PHONE-SEX FILM 'GIRL 6' ULTIMATELY DOESN'T SATISFY.Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Staff Writer "Ooh, baby, why don't you just put your hand up my skirt and then we can ..." There now, did that get your attention? Even though you don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what the person saying it looks like? It's one of the lines uttered by a telephone sex provider in Spike Lee's new movie "Girl 6," a cool, jazzy jazz·y adj. jazz·i·er, jazz·i·est 1. Resembling jazz in form or nature; rhythmical. 2. Slang Showy; flashy: a jazzy car. improvisation on the themes of fantasy and isolation in modern lives. If you responded to it, you might get a glimmer of why phone sex is a booming business and a way to pay the rent for any number of struggling actresses and other disillusioned dis·il·lu·sion tr.v. dis·il·lu·sioned, dis·il·lu·sion·ing, dis·il·lu·sions To free or deprive of illusion. n. 1. The act of disenchanting. 2. The condition or fact of being disenchanted. city dwellers of all kinds. But while the subject is easily exploitable and somewhat irresistible, "Girl 6" doesn't find anywhere very involving to take it. Despite its lush production values Production values is a media term for "production cost." It refers to the professional look, or "polish," of a production. Factors that affect perceived production value may include video and audio quality, lighting, number of errors, and amount and quality of special effects. and Lee's always-inventive visual style, this movie mostly skates over the surface of the themes it introduces. Like many a baffled phone sex customer, you're likely to wonder what exactly it was you just paid for. The gorgeous Theresa Randle ("Bad Boys," "Jungle Fever jun·gle fever n. See malaria. ") plays the title character, a trained 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 actress who can't get work and is so fed up with the rudeness of casting directors that she turns to phone sex as a temporary earnings strategy. Even that gig is hard to get in this movie's tough urban world - but once she gets the job, she excels. With her silky, relaxing voice and trained, flexible imagination, Girl 6, as she's dubbed in the agency's lineup, becomes the most popular and requested operator around. Instead of making her feel lousy, the job gives her self-esteem and a lot of cash - even though she's supposedly saving money for an escape to L.A., she acquires a knockout wardrobe and gets about 50 costume changes. It's a weird world this movie creates - everyone at the phone sex agency is warm and supportive, including Girl 6's tough but motherly moth·er·ly adj. 1. Of, like, or appropriate to a mother: motherly love. 2. Showing the affection of a mother. adv. In a manner befitting a mother. boss Lil (a strong turn by Jenifer Lewis). It's like a sorority sorority: see fraternity. where they specialize in talking trash. Even the sex dialogues are mostly on the playful and silly side, with the male customers made to look either harmless or craven. But inevitably, Girl 6 gets addicted to her new skill. The picture eventually takes a somewhat darker turn for Girl 6 when a caller (Michael Imperioli James Michael Imperioli (born March 26, 1966 in Mount Vernon, New York), commonly known as Michael Imperioli, is an Emmy-Award winning American actor who is best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos. He also appears as Det. ) with a "snuff" fixation threatens to come over and kill her. Writer Suzan Lori-Parks also uses a TV news tragedy - the story of a little girl who falls down an elevator shaft - as a metaphor for Girl 6's tumble down the dark well of addiction. But none of it builds up much drama. Nearly everything remains an idea introduced and left dangling, or a prettily photographed notion - like the scene where Girl 6 bids good-bye to her New York life and her ex-husband (Isaiah Washington) while a shower of pastel-colored telephones fall, in slow motion, to the ground around them. Like jazz musicians This is a list of jazz musicians on whom Wikipedia has articles. Some of the most notable jazz musicians
Most get-rich-quick schemes also promise that little skill, effort, or time is required. , a lost love they hope to win back, or just that the person on the other end of the phone line is really a beautiful woman who would love to be with them. Even Girl 6 has a vivid fantasy life Noun 1. fantasy life - an imaginary life lived in a fantasy world phantasy life fantasy, phantasy - imagination unrestricted by reality; "a schoolgirl fantasy" - in the movie's most playful scenes, she's action movie star Foxy Brown, or the daughter in the sitcom "The Jeffersons" (Lee plays a very comical George Jefferson). It also shows how isolating, frightening and disappointing the modern world can be. The one time Girl 6 takes one of her callers (Peter Berg) to heart, he proves to be the ultimate flake. At its worst, the movie dials up some serious static. It's hard to ignore that while pretending to be sympathetic to actresses who have to strip to get a role - Lee required Randle to take off her shirt in the first scene. Sorry Spike - we just lost you going through that tunnel. It's true, the movie has its moments, but next time, Lee needs to dig a little deeper, work a little harder. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , Spike, don't phone it in. One of the first releases from Fox Searchlight, the hip new "independent"-oriented arm of 20th Century Fox, the movie also features cameos by Quentin Tarantino, Madonna, John Turturro, Halle Berry, Ron Silver and model Naomi Campbell. The soundtrack by Prince is a perfect match and a real plus - sexy, smart and cool, with classic compositions plus new originals. THE FACTS The film: "Girl 6" (R; sex talk, nudity, implied violence). The stars: Theresa Randle, Isaiah Washington, Spike Lee, Debi Mazar, Jenifer Lewis, Peter Berg. Behind the scenes: Produced and directed by Spike Lee. Written by Suzan-Lori Parks. Executive producer, Jon Kilik. Songs by Prince. Released by Fox Searchlight/20th Century Fox. Running time: One hour, 49 minutes. Playing: Citywide. Our rating: Two stars CAPTION(S): PHOTO Photo Phone sex operator Girl 6 (Theresa Randle) says goodbye to ex-husband Shoplifter (Isaiah Washington) amid a shower of telephones in "Girl 6." |
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