From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jul 15 13:44:22 1996 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!newsfeed.sunet.se!news00.sunet.se!sunic!news.sprintlink.net!news-stk-200.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!new-news.sprintlink.net!newsreader.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!news-pen-4.sprintlink.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.kei.com!nntp.coast.net!netnews.worldnet.att.net!cbgw2.att.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: srenshaw@leland.stanford.edu (Scott Renshaw) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: MULTIPLICITY Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 14 Jul 1996 15:24:24 GMT Organization: Stanford University Lines: 87 Sender: eleeper@lucent.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: eleeper@lucent.com Message-ID: <4sb3f8$ncj@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> Reply-To: srenshaw@leland.stanford.edu (Scott Renshaw) NNTP-Posting-Host: mthost1.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #05637 Keywords: author=Renshaw Originator: ecl@mthost1 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:4969 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1024 MULTIPLICITY A film review by Scott Renshaw Copyright 1996 Scott Renshaw Starring: Michael Keaton, Andie MacDowell, Richard Masur, John DeLancie, Eugene Levy, Harris Yulin. Screenplay: Chris Miller, Mary Hale, Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel, Harold Ramis. Director: Harold Ramis. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw. There have been many instances where my positive reaction to a film has been as much a result of what it _wasn't_ as what it was, and GROUNDHOG DAY may be the perfect example. On paper, it was a high-concept premise with nowhere to go, an over-extended "Twilight Zone" episode with a laugh-track. There didn't appear to be any way to make an infinitely repeated day anything but infinitely repetitious, but director/co-writer Harold Ramis and co-writer Danny Rubin startled me with a comedy of improbable inventiveness and even more improbable resonance. MULTIPLICITY, Ramis' latest project, arrives with many of the same warning signs, and again it stays fresher through its running time than you might expect. This time, however, the comedy is as instantly disposable as it is enjoyable. MULTIPLICITY stars Michael Keaton as Doug Kinney, a construction foreman living the 1990s version of the American Dream: a beautiful wife, Laura, (Andie MacDowell); two wonderful children; a never-quite-completed dream house...and almost no time to enjoy any of them. Changes at work are threatening to make Doug's life even more hectic, but he is offered a unique solution to his time crunch by geneticist Dr. Owen Leeds (Harris Yulin) -- the opportunity to be cloned, to have a second self help shoulder the burden of his responsibilities. The procedure is a success, and Doug #1 finds himself able to enjoy life more as #2 takes over his job responsibilities. But even two Doug Kinneys doesn't seem to be enough, and when Doug #3 enters the picture, the opportunities for disaster multiply right along with him. In a way that GROUNDHOG DAY never was, MULTIPLICITY really is a gimmick film. It was easy to summarize GROUNDHOG DAY's plot in a short sentence, but it was always about the change in Bill Murray's Phil Connor. MULTIPLICITY is always about the farce of several Doug Kinneys getting each other into trouble, and the fact that it works so well and so often shows how artfully Ramis is able to execute that farce. Michael Keaton has tremendous fun with the Doug his three clones, each of whom has a rather specialized personality for his designed purpose -- #2, the workaholic, is a hard-nosed man's man, while #3, the housekeeper, is sort of a cross between John Bradshaw and the Anal-Retentive Chef. The comedy gets rather broad with Doug #4, the "copy of a copy" who turns out to be "special, but the situations are great showcases for those characters, and Keaton does some good work considering he is often working with no one but himself. Particularly memorable: a night when Doug #1 is away and the three clones get a chance to play...with a sexually insatiable Laura. MULTIPLICITY is a very funny film, full of clever touches like the character of a blissfully incompetent sub-contractor played by Eugene Levy and a housing development called "Vista del Nada" (View of Nothing), and it's easy to keep smiling through most of its 110 minutes. Unfortunately, its attempts at a message get rather muddled. Contributing screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (CITY SLICKERS, FORGET PARIS) have a tendency to paint emotional situations in extremely broad strokes, and that leads to some rather forced conflicts between Doug and Laura. Andie MacDowell, who was so good in GROUNDHOG DAY, doesn't have the chance to make an impression here; her character