University of South Carolina Libraries
'The Ro By David Baker Gam?cock Flm Critk: What's in a no mo? --- -- . a uui WllICIl director Mark Hydell calls The Rose by any other title would smell as bad. Prospective viewers, doff thy tickets, and for thy pleasure see any film in town, save for that lessthan-dear perfection which Kydell and Bette Midler hath wrought. Take me at my word. Call this drek entertainment and I'll be sicken'd; henceforth I never will believe thou to be one with taste. She sang very well, this misguided, this indulgent woman, this defiant hedonist and destroyer of her own talent. Nonsense. Rudge, her manager, had destroyed her talent himself. Why should anyone blame this woman when her lousy disposition was the result of the way this man treated her? He had destroyed her talent by overusing it, by betraying her and the life she so desperately wanted to live, by allowing her to drink so much aquavit and inject so much heroin that the edge of her perceptions were forever blunted. What was her talent anyway? It was a talent all right, but instead of allowing her to use it for everyone's pleasure, he had capitalized on it for his own mysterious needs. He did it because it was what he could do. He had chosen to make his living with something else than a pleasing personality. It was strange that when he managed that woman, that she should grow more neurotic by the minute instead of dumping this foul monkey on her back in favor of a manager who would put her desires and requirements ahead of all else. My apologies to Shakespeare ' and Hemingway, but by mangling these passages from Romeo and Juliet and The Six ows of K ilirnnn in r/> T fhinlr I ti?oo I j"> > ixiim i nua UDH: IU get across my feelings about The Rose with less originality than was used to create the film itself ? and that's no small accomplishment. Rydell and his writers, Bill Kerby and Bo Goldman (Michael Cimino had his name removed from the final credits), have taken the story of a self-destructive rock star (based, supposedly, on the late Janis Joplin), added bits and pieces of plot angles from several recent films, most notably A Star is Born and Valentino, and tailored the resulting mess to fit Midler. Then Rydell, evidently enamored of Midler's energy, put her in front of the cameras and let her go. His gamble might have worked had Midler been able to j make her character at all sym i pathetic, but she's never a hip to Ho I so. Stallions from page 8 > Dianne Olds returned on the Andalusion stallion, "Espanero," and delighted the audience with a "dance" to Spanish music. The horse once again behaved per- [ lectly ? a tribute to Olds' hor!?pmanchin The Quadrille was the final presentation of the evening. Four white stallions and their masters I performed intricate figures and movements with precision and apparent ease. The Royal Lipizzan Show travels ' for about nine months each year, ( trainer and rider Robert Kiley { said. The performance at the { Coliseum was one of the final < presentations of the current winter tour. 11 se' wilts o I don't mean to take anything away from the lady, for her nor trayal of Rose is quite convincing (the excitement she creates in the concert sequences almost makes the film worth seeing), but the character is such an unfeeling harpy that the viewer never really cares what happens to her. In Looking For Mr. Goodbar, Diane Keaton (whose only failure thus far was in Rydell's Harry and Walter Go to New York) took a similarly unatractivo rhnr?ct*?? that of a school teacher who cruises singles bars at night, and had viewers falling in love with her after 10 minutes of screen time. Midler can't do anything close to that, even in the 134 minutes Rydell gives her. At times, Midler is reminiscent of Barbra Streisand in some of her earlier pictures. She's untrained, Hilt i .-ir- - ? ..v.. hioliikis are good enough to keep her from taking a 'j University Di is now i T r w w ^ ? ? WUKK STUD V $3.50p< plus then HHHWMBHHHMn j the CO! I new 3 ! ife gSBH > * ' ? '' I I^jEHN^^HHHfe ^ HSMI nw ?j f Js yPHftitfi EgteafcL; !;r\"y?r^ ? f.jT ^Mjif -v-V r^>*i___i",TIr. "4*-""' SPECIAX n n scrccn character too far in the wrong direction. With a bit of polish, there's no reason why she couldn't go on to become a fine actress. Evey though The Rose fails, it can be considered an excellent launching pad in her quest for a career in films. With Midler so much in charge of the movie's every scene, it's hard to critique most of the supporting players, but Alan Bates' portrayal of Rose's manager leaves a great deal to l>e desired. Frederic Forrest, on the other hand, handles A I- ? - 1 r ' uit: roie 01 ner country-boy lover with style. The film's other highlight is Vilmos Zsigmond's moody photography, although as far as atmosphere goes, you'd never know the film was set in the l%Os if the words "The Hose ? 69 Tour" were not emblazoned on the nose of the singer's private plane. The movie could be taking place in any decade since the beginning of the j i uci\. uru. 1,,,, ning Service faying i K f r O m r rr^v -r-? ? O I ULJt1A\ I 3 er hour j I .! xeal worked ! PPERl restaurant and lc if M1 A . ATTRACTION COM] PERCY SLEDGE AN1 ^^BQft^HQgj^K Bette Midler as a rock star in ' The Rose' j 11 ft Capri's 1 | | ) f? Italian J | ' , | LRSRCNfl FOR TWO I | Giant Lasagna (over one and 1 ) a half times regular size), I two Pntipasto Salads, j two glasses of Wine and a | 1 basket of French Bread with i 1 plenty of Butter $8o95 I I 1 \ LUNCH: MONDAY - FRIHAY 11. a ... .... > i.ou - c:\J\J | I SUPPER: MONDAY - THURSDAY 5:00 - 10:00 \ | FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 5:00 - 11:00 ( ? >OOR PRESENTS : unge I ? A CDNIGHT I BLUE i TONIGHT FEB. 1 I SHOWS AT 9pm and 11pm GENERAL ADMISSION $300 COUPLES $500 PT. A VTW?. uriro * ? ? rffcw V4 JLM. A JL O V/ X' JC THEIR LATEST LP "WISHING" J v LOCATED ON ROSEWOOD DR. ? : [NO SATURDAY FEB. 9th f > HIS BAND JIT" H I "?