spheres.
The band sounds best on tracks like “Shock
ing,” because the vocals remain dominant despite
the heavy guitar distortion.
Unfortunately, the band isn’t always able
to repeat the feat. Too many of the tracks
sound muffled. Vocals are drowned out by
drums, bass and guitar, and melodies are
barely recognizable.
Neil Sims does an admirable job on per
cussion, and shines on tunes like “Hole,” but
his success comes at a price. Though the drums
are good, the song is weak. Same with bassist Dave
Hawes — his best songs, like “God Inside My Head,”
and “Judy Staring at the Sim,” are not the best for
the band, simply because his bass is all the listener
can focus on. It isn’t enough of a team effort.
Comparisons to other U.K. bands like Slowdive
and the Waterboys pop up after songs like “Love
Tips Up,” if the listener is still awake.
Despite Catherine Wheel’s talent, the bulk of the
songs on this album are snoozers, exercises in
heavy percussion and guitar. Too often, this album
makes you feel like you’re standing outside the
club, staring in through the windows at Catherine
Wheel. The sound is muffled, the melodies lost.
Though their lack of obsession with an image is
refreshing, and relative obscurity is charming,
they ought to pay more attention to the blend of
their songs. Too often the band members individ
ual talents overshadow that of the band.