'FLAMINGO RISING' CRASHES, BURNS.Byline: David Kronke TV Critic ``The Flamingo Rising'' is a surprising flameout flame·out n. 1. Failure of a jet aircraft engine, especially in flight, caused by the extinction of the flame in the combustion chamber. 2. One that fails suddenly, especially after having been successful. , given the level of talent involved. Directed by Martha Coolidge from a teleplay tel·e·play n. A play written or adapted for television. by novelist Richard Russo
Richard Russo (born July 15 1949) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist. Born in Johnstown, New York, and raised in nearby Gloversville, he earned a B.A. (1967), a M.F.A. (``Nobody's Fool''), this Hallmark Hall of Fame production is a muddily motivated, tin-eared and virtually joyless joy·less adj. Cheerless; dismal. joy  less·ly adv.joy drama that spends more time steamrolling out its chockablock quirks than reveling in them. Brian Benben stars as Hubert Lee, a dreamer of sorts who drags his family to Florida and buys the first parcel of land he sees in order to build a beach-adjacent drive-in movie theater. That the land happens to be next to a funeral home run by the taciturn tac·i·turn adj. Habitually untalkative. See Synonyms at silent. [French taciturne, from Old French, from Latin taciturnus, from tacitus, silent; see tacit. Turner Knight (William Hurt), for some reason, causes him to start a feud with his new neighbor. Hubert goes out of his way to be garish and annoying to send Knight fleeing, even while his wife (Elizabeth McGovern) befriends the man, a widower, and his adopted Korean son (Christopher Larkin) becomes involved with his daughter (Erin Broderick). Why this is so - and why this persists to be so, even when the grudge match seems to have been lifted - remains perturbingly unclear through the movie, which seems to have been left mainly on the editing-room floor. Other colorful characters turn up, as well, to no good ends: a former railroad employee who lied about his age and race on his application when he should've lied about his name, which is Pete Maws (pronounced ``moss''), and a flighty flight·y adj. flight·i·er, flight·i·est 1. a. Given to capricious or unstable behavior. b. Characterized by irresponsible or silly behavior. 2. Easily excited; skittish. single-engine plane pilot who's only borderline competent. Only James Spencer's production design and Angela Bettis, as a free-spirited counter girl at Hubert's concession stand, achieve the sort of eccentric attitude the film strives for in an otherwise utterly leaden fashion. While the cast struggles with some flimsy Southern accents, Coolidge tries to cram a lot of incident and period color into the film. When the movie takes an unwarranted but not altogether unforeseen tragic turn near the end, it nearly becomes laughable. Which would've been the only laughs this mishmash mish·mash n. A collection or mixture of unrelated things; a hodgepodge. [Middle English misse-masche, probably reduplication of mash, soft mixture; see mash. would have earned. ``THE FLAMINGO RISING'' What: Quirky drama about the feuding owners of a funeral home and a drive-in theater. The stars: Brian Benben, William Hurt, Elizabeth McGovern, Christopher Larkin, Olivia Oguma, Erin Broderick, Angela Bettis. Where: CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. (Channel 2) When: 9 tonight. Our rating: Two stars CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Brian Benben stars as new drive-in owner Hubert Lee in ``The Flamingo Rising,'' a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation tonight on CBS. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion