Word: scripting
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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WITH INQUISTIVE ADOLESCENTS comprising a substantial percentage of moviegoers these days, it seems only logical--if only from an economic standpoint--that producers literally glutted the screen with "teenage trash films." Occasionally, the script writer will muster up a flimsy plot to legitimize the film's existence. More often the film will do nothing more than what it purports lure sex-hungry teenagers to watch John Travolta and NastassiaKinski sweat and pulsate...
...movie relies more on the irony of its issues for its triumphs than on the talent of individual actors. In part, this is due to a flawed script that introduces characters like Stefan's brother and then abandons them midway through. While Stefan's father (Charles Cioffi) and his hardnosed coach (Craig T. Nelson) give convincing performances, their development seems subordinated to Cruise's--whose effective blend of toughness and sensibility fails to fully compensate for his playing a role he is physically unsuited...
That kind of thoughtfulness pervades the play. After the sensational first act, the script lags a bit in the second but the slow parts are played lightly and even alluded to to keep the show moving along. A play with only five characters and five murders has a problem surviving anything but a bloody depressing finale. Levin provides an out; it is played well, adding a twist to make sure the audience leaves laughing and able to speculate on what happens next. That mixture of laughter and uncertainty make Deathtrap audiences easy prey...
...exploits of Pseudolus (U.S. Taylor), a slave trying to bargain his freedom from his master. Pseudolus sets up some romances and destroys others; he manipulates every member of his household and responds to the caprices of every player in the cast. He's also the "ringmaster" of the script's ill-conceived attempt to cast the show as a play-within-a-play...
...above characters must be kept ignorant of the romance between the young Philia (Margery Trimble) and Hero (Nick Aiuto), deception which Pseudolus promises to maintain in return for his freedom. The script--liberally seasoned with campus allusions--relies on sexual jokes which play mostly on the naivete of the young couple ("A virgin? Is that good?") and the frustrations of everyone else. Many of these jokes hover at the borders of good taste, but given the Kirkland sponsorship of the show, the crowd finds this appealing...