is a necessity, not an individual. As the film wraps up, Doug is forced to save his marriage by facing hard truths about himself, but exactly what those truths are and how they relate to the cloning escapades which have come before are never quite clear. There are a number of rough edges in MULTIPLICITY (including the excessively grainy special effects photography by Richard Edlund which allow the four Dougs to interact), and they are mostly the result of an attempt to be the kind of film GROUNDHOG DAY was: a laugh-out-loud comedy which also managed to be about something warm and human. That kind of film is a rarity indeed, and it is no sin to have aspirations to that kind of completeness. MULTIPLICITY, however, is simply a laugh-out-loud comedy about clones running around, and the mayhem which ensues. Ramis set himself a high bar with GROUNDHOG DAY, but you don't need to set a world record every time out to be a winner. In MULTIPLICITY, one laugh usually turns into another. On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 clone feats: 7. -- Scott Renshaw Stanford University http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~srenshaw From rec.arts.sf.reviews Sun Aug 4 02:42:05 1996 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!newsfeed.sunet.se!news00.sunet.se!sunic!news.sprintlink.net!news-stk-200.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!news-chi-13.sprintlink.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.kei.com!nntp.coast.net!netnews.worldnet.att.net!cbgw2.att.com!cbgw1.att.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: berardin@bc.cybernex.net (James Berardinelli) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: MULTIPLICITY (1996) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 17 Jul 1996 21:19:58 GMT Organization: - Lines: 93 Sender: eleeper@lucent.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: eleeper@lucent.com Message-ID: <4sjldu$c31@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> Reply-To: berardin@bc.cybernex.net (James Berardinelli) NNTP-Posting-Host: mthost1.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #05651 Keywords: author=Berardinelli Originator: ecl@mthost1 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:4983 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1028 MULTIPLICITY A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 6.5 Alternative Scale: **1/2 out of **** United States, 1996 Release date: 7/17/96 (wide) Running Length: 1:55 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Sexual situations) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cast: Michael Keaton, Andie MacDowell, Harris Yulin, Richard Masur, John DeLancie, Eugene Levy Director: Harold Ramis Producers: Trevor Albert and Harold Ramis Screenplay: Mary Hale & Chris Miller and Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel Cinematography: Laszlo Kovacs Music: George Fenton U.S. Distributor: Columbia Pictures At one time or another, we've probably all wished that there was more than one of us. MULTIPLICITY taps into this universal fantasy, using it as the premise for the latest comedy from director Harold Ramis (GROUNDHOG DAY). The involvement of both Ramis and actress Andie MacDowell may recall the 1993 Bill Murray hit, but there really aren't many other intersections or similarities. MULTIPLICITY is more of a "gimmick" motion picture. While GROUNDHOG DAY was a lighthearted fairy tale, this excursion is more like the Michael Keaton show. It's a straight comedy, a great deal of which is of the physical variety. So, although MULTIPLICITY is funny, it's not as heartwarming or inventive as GROUNDHOG DAY. I give Michael Keaton the lion's share of the credit for MULTIPLICITY's success. The script may contain the puns, double entendres, slapstick, and other forms of humor, but Keaton delivers them flawlessly, playing four variations of the same everyday sort of character. The visual effects that place two, three, or four Keatons together are seamless, but it's not difficult to imagine the challenge that performing in some of these scenes can present for an actor. After all, it's not easy to play off of empty space. See Eddie Murphy in the recent updating of THE NUTTY PROFESSOR for another example of this sort of multi-character tour de force. I have never been one to sing Andie MacDowell's praises, and I'm not going to start now. She's had a few solid performances (SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE and UNSTRUNG HEROES spring to mind), but, in general, I find her to be irritating. Nothing in MULTIPLICITY encourages me to change this point-of-view. At best, it could be argued that she does an adequate job, but this is far from a clinic in the art of acting or capturing the audience's sympathy. I suppose it's necessary to briefly note that MULTIPLICITY is seriously flawed from a technological perspective, but this "unreality" doesn't detract from the film's pure entertainment