Word: protagonists
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...much, or talk quite so loud. But residents of Texas, that bizarre man-child of a nation-state on the Gulf, are notorious bitter-enders--examples of mindless Thermopylae-like heroism stud their history like the turquoise on Waylon Jennings' finger. Witness LBJ and the Alamo. Witness the protagonist of Peter Gent's novel, the washed-up cornerback Mabry Jenkins. Witness one of Gent's Texas morons, backed by oil money and an inordinate belief in the destiny of Texas, saying, "We could join OPEC and if them Yankee peckerheads don't like it, let them freeze in the dark...
Some of the protagonist's prey fare better. Though at times hobbled by accent difficulties, British Actor Peter Firth (Equus) is surprisingly convincing as the title character, a sullen, ducktailed counterboy with vague cowboy dreams of glory. TV's Hal Linden, playing Grant's stuffy suburban husband, makes some thing fresh out of a stereotype, as does Faracy. Unfortunately, these performers must share the screen with Grant and Candy Clark, who turn already hysterical women into harridans. "Filth! Filth!" Grant screams at Gortner, in one of the movie's many unwatchable moments...
...Simon, from whom we expect snappy one-liners in the first five minutes, not sobs. But this play, currently running in Boston, reveals the voice of a more serious Simon. While the playwright's characters usually deal with the little frustrations that daily bug us all, Chapter II's protagonist faces a much more catastrophic upheaval--the death of a beloved spouse...
...except that Chapter Two is a play by Neil Simon, from whom we expect snappy one-liners, not sobs. Though Simon's characters usually do struggle with the all-too-familiar daily frustrations that bugs us all, especially if we're upper middle class urban dwellers, Chapter Two's protagonist faces a much more catastrophic upheaval--the death of his beloved spouse...
...whom we expect happy one-liners in the first five minutes, not tears. But this drama, which opened last night in Boston, reveals the voice of a more serious Simon. Most of Simon's characters struggle with the mundane little frustrations that daily bug us all. Chapter II's protagonist faces a much more catastrophic upheaval--the death of a beloved spouse...