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tritert i i *i i i' i 'Insi fs /-' , . . ;'' - f?T % *' ft ail u] . . ; '$& *'. "\7 ' *' f By Oavfcf Baker FBm Critic */Sr Richard Donner's 4tInside Moves" isn't believable for a minute, but it's quite a lovely fairy tale full of lovable characters and VvW$tb marvelously cozy place far i them to gather together and gab lBk {SsBr \ \. v^.. /*h^R John Savage, Diana Scar A dirt By David Baker C1IM PJ4Ir*m umtc In 1976, Richard Dormer directed "The Omen" and its box office receipts were huge. Two years later, he directed "Superman" and its grosses virtually doubled those of his first hit. But while most directors try to top themselves with each succeeding picture, Richard Donner has gone against the grain with his latest film, "Inside Moves." It's a relatively lesscommercial movie that deals with people and emotions, rather than with the mind-boggling special effects that Donner's previous pictures are famous for. Donner chose to make "Inside Moves," he said, because he's tired of going to movies and coming out depressed. "I like to be happy/' Donner said. "I'm a happy person and I wanted to make a movie that everybody would feel happy about. It's as silly and as simple as that. It's a $20 bill to go to a movie, by the time you're done with a hamburger and parking, and if all you want is to be depressed, you can do it cheaper ? free, even ? by turning on the television and watching the news." SO FAR, however, people aren't turning out in droves to see "Inside Moves." It just opened in most parts of the country, but in New York, where it opened in December, customers were icw auu itu uciween, "We opened it in three theaters in New York and now we're down to one," Donner explained. "A lot of mistakes were made there, quite honestly, and I've learned a lot of lessons from them. "We should never have ;ainmer deM pllftll The picture predominately takes place in and around Max's Bar in Oakland, California. It's a dimly-lit bistro that, froth the street, one could easily pass hy and never notice. But it provide! ^second home for its owner] nannlmioiu' I ?fii|MWjF?ca au\i vusiunietS, many of whofai are hariJ|B wid and Harold S/yvester set Do gone out at Christmas against the big guys and we shouldn't have gone out with the advertising campaign we had. Our trailers, our TV a|iuM>, cvcijruuiig, bliuweu the characters and their life. Well, 20 minutes into the I picture, you love U^m and Richard Donner you don't even see their handicaps. My mistake was that people, not knowing the film and not knowing the end result, are reticent to go because they think it's about a bunch of handicapped people in a bar. You can't blame them. We made a major mistake in the ad vertising and we suffered by it. We're still suffering by it." DONNER NOTED that the reviews accorded "Inside Moves" have been overwhelmingly positive and that the word-of-mouth is better than that he received for "Superman." "Word-ofmout!< r. what's gonna make iUi- -i-i ' mis juncture nappen, ne said with a laugh, "if we can get enough people to come in to begin with." Dormer laughs a great deal as he talks about the entertainment industry, especially when the subject changes to his early career I II - n . . . I II , * ? t; \ oves 11U III . v . ' ' '.{Sjf-'--: dicapped. Roary (John Savage), Max's newest regular, has a stiff leg, the result of a failed suicide attempt in which he jumped from a tenth-story wihdow, only to land on a Pontiac below. Jerry (David Morse), J&e; baby-faced bartender, has a weak knee star in 'InsideMoves.' mner in television. One day about a year ago, I tell him, I was flipping channels on the television and was surprised to see Jan-Michael Vincent wrestling with a tiger on a show called "The Banana Splits." Donner screams with laughter when I tell him I was even more shocked to see that he had directed it. "Oh no," he said, trying to regain his composure. "Let me tell you the story about that. Hanna-Barbara, the animation company, decided to go into live programming on Saturday mornings. They pui logetner this tiling called 'The Banana Splits' and they came to me and asked if I'd like to do something. 4,I SAID, 'I don't think so,' but I read it and it was like every Saturday morning I remember as a kid. You know, will Hoppy get out of the canyon? A cliffhanger. I said, 'Jeez, this could be a lot of fun.