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Entertainr Reynoh Image < By DOUG BELL film Critic Burt Reynolds as a New Yorker? It would take an exceptional script and director to surmount such _ 1 1 1! A 1 aosuru casting. Ana Paternity doesn't have either. What Burt's latest pic ture does have is a promising premise. A successful bachelor, 44, is determined to insure his immortality by having a son. Uninterested in marriage, he hires a "surrogate mother" to help him conceive and deliver the heir. Supposedly a strict business partnership, their relationship is at first hostile, but blooms into love during the course of the pregnancy. Ernst Lubitsch or Preston sturges might have made a masterpiece from such a story. But director David Steinberg simply lacks the comic inventiveness and control needed to make the wackiness work. A good portion of Paternitv is ronoprnpd with Burt's quest to find the right girl. Lauren Hutton and Elizabeth Ashley are runner-ups, but he finally chooses Beverly D'Angelo (Patsy Cline in Coal Miner's Daughter), who needs the money to continue her education. As part of the contract, Burt forces the pregnant jl> Angeio to iouow a strict diet, schedule, etc., while he maintains his old bachelorhood ways. D'Angelo, finally infuriated by his behavior, ?11 I Enter a ne world of i The atmospl ? the perfect setl cocktails! And w offers a variety will enjoy. Po ! j Discover Jul H it's the kind of rest: jzij want to come ba< gj 1325 Garner Lane < I 5900 Garner's Ferry 1 I Open every day ? L nent Is T ries Change runs out on him. Predictably, absence causes Burt to realize his love for her and they exchange marriage vows en route to /lAltitAmr urc uciivci y iwiii, THE FILM'S most distressing problems are the result of a poor script (by Charlie Peters). The dialogue is limp and the scenes are hopelessly shapeless. There is a sense of insecurity about the film ? as if the actors and Hirwtnr aro awnrp rtf thp material's shortcomings and thus respond to it halfheartedly, perfunctorily. The jokes range from tedious (the old drooping plant gag) to cute (the last shot), but most of them sadly fall in the former category. The characters are irksomely depthless. All we i _ r n i J - ? Know 01 rt, e y n u i u 5 character is that he is successful at his job (manager of Madison Square Garden) and that he wants a son. The movie never offers a hint as to why he can't sustain a lasting relationship with women or why his friends (Norman Fell, Paul Dooley) call him a "cold fish." J "Paternity" suggests that Burt Reynolds is at tempting to shake off his redneck image by playing in a smart, fashionable, expensive-looking comedy. But compare 4 Paternity" to such pungent, juicy trash as 14 White Lightnin' *' (1973) and it is clear that Burt is headed in the wrong direction. ? laveFun,?] joy I i w wonderful f I excitement. Jj iere is different ! linK for your favorite | ! hat food! The menu ! I that all the familv hi ^ pular prices, too. ? ie's Place soon j j aurant that makes you , | ck afcain and a^ain. |i Columbia 798-7455 j fcf. Columbia 783-4211 | unch. Dinner, Cocktails I H?? n m wewi Has ( By CHRIS] Bool; ( Mazes and Monsters by E escapism. Specifically, it's about e imagination with the aid of ; called "Mazes and Monsters.' Robbie are the players who 1 xz i IV By HARVEY MERRETT and SUSAN CARTWRIGHT Stiff Writgri It's time to take your television sets out of storage as the 1981-82 season finally gets underway. After a month's delay, caused by the writers' strike, the networks once again claim to offer better quality programming. Well, we don't know about the quality but because of the antics of the Moral Majority ^uoaiuion i?or Better Television), the networks are offering less sex and more violence. Sexist shows such as "Soap" and "Charlie's Angels" have been cancelled and the networks are relying on yesterday s stars to till the void. Returning are Lome Greene in "Code Red," Mike Connors in "Today's FBI," James Garner in "Bret