BLASTING BETTE JUST GETS BETTER IN `THAT OLD FEELING'.Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic ``That Old Feeling'' is uncontrolled, inconsiderate in·con·sid·er·ate adj. 1. Thoughtless of others; displaying a lack of consideration. 2. Not well considered or carefully thought out; ill-advised. lust. Refreshingly so, in this often funny, sometimes stumbling farce. With Bette Midler Bette Midler (born December 1 1945) is an American singer, actress and comedienne, also known to her fans as The Divine Miss M. She is named after the actress Bette Davis although Davis pronounced her first name in two syllables, and Midler uses one. blasting away at her larger-than-life best and supporting players Noun 1. supporting players - a cast other than the principals ensemble cast, cast of characters, dramatis personae - the actors in a play who aren't afraid to look like fools, the movie surfs over credulity cre·du·li·ty n. A disposition to believe too readily. [Middle English credulite, from Old French, from Latin cr gaps and structural bumps on waves of raucous laughter. Leslie Dixon, who wrote Midler's similarly amusing ``Outrageous Fortune,'' came up with the ultimate adult child's nightmare here. Two divorced parents, individually embarrassing but utterly mortifying mor·ti·fy v. mor·ti·fied, mor·ti·fy·ing, mor·ti·fies v.tr. 1. To cause to experience shame, humiliation, or wounded pride; humiliate. 2. when they get together and start fighting, ruin your wedding - not with an argument (though they do that, too), but with a suddenly rekindled passion for each other. Paula Marshall Paula Marshall (born June 12 1964) is an American actress. Biography Personal life Marshall was born in Rockville, Maryland and graduated from Robert E. Peary High School in Rockville, in 1982, where she pursued her love of photography. of TV's ``Chicago Hope'' plays unlucky bride Molly, who can't concentrate on her conservative groom, Keith (Jamie Denton), because her folks Lilly and Dan (Midler and ``Get Shorty's'' Dennis Farina) are giggling in the room next door. Soon the vain actress and gruff mystery novelist are making other noises. When Lilly's husband, Alan (David Rasche), and Dan's wife, Rowena (Gail O'Grady), confront the philanderers, the old flames do what they feel is right: disappear without a trace. It's here that Dixon's script becomes problematic, if no less humorous. Molly hires the cute but annoying paparazzo pa·pa·raz·zo n. pl. pa·pa·raz·zi A freelance photographer who doggedly pursues celebrities to take candid pictures for sale to magazines and newspapers. Joey (Danny Nucci), who's made it his business to stalk Lilly, to track down the errant pair. While they're wandering around New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Keith tries to console Alan (himself a motor-mouthed, super-sensitive, book-writing relationship expert) and Rowena. As this trio's more venal VENAL. Something that is bought. The term is generally applied in a bad sense; as, a venal office is an office which has been purchased. qualities emerge under pressure, Molly starts rethinking her own, timid romantic choices - and that exerts a lot of drag on the movie's dirty-minded buoyancy. All the while, of course, Lilly and Dan are having a ball. When they're not yelling at each other. Farina proves a tough, fine foil for Hurricane Bette, and the abandoned spouses stew most entertainingly. But as they swallow up more screen time, Molly and Joey, mostly because of their comparative good sense, grow duller. There is also a sense that Dixon's script tries a little too hard to have it both ways. Lilly and Dan may be blithely breaking hearts and society's conventions for the fun of it, but they were married once and, clearly, really still love each other. As risky comic premises go, this one comes close to achieving that elusive state of no-risk. On another hand, Midler's diva-ish dynamism may have been less effective in a larger dose. Though her performance is broad and zinger-laced, it rarely slops over into the screechy screech n. 1. A high-pitched, strident cry. 2. A sound suggestive of this cry: the screech of train brakes. v. screeched, screech·ing, screech·es v. cartoonishness of some of her earlier, more Bette-centric comedies. Indeed, Midler plays Lilly as elegantly as someone who says, ``I'm the happiest I've been since it was OK to take drugs,'' can probably be portrayed. After an initial, coincidental misstep - the opening gag was just seen in Woody Allen's ``Everyone Says I Love You'' - director Carl Reiner proves that he still has some of that old feeling left, too. Though there's not much of the visual inventiveness here that marked his best films with Steve Martin (``All of Me,'' ``The Man With Two Brains''), ``Feeling's'' camera is always in the right place. And this film's staging, performances and comic timing are so vastly superior to such recent Reiner comedies as ``Fatal Instinct'' and ``Sibling Rivalry'' that, unlike most aspects of ``That Old Feeling,'' it's not funny. THE FACTS The film: ``That Old Feeling'' (PG-13; sex, language). The stars: Bette Midler, Dennis Farina, Paula Marshall, Danny Nucci, Gail O'Grady, David Rasche. Behind the scenes: Directed by Carl Reiner. Written by Leslie Dixon. Produced by Dixon and Bonnie Bruckheimer. Released by Universal Pictures. Running time: One hour, 45 minutes. Playing: Citywide. Our rating: Three Stars. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: The wedding of Jamie Denton and Paula Marshall is disrupted by her parents' tempestuous tem·pes·tu·ous adj. 1. Of, relating to, or resembling a tempest: tempestuous gales. 2. Tumultuous; stormy: a tempestuous relationship. reunion in ``That Old Feeling.'' |
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