* So we took no script, a few actors, an American cameraman and every Mexican-stunt man 1 could find, went to Acapulco for six weeks and had the time of our lives. We improvised the whole thing and I'll tell you, I ll-f-l- ? A ft - ! ?? - irunjt 11 s sun one 01 tne most fun things I've ever done in my life." But then Dormer doesn't regret having been involved with any of his directorial efforts, including episodes of such shows as "Twilight Zone," "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." and "Gilligan's Island." "I loved it all," Donner said. "I remember the very first episode of 'Get t r\ a _? oiiiuri. Lion Aoams was hiding in a big bass drum and the heavy comes into the room and, to emphasize every point he makes, he hits the drum. It was totally improvise T remember t > is I"v ' : ovie that acts up periodically and prevents him from becoming the professional basketball player he dreams of being. ONE QF MAX'S regular customers is blind, another is without hands and a third is paralyzed from the waist down. Max himself is the victim qfa bad heart. < ., . : ' "Inside Moves" is the story of how this unlikely assortment of characters interact, support one another and work to ac cumpnsn wnai lew disabled people can even dream of. What's truly refreshing is that the characters goodnaturedly poke fun at their handicaps. There's hardly a "Woe is me" to be found anywhere in the picture, and that's something to be thankful for in the light of all the mock-uplifting movies and telefilms we've been subjected to in the past several years. In a world where brazen sentimentality nastuw Jak ? uiwn |nwiico iui uia|/ii niiuii| "Inside Moves" makes the viewer feel good without burying him in a mountain of sugar. . One of the picture's funniest moments occurs when Stinky, the blind man played by Bert Remsen, feigns amazement when someone tells him that two of his closest friends are black. The worst thing about losing his sight, Stinky jokes, is that he no longer has a reason to be a bigot. The foremost reason why "Inside Moves" works so well is the acting. Savage, fresh from his successes in "The Deer Hunter" and "Hair," delivers an exquisitely touching performance as Roary, and TM.~. O !J * ' uiaua Ai'urwiu, as Louise, the waitress whom Roary falls in love with, is equally adept at pulling on our neart 1 was laughing so hard that I couldn't say 'Action' and 'Cut.' "There was always something good in everything I've done. I feel very fortunate in that. People said to me, after 'The Omen' and after 'Superman,' 'You've paid your dues and it's nice to see it happen for you.' But to be honest, I don't think I've ever paid dues. I'm very sincere about that. I owe television everything. It doefen't owe me anything. I -f **- " >'' " "'"> ' Diana Scarwid a strings. She's . been nominated for an Oscar and it's hard to understand why he wasn't. The scene in which Louise tearfully tells Roary that she loves him, but is frightened of going to bed with him because of his twisted leg, is one of the most hAAIltifllllv nlov/Asfl as directed by Richard L always treated it like it was a movie and I loved doing it. Donner also has no regrets concerning his decision not to direct the sequels to 'The Omen.' "Sequels," Donner said, "are take the money and run. And I like making movies so much that 1 fieure I don't need to take the money and run. "BUT ON 'OMEN II/ I had already gotten involved with 'Superman.' Therefore, I wasn't available. On 'Superman II.' I did about 70 i ? ? - |/?M J VM scenes in recent memory. -v I MORSE ISN'T nearly as effective as Savage and Scarwid, most likely because his role, as written, is rather preposterous. Screenwriters Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson would have us believe that Jerry's allegiances to Roary and the boys at Max's could swing 180 degrees in a splitsecond and that, after an /\v>Oi*Q^iAn KA />/? \/|/vi HUVII, IIV I.VIUU U1IUU1C right into a starting position with the Golden State Warriors. The supporting players, however, are wonderful, with the exception of Amy Wright. Her zonked-out white trash number is getting to be a crashing bore. She now has played the same character in three consecutive films ("Breaking Away" and "Wise Blood" preceded "Inside Moves") and, if the reviews are an indication, 8iflBIS83Kfl8BBBI8BBIS8IIIG^ ^^:~-'VZ-V"' -' - Bp . ' :;. wef John Sa vage she's transfArroH h*>r ar?t tn Broadway in Lanford Wilson's "Fifth of July." Wright desperately needs to sit down and take stock of herself before she becomes hopelessly typecast. Donner's direction, however, is everything it . should be: well-staged, wellpaced and well-suited to the subject matter. "Inside Moves" doesn't have the air of immediacy that permeated his previous hits, "The Omen" and "Superman," but then it doesn't 1 1A i ii??a 11. we re more interested in the characters than in the story this time around. John Barry has contributed a rich, evocative score and Donner has supplemented it with several exceedingly listenable pop tunes by such artists as Boz Scaggs, Ambrosia, Leo Sayer, the Eagles and Pablo Cruise. When one leaves the theater, his first thought is to go out and buy the soundtrack. if ONE FINAL note to film buffs: Watch for the f"Superman" pinball "/' madiine that Donner has " Uiscrmiy tucked into one ot Max's back corners. Conner ^ fl percent of 'Superman II' when I was doing 'Superman.' And the producers chose ? and I won't get into 9 this too heavily because 9 there are lawsuits anina an M ? because the picture was so successful, I guess, not to bring me back to finish it. "In turn, they also chose Mr. Good-taste, Diek Lester, to take my place. And he chose to cut out about 40 percent of my work and redo it. So there is about 40 *00 Donn&r, page 15