Maverick" and Lee Majors in "The Fall "f ""COM! I I4K GOLD SA |: I PENDANTS 0 FROM $6^8 Ar tin FT71 * At The Jewelry j i 2909 Piatt Springs Rd., W "II I Mor? Than Ju?l Ani y&SBK Educational Canter TEST PREPARATION SPECIALISTS SINCE 1936 For Information About Other Center* In Outside NY State CALL T am .offec HANDAL :fWc lona Jaffe is a book about scape into the realm of a fantasy role-playing game " Kate, Jay Jay, Daniel and moat aanh nirrVit tr? Hn Ktottlo IIVVV vuvu iu^iiv vu uv h/OWlV Tidbits Guy." Also, Kevin Dobson in "Shannon," Rock Hudson in "The Devlin Connection'r and Robert Stack in "Strike JL* U1 CC . Although comedy shows are still in abundance on the screen, it's obvious that violent dramas have returned. Maybe next year the Coalition can boycott violence on television. ON TAP TONIGHT: Aside from regular programming, baseball fans can catch the National League division playoffs and Loretta Swit fans won't want to miss "Cagney & Lacey," a CBS Special Movie Presentation. RUMOR ROOM: Gary Coleman can't be seen on the set of "Diff'rent Strokes" because he is not there. Seems Gary is having a salary dispute and Tandem Productions has decided to proceed without him. EARRINGS | ! ?? FROM M $|000 I I Size i | 'Warehouse fi . Cola. 9 til 6 Mon. Sat. j ; other Jewelry Store" BBWHHHHNMHHmM ?c. 5, 198! [I % 1 w A ij LarnLm van uap cveiiiii|9 cm neonvnus \ Classes Starling soon. I Spartanburg Columbia area 22JI Devin* Street. Columbia. S C. JW05 PHone (?01) 156061 i Mor? Than 85 Major US Cities A Abroad OIL FREE: SOO-2231712 ????? tist Novel le Aooeal w mm,. against all manner of creatures. The reward for their trials is treasure. But the monsters, the dangers and tb? treasures are all make-believe. The game is their release for the monsters that confront them in the real world of college. So far, there is no problem, but as time goes on the game becomes an obsession and the caverns near campus become a temptation to our young adventurers. @ THESE ARE the elements that Jaffe uses to spin her tale of suspense and romance. This novel should be of particular interest to college students because it concerns them. Jaffe paints a fairly realistic picture of college life and of the fears and hopes that are part of the college experience. And she creates these images in a way that demands very little from the reader other than his time. With this easygoing style, Jaffe is able to convey her point, about the thin line between fantasy and reality, to the reader. By not challenging the reader to think she allows them to think. This might seem a ludicrious statement, but it really isn't. Jaffe does such a fine job of mirroring college life in the book, the reader finds he is nroiectinc himself into the storv A Jaffe's characters are appealing as well as realistic, and this invites reader identification. Mazes and Monsters does have its disquieting features though. The fictional game that Kate, Jay Jay, Daniel and Robbie play is based on a real game called "Dungeons and Dragons" that is now an obsession with many people. A friend of mine at another college told me it is not unusual to see students stagger into the cafeteria for breakfast having spent the whole night engrossed in a game of "D & D," as it is called by fanatics of the game. THIS REALISTIC base for Mazes and Monsters gives the _ book its chilling effect. The novel truly makes the reader w think, "this could really happen." Jaffe blends the story's realistic base with the novel's fictional elements to deliver a book that amuses, saddens, and entertains. Mazes and Monsters may be merely light reading, but the time spent with it will not be wasted. a < latart/at/ SSn/stcA y (\ (w/nJb/'/He/i/arty > 0) (yui/rifeuj/ie A J //.eft? - <?.<%? X ft -fy'u/t V x Sy^ f //.so-2. jo y A / / I jtlofu/qy- - f^ru/ay V ? I /( / / I // -?') w ./i/i ? y T \ . fforu/ay - ((\ A 4 < \trn/sm /i//ss> v I ^ ^ ^ ! | Spinnaker $ # \J L Rw??ur?ni?Loung* (acro?t from Richland Mailt \ / 2IJO Beliline Blvd. 782-227S ,y