`OPEN SEASON' ON A RATINGS-OBSESSED INDUSTRY.Byline: Henry Sheenan Orange County Register Comedian and actor Robert Wuhl Robert Wuhl (born October 9, 1951) is an American comedian turned actor/writer. Biography Early life Wuhl was born in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey to a father who worked as a produce distributor. , an amiable presence in films from ``Bull Durham'' to ``Cobb,'' goes for a hat trick hat trick n. Sports 1. Three goals scored by one player in one game, as in ice hockey. 2. Three wickets taken in cricket by a bowler in three consecutive balls. 3. with ``Open Season,'' which he wrote, directed and stars in. Unfortunately, he fails to score on all counts. Set in the world of TV ratings, the movie features Wuhl as Stuart Sain (get it?), a nice-guy employee of Fieldings Rating Co., the service that wires a selection of the nation's TV sets and reports the ratings results to the networks. Unable to rise in the company ranks, he takes a job for the Public Television Network, run by an earnest save-the-whales contingent headed by Rachel Rowen row·en n. New England A second crop, as of hay, in a season. [Middle English rowein, from Anglo-Norman rewain, variant of Old French regain : re-, re- + (Helen Shaver). Although Stuart is largely concerned with assembling the PBT PBT Provider Backbone Transport (networking technology adding determinism to ethernet) PBT Polybutylene Terephthalate PBT Profit Before Tax PBT Paper Based Test (education) softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' team, he gets the lion's share of the credit when, due to a series of electronic malfunctions, PBT starts getting commercial network-type ratings. This sudden rise of the nonprofit broadcaster causes alarm and panic in the boardrooms of the George Plunkett Network, a Big Three competitor headed by the blustery blus·ter v. blus·tered, blus·ter·ing, blus·ters v.intr. 1. To blow in loud, violent gusts, as the wind during a storm. 2. a. To speak in a loudly arrogant or bullying manner. George Plunkett (Gailard Sartain Gailard Sartain, born September 18, 1946 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is best known as a comedic and serious actor, often playing characters with their roots in the southern United States. He is also an accomplished and successful painter and illustrator. He is the son of a Tulsa fire chief. ) and run by the ruthless Billy Patrick (Rod Taylor). Among the movie's many problems is that the above isn't a plot, it's a situation. Sain is a passive creature around whom events revolve, and not very enthralling en·thrall tr.v. en·thralled, en·thrall·ing, en·thralls 1. To hold spellbound; captivate: The magic show enthralled the audience. 2. To enslave. events at that. Most of the characters are familiar types, with little in the way of new twists. Oddly, only Sartain, Taylor and Shaver seem to have a sure grasp of these off-the-shelf characterizations, with the rest of the cast, including Wuhl, oddly tentative in their line readings. The lines are another problem, too many of them would-be witticisms that fall flat. Overall characterizations are inconsistent, as well, particularly, and once again oddly, Wuhl's. Visually, the movie relies on a kind of cribbed shorthand associated with so-called ``calling card'' pictures, which are meant less for general distribution than to make an impression on the film-funding community. Unfortunately, Wuhl has sought to expand his impression onto the filmgoing public and, alas, that impression is largely a blight on his heretofore pleasant popular persona. THE FACTS The film: ``Open Season'' (R; sexual situations and language). The stars: Robert Wuhl, Rod Taylor, Helen Shaver. Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Robert Wuhl. Produced by Daniel Raskov. Running time: One hour, 37 minutes. Playing: Selected theaters. Our rating: One Star. |
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