More Top Picks Batterie
player ready...Our Flick of the Week is “G.I. Jane,” a major comeback for star Demi Moore, whose last film, “Striptease,” failed dismally because it featured plenty of her body but none of her mind. In “G.I. Jane,” however, Moore uses her body for strength and endurance as well as sexiness, and it all clicks because this time she’s also using her brain.
Moore plays an ambitious young Navy Intelligence officer who’s selected by a feminist U.S. senator (Anne Bancroft) to become the first woman to train for armed combat. To make her test case absolutely bulletproof, Moore must pass the toughest basic training program of them all: as a Navy SEAL. Of course, she’s immediately pitted against an array of opponents: a base commander (Scott Wilson) who doesn’t want any women in his Navy; a chilly master chief (Viggo Mortenson); her resentful peer group of male recruits; and the training program itself, which is depicted as being almost endlessly brutal. Plus the network of old-boy Navy brass back in Washington, who do their best to derail Moore’s SEAL training by fair means or foul.
As for Moore’s performance, the plain fact is that there are very few actresses who could have played this role so well, to be both so strong and yet so vulnerable. And the film’s screenplay has some big moments because there is a real idea behind all of the action, behind all of the shots of Moore’s well-oiled body doing leg curls: self-reliance, not self-pity, is the key to the feminist revolution — or maybe any revolution. “G.I. Jane” was directed with typically high energy by Ridley Scott, who also created two indelible female icons in “Thelma & Louise.” Obviously, not everyone can look like Demi Moore. But oddly, her real-life, pumping-the-iron dedication to this role carries its own message and drama, and makes “G.I. Jane” into a surprisingly satisfying entertainment. Rated R. (star) (star) (star)
– LEAVE IT TO BEAVER. This is a confused, tiresome and altogether worthless adaptation of the ’50s TV show in which a child knew best. The casting is all wrong from top to bottom. The young actor playing Beaver Cleaver is too small; the actor playing Ward Cleaver looks like he’s always sucking on a lemon. Only the actor working as the scamming Eddie Haskell looks the role, but there isn’t a single funny moment while he’s on screen. This is a film that has no sense of purpose, save to market a venerable TV show. PG. (star)
– = New this week