value. MULTIPLICITY opens by introducing us to Doug Kinney (Keaton), a construction manager for a company whose motto is fast becoming, "If you don't come in on Saturday, don't bother coming in on Sunday." In Doug's words, "Work is first, my family is a close second, and I'm a distant third." He's feeling tired and burnt-out, and, when his wife, Laura (MacDowell), expresses a desire to go back to work, Doug can't figure out how they're going to manage two careers and two children. Enter the mysterious Dr. Leeds (Harris Yulin), who has the answer to all of Doug's problems: cloning. Soon, there are no less than four Dougs running around. In addition to the original, there's #2, the workaholic; #3, the anal retentive; and #4, an imperfect copy of #2 who is affectionately referred to as "Rain Man." And, even though Doug is becoming very productive, things are getting progressively more confusing with each additional copy. MULTIPLICITY is an uncomplicated comedy with a lot of big laughs and a disappointingly weak framing story. Do we ever really care about any of the characters or their situations? With the exception of Doug #1, not really. As far as the promise of MULTIPLICITY is concerned, this script gives us a fertile field only half-tilled. There are moments of near-brilliance, but, for the most part, MULTIPLICITY falls into the "above average, but not great" category. The jokes, which are frequent and frequently successful, make this motion picture worth sitting through, even though, at nearly two hours, it runs on for far too long. For those who are just looking for a movie that scores high on the feel-good comedy scale, MULTIPLICITY is a can't- miss choice. In the end, however, I couldn't help wishing that Ramis had tried for something a little more ambitious, rather than settling for a multiplicity of laughs without much genuine substance. - James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin From rec.arts.sf.reviews Sun Aug 4 02:42:11 1996 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!solace!nntp.uio.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!hunter.premier.net!netnews.worldnet.att.net!anchor.cis.att.com!cbgw1.att.com!cbgw2.att.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: mredman@bvoice.com (Michael Redman) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: MULTIPLICITY (1996) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 30 Jul 1996 12:58:22 GMT Organization: ... Lines: 68 Sender: eleeper@lucent.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: eleeper@lucent.com Message-ID: <4tl0te$5dh@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> Reply-To: mredman@bvoice.com (Michael Redman) NNTP-Posting-Host: mthost1.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #05711 Keywords: author=Redman Originator: ecl@mthost1 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:5051 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1039 REVIEW: MULTIPLICITY A film review by Michael Redman Copyright 1996 Michael Redman ** (out of ****) Mr. Mom has a lot on his hands nowadays and can't get to half of it. His job requires more hours than are in the day and he just got assigned even more responsibilities. His wife wants him to spend more time at home and, by the way, could he finish building their half-completed home? He misses his kids' sporting events and Brownie graduation. Sound familiar? Lack of time must be the disease of the nineties. No one has the schedule to do it all. Few have the ability to squeeze in even the essentials, much less have any fun. When Doug Kinney (Michael Keaton) is asked what he does to relax, he replies "golf". Questioned about how often he plays, his response is "never". Welcome to the late 20th century, Doug, where all of our obligations and labor-saving devices have conspired to steadily shrink the time where we do what we really want to a scant few hours a week. Doug can't deal and finds his magical way out one day while supervising construction at a lab. It turns out that the facility specializes in creating fully grown clones, so Doug takes home another Doug to help him out. Doug Number Two is sent to work so that the original can get his duties done at home. But, even with two of them, there's still not enough time for golf and Doug Number Three comes into the picture. Later, Two and Three still can't get it all done so they duplicate Number Four from one of the clones. As often happens, the copy of a copy isn't quite as sharp as the original. No matter how many Dougs there are, the work load increases to more than can be done. The film wanders around during the first hour trying to set the stage for the "message" before it finds its course. Only after the clones exist is there much humor and the yucks are still fewer than you would hope. The comedy is mostly various send-ups of the "Two dates in the same night" scene you're well acquainted with. The only hilarious scenes are with Number Four, but even