The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 75, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, September 4, 1987 Page: 10 of 20
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10 Friday, September 4, 1987 1HRESHER Fine Arts
Caine, Brosnan excellent in Fourth Protocol
The Fourth Protocol
Directed by John MacKenzie
Back in 1966, a young British actor
made a lasting impression with his
first starring role in a film named
Alfie. Since then he has been one of
the busiest men in movies. In the last
year and a half alone he has appeared
in eight films. His crowning moment
came last year when he won his first
Oscar for his performance in Hannah
and Her Sisters. Previously, he had
been nominated for his work in Alfie,
Sleuth (1970) and Educating Rita
(1983).
The person I'm referring to is, of
course, Michael Caine, and through
the years he has remained the most
consistently effective film actor in the
business. The worst that can be said
for Caine is that he lends his talents a
bit too freely. Often he will do amovie
for little pay just because he likes a
particular film project, and this has
often led to an appearance in some
undeniably sorrid movies.
In good films or bad, Michael
Caine has always found ways of ris-
ing above the material given him. For
his latest movie, The Fourth Protocol,
Caine has gone back to a genre of film
in which he had great success during
the late 1960's in films such as The
I per ess File—the spy/espionage film.
The Fourth ProkKol is based upon
the book by Fredrick Forsythe. The
nrnhlp.m with the normal sdv movie
based upon a novel is that the book is
usually too detailed and thus the
movie version has to eliminate large
parts of the original story, often alter-
ing its effectiveness: However, in
Protocol, Forsythe himself adapted
his own book into the screenplay, and
the result is a film much better than the
average spy movie.
The story in Protocol involves a
Russian scheme to detonate an atomic
bomb in England. The Russian agent
assigned to this task is Vladimir Pet-
rovsky. His job is to receive the vari-
ous components for the bomb, as-
semble it, and detonate it at an Ameri-
can airbase in London. Pierce
Brosnan shows great screen presence
in his role as Petrovsky. It is ironic
that he was the preferred choice to
play the new James Bond and is now
playing the kind of communist scum
that 007 loved to catch.
There is no James Bond here,
however, just John Preston, a top
British secret agent who has recently
fallen into disfavor with the new hei-
rarchy because of his loner tactics.
No sooner is Preston demoted to the
Airport and Port Division then he
stumbles upon the Russian plot. The
trouble is, his superiors refuse to be-
lieve him, leaving Preston to investi-
gate on his own. As Preston, Michael
Caine gives another earnest perform-
ance with a touch of his wry humor
thrown in to make his character the
most interesting in the film.
Preston and Petrotsky never meet
until their final confrontation, so the
movie derives its action from the
meticulous planning each man util-
izes on his mission. They each have a
job to do, and neither wants the other
to succeed.
In the supporting roles, Ned Beatty
and Joanna Cassidy each give an
excellent performance. Beatty has a
small role as a KGB administrator and
Cassidy appears as a fellow agent
assigned to help Petrovsky in the
assembly of the bomb.
Director John MacKenzie keeps
things uncomplicated and well paced,
which is basically all you could ask
for from a film of this kind. Overall,
the story is exciting, the acting is good
(especially that of Brosnan and
Caine), and the movie is definitely an
entertaining diversion.
It is obvious Caine and Forseyth
wanted to make this film, because in
addition to lending their talents to the
mov ie, they both financed it as execu-
tive producers. It turned out fairly
well actually, spending my money to
see how Caine and Forseythe spent
theirs.
—David Nathan
Lorraine charming and funny
Sweet Lorraine
Directed by Steve Gomer
In upstate New York there is an
area that is commonly referred to as
TheBorscht Belt. Geographically, it
is known as The Catskills. This area is
the home of resort hotels such as the
Concord and Grosingers, and is also
the setting for Steve Gomer's charm-
ing Sweet Lorraine. The film tells the
story of an aging resort named The
Lorraine and its employees, clien-
tele, and the owner, Lorraine. In the
one hundred or so minutes of the film
we are given a touchingly funny por-
trait of life iq,^ie Borscht Belt.
From beginning* to end we are
aware that this is Steve Gomer's film.
He co-wrote the story, as well as
produced and directed the film. Be-
fore I saw this film, I had never heard
of Steve Gomer. Now I am anxiously
awaiting his next Film.
For Sweet Lorraine, Gomer has
assembled a witty crew of actors to
play out his slighdy off-center story.
There are the college students work-
ing as waiters and waitresses at
Lorraine's for the summer. There are
the chefs in the kitchen, endlessly
barking at the students, and at the
center of this motley crew, is Mau-
reen Stapleton's Lorraine. Miss Sta-
pleton plays the motherly Lorraine
with the charm and humor that I have
come to expect of her over the years.
She breathes life into every role she
plays. Her performance under
Gomer's direction is superb.
The film's humor has a definite
Jewish slant. That's what the Cat-
skills were built on: Jewish comedy
and chicken schmaltz (fat). Gomer's
hotel is equipped with a nightclub
entertainer/exercise instructor who
tells jokes about the food and the
people. It is in these scenes that we see
how much of an auteur Steve Gomer
is. He captures the essence of the
Catskills vacationers; overweight
food-lovers in in their 50's and 60's.
Gomer's characters are not much dif-
ferent than those seen in David Lee
Roth's rock videos, but Gomer is not
out to make them into outcasts like
Roth does. Instead, he portrays them
as real, loving, slightly eccentric
people.
Sweet Lorraine is easily character-
ized as a funny though slightly off-
center film. Whether you're a college
student (especially an Owl like me
who worked in a deli this summer) or
ta grandmother, "Sweet Lorraine" is
guaranteed to please.
—Louis E. Speigler
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Raphael, Michael J. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 75, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, September 4, 1987, newspaper, September 4, 1987; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245670/m1/10/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.