then you stand the chance of feeling guilty at laughing at a "special" (Uh oh, that's not the correct _euphemism_d'_jour_, is it?) person. Director Harold Ramis ("Ghostbusters", "Groundhog Day") has a feel for the science fiction comedy and humorous bits, but these scenes (as well as "Groundhog Day") don't hold together as a whole. He does successfully avoid one apparent pitfall in having four exact copies of Doug. Instead of copies, which would become annoyingly redundant, they are aspects of Doug, not actual clones. Number Two is Manly Man Doug; Three, Feminine Side Doug and Four, Inner Child Doug. This gives Keaton something to work with and he does so with competence although nothing spectacular. Andie MacDowell plays Laura, Doug's long-suffering (and never lets him forget it) wife. The actress is mostly wasted as more a plot object for the various Dougs to interact with than an actual human being. MacDowell does nothing much for the film other than look as if she is about to cry during every minute she's on screen. Oh yeah, the message? If you want your woman to really love you, build her a house. [This originally appeared in "The Bloomington Voice", Bloomington, Indiana, 7/26/96. Michael Redman can be reached at mredman@bvoice.com] From rec.arts.sf.reviews Sun Aug 4 02:42:44 1996 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!solace!nntp.uio.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!hunter.premier.net!netnews.worldnet.att.net!anchor.cis.att.com!cbgw1.att.com!cbgw2.att.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: null@filmcritic.com (Christopher Null) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: MULTIPLICITY (1996) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 30 Jul 1996 12:58:38 GMT Organization: Null Publishing Co. Lines: 65 Sender: eleeper@lucent.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: eleeper@lucent.com Message-ID: <4tl0tu$5dj@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> Reply-To: null@filmcritic.com (Christopher Null) NNTP-Posting-Host: mthost1.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #05712 Keywords: author=Null Originator: ecl@mthost1 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:5053 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1040 MULTIPLICITY A film review by Christopher Null Copyright 1996 Christopher Null I hate it when a film *sounds* like it's going to be great, has a hilarious teaser-trailer, stars some wonderful actors, features a small role played by the daughter of one of my film review subscribers, and ends up falling a bit flat on the screen. Such is the case with MULTIPLICITY, the new Harold Ramis-Michael Keaton comedy about a guy who clones himself in order to get a little free time. Doug (Keaton) is a construction contractor with way to much responsibility at work and not enough time to do it. His wife (Andie MacDowell) never sees hubby, and neither do the kids. Doug's stress is getting so severe that he seems on the verge of a breakdown, and eventually he does so -- a couple of times -- before being talked into having himself cloned by a doctor in Malibu. Doug #2 (Keaton) is a gruff mensch who takes over Doug's job and never looks back. Deciding that still isn't enough, Doug opts for another in #3 (Keaton), who takes on the personality of a fey househusband obsessed with souffl=E9s, Tupperware, and the non-crumpledness of aluminum foil. And when #2 and #3 decide they don't have enough time themselves, they get together to clone #4 (Keaton), who doesn't turn out quite as sharp as expected, shaving his tongue and keeping pizza in his wallet. Yes, it *does* sound funny, and Keaton does some of his best work here, hamming it up to an extreme -- particularly with the fall-down funny #3: the Martha Stewart inside all of us. But what to do about that darned script? Rewrite after rewrite has taken its obvious toll, and the thing comes off as shredded as a bowl of cole slaw, with very funny moments (watch for "Vista de Nada") interspersed with lifeless exposition. Keaton does his best, but it isn't enough to maintain more than a mild chuckle-average during the course of the film. Also of note: MULTIPLICITY has the dubious honor of being the second movie in a row that Andie MacDowell stars in that she did not single-handedly ruin (the first being UNSTRUNG HEROES). Let's hear it for Andie! But I found the most interesting part of the movie's premise painfully avoided, and I'll ask it here for the reader to ponder: Just how much *does* it cost to get a clone? And Kari, you were great. RATING: *** |------------------------------| \ ***** Perfection \ \ **** Good, memorable film \ \ *** Average, hits and misses \ \ ** Sub-par on many levels \ \ * Unquestionably awful \ |------------------------------| -Christopher Null / null@filmcritic.com / Writer-Producer -Visit the Movie Emporium at http://www.filmcritic.com/ -and Null Set Productions at http://www.filmcritic.com/nullset.htm